Notts County Ladies F.C.

Notts County Ladies Football Club was a women's football club based in Nottingham, England. Like the club's male affiliate Notts County FC, they played their home games at Meadow Lane.

For the current women's football club, see Notts County Women F.C.
"Lincoln City L.F.C." redirects here. For the current team, see Lincoln City Women F.C.

Notts County Ladies FC
Full nameNotts County Ladies Football Club
Nickname(s)Lady Magpies
Founded1995 (as Lincoln Ladies)
2014 (as Notts County Ladies)
Dissolved2017
GroundMeadow Lane
Nottingham
Capacity20,229[1]
20166th

Notts County Ladies were created in 2014 when Lincoln Ladies were relocated from Lincoln to Nottingham and rebranded. The club were originally formed in Lincoln in 1995 and also spent a period known as Lincoln City Ladies while affiliated to Lincoln City. Sincil Bank and other smaller venues staged the club's matches during their time in Lincoln. The club was named OOH Lincoln Ladies from 2008 until 2010, due to sponsorship from Ray Trew's OOH Media PLC.

The club withdrew from the FA WSL 1, the top tier in the English women's football league system, two days before the start of the FA WSL Spring Series on 21 April 2017.[2]

Lincoln Ladies
Logo from OOH Lincoln era 2008–2010

Lincoln Ladies FC were founded in 1995 and began playing in the East Midlands Combination League.[3] The club was promoted in each of the following seasons, bar one, until reaching the FA Women's Premier League Northern Division in 2002.[3] This feat was achieved with the same core group of players.[4] The team finished as league runners-up in four successive seasons (2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10) and reached the semi-final of the FA Women's Cup in 2007–08.[5]

A five-year sponsorship deal with former Lincoln City F.C. board member Ray Trew in June 2008 led to the club's change of name to OOH Lincoln Ladies.[6][7] Trew had previously sponsored the club through his SportsTV company, and made available extra funds for signings such as England internationals Kay Hawke and Amanda Barr to assist the club's promotion bid.[4]

In November 2009 the club announced a bid to join the FA WSL.[8] If successful the club planned to divide home games between Sincil Bank and current home, Ashby Avenue.[9] In 2009–10 they had taken second place in the FA Women's Premier League Northern Division to Liverpool LFC, after finishing second to Sunderland WFC, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool LFC in the three previous seasons.[7]

On 22 March 2010 Lincoln were announced as one of the eight FA WSL teams for the inaugural 2011 season,[7][10][11] which was televised on ESPN.[7] In August 2010 the club signed Jess Clarke and Sophie Bradley for their FA WSL campaign.[12] In the same week Sue Smith also joined from Leeds United.[13] Weeks before the start of the new competition, Lincoln made another major signing with the capture of Casey Stoney from Chelsea.[14]

Stadia
Lincoln Ladies in 2010

Lincoln Ladies FC ground-shared with Lincoln United F.C. at Ashby Avenue after summer 2009.[15] Before that the club spent three seasons playing in Collingham, Nottinghamshire at the Station Road ground, which became a "fortress".[15]

In 2002–03 the club played their home games at Sincil Bank and became the first women's club to play a full season at a professional Football League stadium.[3]

On 7 January 2013 the club announced that they would play their fixtures for the 2013 FA WSL at Sincil Bank.[16]

Supporters

Lincoln Ladies FC claimed to have had one of the largest fanbases of any female club in England.[8] The FA Women's Cup semi-final in 2008 attracted 3,000 fans to Sincil Bank, while over 1,500 attended other high-profile home matches.[3] By the last two seasons in Lincoln, 2012 and 2013, average home attendances had slumped to 526 and 269 respectively.[17]

Lincoln City Women

In 2019, Nettleham LFC rebranded to Lincoln City Women F.C. and became the new team affiliated with Lincoln City F.C. They are often mistaken for Lincoln Ladies but hold no connection to the original team.

