Leeds United Women are an English women's football club based in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

. They are currently members of the .

Club information

The club play their home matches at

Thorp Arch Thorp Arch is a village and civil parish near Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. It sits in the Wetherby ward of Leeds City Council and Elmet and Rothwell parliamentary constituency. The village is on ...

, the

Leeds United F.C. Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

training facility near

Wetherby Wetherby () is a market town and civil parish in the City of Leeds district, West Yorkshire, England, close to West Yorkshire county's border with North Yorkshire, and lies approximately from Leeds City Centre, from York and from Harrogat ...

. Leeds United Women have three senior teams: the first team competing in the WPL North Division 1 and U23s team in the women’s national reserve league, The U21S and U19s will play in the WRCWFL The club's most notable player was

Sue Smith Sue Smith may refer to: * Sue Smith (politician) (born 1951), member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council *Sue Smith (footballer) (born 1979), English footballer *Sue Smith (trainer) (born 1948), British horse trainer *Sue Smith (writer) Sue Smi ...

, who has played for over 10 years at international level for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, including at the

2007 Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but t ...

. The team was originally the Leeds United Ladies team. The team announced they were changing their name to Leeds Carnegie Ladies F.C. in July 2008. This came to ensure all of the professional sports teams Leeds Met University were investing in carried the name of the university's sport department, Carnegie College (including

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie (ba ...

and

Yorkshire Carnegie Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 1. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when it j ...

) On 8 July 2010, it was announced by

that to stop Leeds Carnegie Ladies from going out of existence, the club would step in to provide funding again, bringing the club full circle back to Leeds United Ladies once more, a day under two years since the club was renamed Leeds Carnegie L.F.C. In 2014, after a change of ownership of Leeds United, the club was renamed Leeds Ladies Football Club. The club was renamed back to Leeds United Ladies 3 years later after another change of ownership of Leeds United At the start of the 2019–20 season the team name changed to Leeds United Women, following a trend of modernised naming in other teams . File:Leeds Carnegie LFC.png, Badge during the period as Leeds Carnegie L.F.C. File:Leeds Ladies FC logo.jpg, Club badge when known as Leeds Ladies

History

The club began in 1989. After playing in the Yorkshire and Humberside League for seven years, the 1997–98 season saw the team gain promotion to the AXA FA Northern Premier League under the management of Mark Hodgson. In 1999–2000 season they reached the semi-finals of the

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...

Narrowly losing 2–1 to Croydon in a very close game at Ossett Albion. After consolidating and adjusting to

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

football for a couple of seasons, the team achieved promotion with a 5–0 win away at Wolverhampton Wanderers on 7 May 2001 and were crowned champions of the Northern Premier League and gained promotion to the Women's Premier League. Leeds finished a credible fourth in their first season in the top flight (2001–02), with manager Mark Hodgson winning The FA Women's Premier Leagues 'Manager of the Year' award. The following season proved to be a tough one and Leeds finished the league in seventh place. The 2003–04 season saw a new manager, Julie Chipchase, appointed and Leeds once again finished in fourth place – the highest-placed team outside

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In the 2004–05 season the side finished in fifth place.

Split from Leeds United

The chairman of Leeds United A.F.C.,

Ken Bates Kenneth William Bates (born 4 December 1931) is a British businessman, football executive and hotelier. He was involved in the development of Wembley Stadium and is the former owner and chairman of football clubs Chelsea and Leeds United. Bates ...

, cut the ladies' club's funding by stopping financial backing in 2005, and withdrawing the Thorp Arch training facilities in 2006. The ladies' team managed to survive using sponsorship money. They were first sponsored in a two-year deal worth over £70,000 by EmpireDirect.co.uk, before receiving sponsorship from

Leeds Metropolitan University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the city centre and Headingley. The univ ...

in a deal reported to be worth in excess of £250,000 over 5 years, starting in 2007. The 2005–06 season saw the team accomplish one of its greatest achievements to date, playing in the

final against overwhelming favourites

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is an English professional women's football club based in Islington, London, England. The club plays in the Women's Super League, the top tier of English women's football. Arse ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

legend Allan Clarke presented them with sock tags before the match, similar to those worn by the Leeds United male team in their

