Between 2023 and 2025, the National Football Museum worked with representatives from across football’s Black heritage community to co-curate Black in the Game, our critiically acclaimed Score Gallery exhibition.
On display from October 2025 to March this year, it celebrated Black excellence in English football, showcasing the cultural impact, unique achievements and untold stories of African and Caribbean communities within the English game. The exhibition steering group collectively decided which objects and stories to feature – but sadly, there was not enough room to feature every story within the physical space.
With that in mind, our curator Marek Romaniszyn has looked at objects from the careers of three Black Lionesses, telling their stories via our website.
Renowned for her presence as a formidable forward, South London born Carmaine Walker was an imposing and tenacious striker.
Walker began her football career at Crystal Palace in 1985, before moving on to St Georges in 1996, where she enjoyed a prolific goal scoring spell. This caught the attention of her hometown club Croydon FC who duly signed her up.
At Croydon, Walker was part of the successful side who won the FA Women’s Premier League National Division twice in 1999 and 2000. She also played an integral part in their FA Women’s Cup campaign, scoring the first goal in Croydon’s 2–1 win over Doncaster Belles in 2000. This was the last trophy won as Croydon Football Club as in the summer of 2000, they were taken over by Charlton Athletic Women.
She sustained a long-term injury during the 2001-2002 season but came back to help her team reach successive FA Women’s Cup finals in 2003 and 2004. Unfortunately, they lost both finals 3-0, first to Fulham Ladies and then to Arsenal Ladies . However, Walker and Charlton were victorious in the 2004 FA Women’s Premier League Cup, defeating Fulham 1-0 in the final.
It was with her spell at Charlton that she received her first international call-up and she made her full England international debut in a match against Italy in 2003. Walker went on to earn seven caps and her international accomplishments are well represented in this home shirt she wore, which is signed by her teammates.
She played her final England game against Russia in 2004 and stayed with her club Charlton for another two years. After some time out, Walker made a brief comeback playing for Millwall Lionesses in 2008. She scored a penalty on her debut, during a 2-1 win over Ipswich Town Women but later that season once again stepped away from football.