St Helens Women's Football Club was a leading women's football club in England.
The club was founded in 1976 by Chris Slater and
Liz Deighan
Liz Deighan (born c. 1953, Northumberland) is a former association football player, who played for the England national women's football team, as well as clubs including Fodens WFC, Southport WFC, and St Helens W.F.C.. She won 48 England ...
, who had met at trials for the
England women's national football team. It joined the Merseyside League, winning it three years running from 1978 to 1980, also winning the Merseyside Cup twice. In 1979/80, it won the
Women's FA Cup, defeating
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
1–0 in the
final. This took them into the European Clubs Cup, and the team lost in the 1980/81 final.
The team then switched to the
North West Women's League, winning the championship twice. It reached the final of the Women's FA Cup again in
1980/81,
1982/83, and
1986/87, but lost on each occasion. In later years, the club played in the
Women's Premier League Northern Division
The FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division is a league at the third-level in the women's football league pyramid in England, along with the Southern division. These two divisions are part of the FA Women's National League and belo ...
, and the
Midland Combination Women's Football League
The Midland Combination Women's Football League, also known simply as the Midland Combination, was a women's football league in England from 1998 to 2014. Until the creation of the FA Women's Super League in 2011, that sat at the third level of ...
. It was renamed as the Garswood Saints, and under that name won the
North West Women's Regional Football League in 2004/05.
In 2006, there was a fire at the team's clubhouse, in
Garswood, and this led the club to disband at the end of the 2005/06 season.
References
{{reflist
1976 establishments in England
2006 disestablishments in England
Defunct women's football clubs in England
Association football clubs established in 1976
Association football clubs disestablished in 2006
Football clubs in Merseyside
Sport in St Helens, Merseyside