Notts County Ladies

Move to Nottingham

On 26 April 2013, the club said it would become Notts County Ladies from the 2014 season onwards, but did not reveal logistics of the presumed move to Nottingham.[18][19] This has not been without controversy.[20][21] There was talk of creating a wholly new team in Lincoln as a consequence; in 2019, Lincoln City F.C. adopted a team in the FA Women's National League.[22] A link with a male club was necessary to meet the criteria for the new two tier FA WSL.[23] Angry supporters in Lincoln compared the move to the 2003 relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes.[17]

Folding and relaunch of women's team

The club withdrew from the FA WSL 1, the top tier in the English women's football league system, two days before the start of the FA WSL Spring Series on 21 April 2017.[2][24][25] The club created a new women's team for the 2018–19 season[26] as Notts County Women F.C.[27][28]

Colours and badge

The playing colours of Notts County Ladies FC were black and white striped shirts and white shorts.[29] The club also used the same badge as their affiliate club.

Stadia

The rebranding to Notts County for the 2014 season entailed a relocation to Meadow Lane, Nottingham.[23]

Former players

For details of former players, see Category:Notts County L.F.C. players.

Managerial statistics
Name Nat From To Record
PWDLWin %
Rick Passmoor 2014 2017 25 10 9 6 040.00

Honours

As Lincoln Ladies F.C.:[3]

  • FA Women's Premier League Northern Division:
    • Runners-up (4): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
  • Lincolnshire FA County Cup:
    • Winners (7): 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10

See also

References
  1. "Notts County Secure Full Safety Rating". nottscountyfc.co.uk. Notts County F.C. 22 July 2011. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012.
  2. "Notts County Ladies: WSL 1 club fold on eve of Spring Series season". BBC Sport. 21 April 2017. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  3. "Club History". Ladyimps.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  4. Tony Leighton (6 November 2006). "Lincoln's original imps still set for the top despite cup defeat". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  5. "Lincoln City Ladies v Arsenal Ladies". BBC Lincolnshire. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  6. "OOH Lincoln". Ladyimps.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  7. "The OOH Lincoln Ladies". LincsMag.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2010.
  8. "Lincoln Ladies F.C. Super League Bid". Ladyimps.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  9. Leighton, Tony (30 November 2009). "OOH Lincoln declare intention to join women's Super League in 2011". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  10. "Lincoln Ladies FA Women's Super League bid success". BBC. 22 March 2010. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  11. Leighton, Tony (21 March 2010). "Lincoln City the surprise name in newly formed Women's Super League". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  12. "Double is major coup for Lady Imps". Give me football. 3 August 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  13. "Lincoln Ladies sign England winger Sue Smith". BBC Sport. 4 August 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  14. Jessica Creighton (16 March 2011). "Casey Stoney moves clubs ahead of the new Super League". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
  15. "Lincoln Ladies to return to city". BBC. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  16. Barnaby Banks (7 January 2013). "Lincoln Ladies in deal to play home games at Sincil Bank". This is Lincolnshire. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  17. Magowan, Alistair (3 May 2013). "Lincoln Ladies: Casey Stoney accepts fans' anger over move". BBC. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  18. "WSL 2014". Lincoln Ladies. 23 April 2013. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  19. Fish, Elizabeth (26 April 2013). "Lincoln Ladies to become Notts County Ladies in 2014". The Lincolnite. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  20. "Lincoln Ladies: Move to Nottingham branded 'own goal'". BBC news Lincolnshire. 29 April 2013. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  21. "Lincoln Ladies move to Nottingham will 'kill Forest Ladies'". BBC news Lincolnshire. 30 April 2013. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  22. Whiley, Mark (23 May 2013). "Lincoln City Ladies could be reborn if FA backs proposal to form new women's club". Lincolnshire Echo. Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  23. Dewar, Heather (15 January 2014). "Scotland defender Rachel Corsie signs for Notts County". BBC. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  24. "Notts County Ladies Folds Following Huge Debts – FC Business". Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  25. sport, Guardian; agencies (21 April 2017). "Notts County Ladies 'jobless and homeless' as club folds on eve of season". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  26. https://shekicks.net/2018/05/22/notts-county-relaunch-womens-team/
  27. Notts County: Owner announces women’s team to be reformed 13 months after folding https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44195466
  28. "Notts County FC - Women's team". www.nottscountyfc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  29. http://www.nclfc.co.uk/team.html#5jqmHdeJ4uSOQS5F.97 Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
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