History
Leicester City Ladies F.C. is steeped in tradition and is very proud of its 42 year history.
Leicester City Ladies F.C. originated in 1966 as Leicester Ladies F.C. We affiliated with the then separate W.F.A. and our one senior team then joined the Midlands League. As the club grew we ran two teams, each playing in different divisions of the League.
Searching for a fresh challenge for the first team, the club was streamlined to one league team again and joined the Nottinghamshire Ladies League where we progressed through the 3rd and 2nd divisions before establishing ourselves in the 1st division.
Ladies football was re-organised to be compatible with the sports council regions of that time. Consequently the Nottinghamshire league became the East Midlands Ladies League. The FA gradually took over from the WFA. Until our promotion to the Midland Combination League in recent years, our highest placing was in 1992 when we finished second. Unfortunately our match facilities at that time were not of the required standard to accept the offer of application to the newly-formed National League; a decision we came to regret as we struggled to never quite reach top spot and gain promotion in the years that followed.
Working closely with Leicester City Council we supported many initiatives to develop the game and St Margarets Pastures Sports Centre became our training ground, as it remains today. We were proud of this link alongside our City based status and our name became Leicester City Ladies FC.
We reformed our Reserves team to cater for the increased interest in our sport locally, and in 1992, we formed a junior section to cater for the under 16’s. This development was a priority in our game. Our junior sections grew to attract around eighty youngsters. 1993 saw the formation of a third senior league team to satisfy the need for competitive matches for seniors.
In 1992, we became associated with the Leicester City Football Club. We became part of their Community department and worked together to develop girls and ladies football in the City and County.
One highlight of these times was playing against our female counterparts as the pre-match entertainment in the play-off final v Crystal Palace at Wembley in 1996.
We run junior and youth teams catering for every age group. In the past our junior teams played successfully in the Central Warwickshire League as the local league was still developing; then we made a conscious decision to move them back to support the prospering Leicestershire junior league.
The formation of the Leicester City Centre of Excellence swallowed up many of our players which was difficult at the time but we have now rebuilt and field very competitive teams again.
Since then, we have developed our structure to become one of the largest clubs in the country today. The Leicester City Centre of Excellence led to the formation of a new elite women’s team but after much discussion we decided to maintain our own status and work alongside Leicester City as we always had in the community. We believed there were enough good players to have two strong Senior sides at least in the City and County and we needed teams to cater for them.
We now run three senior teams, Fosse in the Leicestershire Women’s Senior League and the 1st team and Reserves play in the Midlands Combination League.
We are very proud to have been sponsored by MDH Sportswear of Market Harborough since 2007 and our identity and appearance has been much strengthened by this sponsorship.
Two years ago we welcomed our first boys team named LCLFC Blaby Blues who play now at under 14 level in the Leicestershire Junior Sunday League. We already had linked with Woodgate 80 to form a mixed inclusive section which has grown from strength to strength.
All these initiatives have meant we have now moved forward to achieving Community Charter Standard.
We look forward to our future. Our aim has always been to get our Senior 1st team to the top of the National League and we will strive to achieve this. Our history though is something to be proud of.
Thanks to many, many hardworking volunteers and players to whom we will be eternally grateful.