This comparative research project looked to compare and contrast the socio-historical climate of British society regarding women’s British tennis and football in the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. The significance of this study lies in using a library-based qualitative research design heralding both primary and secondary sources, while taking a constructivist ontological and interpretive epistemological stance to deliberate on three significant themes: how women are viewed in British society in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries; women’s subordination via patriarchy within physical activity and the social class association with women in sport. From these themes it was discovered that overall, the middle classes were at the forefront of both sports during the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries. Findings suggest that women’s tennis was more relaxed and the Victorian notions created an atmosphere where the female embodiment of the sport thrived in the middle and upper-classes as compared to men’s sport. Moreover, findings highlight that women’s football however was unsuccessful in the first instance and very much considered inferior to the men’s game, and required a second wave for the sport to begin allowing women to competitively play. Future studies using a library-based qualitative research design may consider outlining their findings in chronological order, as this would enable the reader to gain more context into how the issues arose and were contested.