Women’s football pioneer Barbara Cox has been awarded Life Membership by national body New Zealand Football.
The accolade was confirmed at NZ Football’s 2025 annual congress held in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington in April.
In its tribute to Cox, NZ Football said: “Barbara has provided significant leadership on and off the field for football in New Zealand as a player, coach, and administrator for six decades, leaving a significant legacy.
“New Zealand Football wishes to acknowledge the immense contributions of Barbara Cox to the game in Aotearoa.”
As captain of the first Football Ferns team to ever take the field, in 1975, Cox is regarded as the first New Zealand women’s international, and she was allocated #1 of the 212 players to wear the fern.
She played 30 internationals in an era when few games were staged.
As well as playing, Cox coached men’s and women’s teams and became a successful club administrator.
In 1996, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to football.
In 2020, The Spinoff series Scratched featured Cox’s story in the documentary that helped win the series its Best Sports Programme of the Year at the New Zealand Television Awards.
Barbara Cox: The first Football Fern
In 2023, during the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Cox and her Ferns teammates from 1975 were reunited to play a celebratory match against the Australian national team from the same year.
READ MORE: The rematch (and emotional reunion) that was 48 years in the making … >>>>
This story was first published on April 14, 2025.