1972 FA Cup Final The 1972 FA Cup Final took place on 6 May 1972 at Wembley Stadium. It was the centenary final (although only the 91st final due to the world wars) and the 44th to be played at Wembley. It was contested between cup holders Arsenal, who had won th ...

victory, in a bid to give the team luck. Nevertheless, the match did not turn out how the team had hoped, with Arsenal winning the game 5–0. Heather Scheuber Rachel Stowell

The 2006–07 season was a fluctuating one, with Leeds topping the table over the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

period and the team getting through to the

FA Women's Premier League Cup The Women's National League Cup is an annual English football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association (WFA). It was renamed the FA Women's Premier League Cup from 1994 to 2018. The first edition of the Cup includ ...

final for a second time. The opposition was again

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and Leeds put in a much better performance than in their previous cup final appearance, but they lost out to a last-minute strike by

Jayne Ludlow Jayne Louise Ludlow (born 7 January 1979) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is currently the technical director of Manchester City Girls' Academy. In 2018, she was inducted on to the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame Roll of Honour alo ...

. This seemed to have a big impact, as the team didn't perform as well in the closing stages of the season and they had dropped down to fifth by the end of the season. The club won the ''Marketing Club of the Year'' award at the FA Women's Awards in May 2007 for the third consecutive year. A change in management was made in the

close season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

and Rick Passmoor and Leanne Hall were appointed manager and assistant manager respectively in July 2007. The new management team made a number of new signings, including

Steph Houghton Stephanie Jayne Darby (, , born 23 April 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays for Women's Super League club Manchester City and the England women's national team. At club level, Houghton started at Sunderland in her native Nor ...

Carly Telford Carly Mitchell Telford (born 7 July 1987) is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for San Diego Wave and the England national team. Club career Telford joined Leeds United Ladies in 2007 from relegated club Sunderland. In May of t ...

, Katie Holtham, Georgie Adams, Jade Moore and Carla Ward. By March 2008 the team were lying mid-table in the Premier League but finished in third position with 40 points, below Everton on 57 points and

on 62 points. The 2007–2008 season saw the club reach their second

final, their third cup final in as many years.

again were their opponents and the match mirrored the previous

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

final. The game was 0–0 at halftime, although

produced most of the chances in the first half and constantly forced United goalkeeper

into some amazing saves. Action at the opposite end of the pitch was non-existent, as United striker

Amanda Barr Amanda Jayne Maslin-Barr (born 2 May 1982) is an English football striker She scored ten goals in 37 appearances for the England women's national football team after making her international debut in 2001. Barr spearheaded the England attack a ...

struggled. In the second half

scored three goals in seven minutes:

Smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

53,

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...

59 and

Sanderson Sanderson may refer to: Places * Sanderson, Florida, a town in the United States * Sanderson, Texas, a census-designated place in the United States * Sanderson, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * Sanderson, Northern ...

60. Leeds fought back with a header from Jess Clarke on 69, but

sealed their season double with a final goal from

Kelly Smith Kelly Jayne Smith (born 29 October 1978) is an English former football forward who spent three spells with FA WSL club Arsenal Ladies. After moving to the United States, Smith broke records with Seton Hall University then played professionally ...

seven minutes from time.

was named Player of the Match before a record crowd of 24,582 at the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when E ...

. In the 2008

the club's name became Leeds Carnegie Ladies.

U23 striker Carla Cantrell signed from

Doncaster Rovers Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an English women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's administration is based at the Eco Power St ...

and

U19's Ellen White, also a striker, joined from

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. After a poor start and with key players injured for extended periods, Leeds finished sixth in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

in season 2008–09. In January 2010 the club's future was cast into doubt when their bid to join the

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

collapsed. The following month they won the club's first major trophy, the Premier League Cup, with a 3–1 win over Everton at

Spotland Stadium Spotland Stadium, known as the Crown Oil Arena for sponsorship reasons, in the Spotland area of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, is home to Rochdale A.F.C. and Rochdale Hornets R.F.L.C. and has a capacity of 10,249. History Spotland was origina ...

on 11 February 2010. In March 2013 the club were confirmed as one of 33 clubs to apply for up to 18 places available in the expanded two tier 2014 FA WSL with the outcome expected in June 2014. The club has started a "Show Some Love for Leeds United Ladies" campaign stating that the future of the club could depend on the success of their WSL application. Leeds United withdrew funding and permission to use their name and branding at the end of the 2013–14 season, causing Leeds United Ladies to cease to exist. In the immediate aftermath, a group of supporters rallied to create a new club, Leeds Ladies FC, to carry on the tradition of Ladies football in Leeds.

