Name/TitleT-shirt: I'm Backing Brawling
About this objectBlack T-shirt with pink and white capitalised text: "I'M BACKING BRAWLING: LONDON ROLLER GIRLS" beside a muscular unicorn on union jack sunrise graphic.
MakerLondon Roller Derby
Date Madec.2006-12
Period2000s-2010s
Place MadeEngland, London
Medium and MaterialsOrganic, cotton
Subject and Association Keywordssport - roller derby
Subject and Association Descriptionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Roller_Derby
London Roller Derby is a flat track roller derby league and a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). The league were founding members of the United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA). The league has four travel teams which play competitive roller derby across the UK and the world: London Brawling (A), Brawl Saints (B), Batter C Power (C) and Dream Team (D). Founded as London Rollergirls by Courtney Welch (derby name Bette Noir), Lauren Langston and Danielle West, London is the oldest roller derby league in the United Kingdom. Since London Rollergirls began in April 2006, the league has grown to include over 60 members, plus referees and support crew.
The London Rollergirls held the first public women's flat track roller derby bout held in the United Kingdom on 7 September 2007, to a sold-out crowd of over 500 people. The London Rollergirls held their first British inter-league bout in March 2008 against the Glasgow Roller Girls' Irn Bruisers, and their first international bout in June 2008 against Team Canada. This was a team made up of skaters from Toronto Roller Derby, Oil City Derby Girls, Terminal City Roller Girls, Calgary Roller Derby Association, and Saskatoon Roller Derby.
In July 2009, the London Rollergirls hosted Europe's first roller derby tournament, "Roll Britannia", featuring twelve teams from the UK and Germany. The tournament was held at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre at Earls Court. London won the tournament, and became the first champions of European roller derby.
On 4 November 2009, London Rollergirls joined the WFTDA Apprentice Program, and graduated to full membership in June 2010. London was the first league outside North America to become a member of the WFTDA. London won the British Airways Great Britons competition later that year, providing them with free tickets to fly to America in April 2010 to train with and play some of the top leagues in the world including Gotham Roller Girls. Since 2020, spurred on by the Black Lives Matter movement and world events, the league have been working with Resist and Renew to move towards becoming an anti-racist league with equity for all. In 2021, London Roller Derby teamed up with Wild Card Brewery to create three unique beers themed around roller derby team positions.
Named CollectionNMRD @ Glasgow Women's Library
Object TypeT-shirt
Object numberGWL-2015-131-16
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved