Millwall Lionesses Football Club is an English women's football club based in

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of Dogs ...

, south-east

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 ...

, that plays in the

London and South East Women's Regional Football League {{{Use dmy dates, date=January 2021 {{Infobox football league , name = London and South East Women's Regional Football League , logo = , pixels = , country = {{ENG , founded = 2005 , folded = , divisions = 3 , teams ...

, the fifth tier of English women's football. Founded in 1973, the group of women who made up the Lionesses were at first snubbed by Millwall FC but went on to become the first women's football team to affiliate to a professional men's team,

Millwall F.C. Millwall Football Club () is a professional football club in Bermondsey, South East London, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name ...

who are

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

d "The Lions". The Lionesses pioneered the now common "Football in the Community Scheme".

History

Millwall Lionesses remained an independent club in their initial years of existence. In the mid–1980s

Millwall FC Millwall Football Club () is a professional football club in Bermondsey, South East London, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name ...

, who were trying to mitigate an appalling reputation for

football hooliganism Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves ...

and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

, embraced the female club as part of their community project. Development officer

Gary Stempel Gary Stempel (born 26 January 1957) is a Panamanian football manager. Career Prior to his move to Panama, Stempel was a community outreach officer with London club Millwall. He enjoyed his greatest success as at club level in a four-year spell ...

sourced funding from the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

(GLC) and then a combination of Lewisham and Greenwich Councils, as well as the

Sports Council Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

. Millwall Lionesses became a leading force in both the women's game and the "Millwall Community Programme", and played an active part in the development of girls' football. Millwall Lionesses were the first club to have a female Centre of Excellence, of which there eventually became 42 in

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 ...

. Millwall Lionesses field teams with an age range of eight, to thirty plus. The former

England women's national football team The England women's national football team, also known as the Lionesses, have been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first in ...

coach

Hope Powell Hope Patricia Powell, CBE (born 8 December 1966) is an English former international footballer and former women's first-team manager of Brighton & Hove Albion. She was the coach of the England women's national football team and the Great Britain ...

began her career with The Lionesses at the age of eleven, making her international debut at the age of 16. The Lionesses won 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 ...

in 1991 and 1997. The Lionesses won promotion back to the FA Women's Premier League National Division in 2008–09, following an eight-year absence since their relegation in 2001. In 2014 the Lionesses were founding members of 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 ...

2, the new 2nd tier of Women's football in England later renamed the

FA Women's Championship The Women's Championship (formerly The FA Women's Championship) is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The division was established in 2014 as the FA Women's Super League 2 (WSL 2). WSL 2 replaced the previous level 2 d ...

. In May 2019, shortly after the conclusion of the

2018–19 FA Women's Championship The 2018–19 FA Women's Championship was the first rebranded edition of the FA Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England, renamed from the FA WSL 2 which was founded in 2014. The season ran from 8 September 2018 to 12 M ...

, it was announced that the Lionesses would split from

forming a breakaway club named

London City Lionesses London City Lionesses is a fully professional women's association football club based in Dartford, England. The team competes in the Women's Championship, the second tier of English women's football. The club was founded in May 2019, as an i ...

. The FA Women's Championship licence was transferred to the new club. Millwall Lionesses would be operated through the Millwall Community Trust, whilst playing their football in the Eastern Region Women's League. Colin Reid was appointed as manager, with St Paul's Sports Ground in

confirmed as their home venue.

Players

Millwall Lionesses LFC Millwall Lionesses Vs Lowestoft Town (16459891246)

References

External links

Lionesses' page at Millwall FCOfficial website
{{Millwall F.C. Association football clubs established in 1972 Millwall F.C. Women's football clubs in England Women's football clubs in London 1972 establishments in England Women's Championship (England) teams FA Women's National League teams Eastern Region Women's Football League teams