New era (2017–)

Following a varied season on and off the field; a break away from the vision which was laid out at the beginning and broken promises, it was decided that an EGM would be called to decide upon the future of the existing structure. It was decided that there was no longer any confidence in the previous leadership and a new committee would now take control of Leeds Ladies FC. After the EGM, the previous committee laid claim to the legal ownership of the club cancelling all training facilities and withheld club assets including playing kits and attempted to immediately dissolve the club. In order to ensure that the club kept going the new committee purchased a new kit, reinstated and paid for all training facilities and fulfilled all fixtures for both senior and both youth teams. The FA requested that the previous committee prove legal ownership which they have been unable to do. The club announced the appointment of a new structure behind the club, appointing Lee Townend as chairman of Leeds Ladies Football Club, with the full advisory support from the main sponsor Andrew Pinder. Lee previously worked with the club as director of football and head of youth development so he brings an extensive knowledge of the club to the new structure. Lee will be joined in the day to day matters by Kirsty Emmot who has been appointed as club treasurer and Jo Czibor as club secretary. Lewis Atkinson will become director of football and will maintain his position as first team manager supported by his coaching team. The remaining roles have been filled by the leadership team ensuring the club structure is in safe hands with a 6-person-strong executive committee. The club's main priority is to instil transparency across all areas. From financial to the club's ambitions, Leeds Ladies FC wants to be very open and honest in its approach and in its leadership. The current leadership team have a very positive attitude towards the future of Leeds Ladies FC and is looking forward to helping the club realise its potential.

Leeds Ladies returns to Leeds United Ladies

On 26 June 2017, new Leeds owner

Andrea Radrizzani Andrea Radrizzani (born 10 September 1974) is an Italian businessman and the majority owner of Premier League football club Leeds United. He is also the chairman and founder of the sports broadcasting group Eleven Sports. Early life and educa ...

brought back Leeds Ladies to

ownership to become Leeds United Ladies again after the club had previously become its own entity after previous owner

Massimo Cellino Massimo Cellino (; born 28 July 1956) is an Italian entrepreneur and football club owner. Through his family trust Eleonora Sport Ltd he is the owner of Italian club Brescia Calcio, and is the former owner of italian club Cagliari, and English cl ...

decided to stop Leeds United funding in 2014.

Honours

FA Women's Premier League National Division The FA Women's Premier League National Division (originally WFA National League Premier Division) was a football division in England. From 1991 until 2010, the National Division functioned as the top league in English women's football. Durin ...

**Runners-up (1): 2011–12 *

FA 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 bel ...

**Champions (1): 2000–01 *

**Runners-up (2): 2006, 2008 *

**Winners (1): 2010 **Runners-up (3): 2007, 2012, 2013

Current squad

Coaching and backroom staff

The 2022/2023 backroom staff consists of: 1st Team * Manager Rick Passmoor * Assistant Manager/ First Team Coach Benjamin Peters * First Team Coach * Sarah Dobby (Player / Coach) * First Team Physio * Ailish Clear * U23s * Manager Angus Hall * Coach Chris Plater * u21s * Manager Craige Richardson is an FA level 2 qualified coach * Coach James Appleyard Strength and Conditioning coach * Chris Plater

References

External links

*
F.A. Women's Page

BBC Sport – football – women

FA Full Time League Website
{{Leeds United A.F.C. Leeds United F.C. Association football clubs established in 1989 Women's football clubs in England Football clubs in West Yorkshire Sport in Leeds 1989 establishments in England FA Women's National League teams