CELEBRATING International Women's day, this picture captures a very unusual sight for 1917.

Of course, women's football has become much more accepted and widely followed in recent years, but this has been a slow and steady trend.

This photograph shows the canteen team from the Royal Ordnance Factory at Rotherwas, Hereford, in December 1917.

Amongst the team are two sisters, Sadie Lloyd (front row holding the football) and Honor Lloyd (second from the right back row).

In 1917 the sisters lived at the Blacksmith's in Woonton.

Honor was the grandmother of Pauline Hughes, the football loving secretary at Lady Hawkins' School.

Honor and Sadie both worked in the stores at Rotherwas in what must have been heavy and hard work, not to mention extremely dangerous!

The two sisters were amongst more than 900,000 women who worked in munitions factories during the First World War.

Rotherwas, like most munitions factories, employed a welfare officer to monitor the health, wellbeing and behaviour of their new female work force.

Sport, especially football, was encouraged and many munitions factories developed their own ladies football teams.

This must have given them a welcome break from the dangers and harsh industrial conditions at Rotherwas in the First World War.

International Women's Day is on Sunday, March 8.

To mark the event there is a women's football tournament between 10am and 4pm at the home of Hereford FC, Edgar Street, Hereford.

Alongside the football tournament there will be an art exhibition, workshops and live performances.

The day is aimed to help nations worldwide eliminate discrimination against women.

It is also focused on helping women gain full and equal participation in global development.