The Greater London Women's Football League is an amateur competitive

women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known simply as women's football or women's soccer, is a team sport of association football when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries and 176 national te ...

competition based in

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

, England. The league is affiliated with the

Amateur Football Alliance The Amateur Football Alliance is a county football association in England. It is unusual among county FAs in not serving a particular geographical area. It was founded in 1906 as the Amateur Football Defence Council, was briefly known as the Ama ...

Middlesex County Football Association The Middlesex Football Association is an organisation that regulates and promotes football, aiming to increase the quantity and quality of participation in the historic area of Middlesex. History The Middlesex F.A. was founded in 1883 by the Footb ...

, and

London Football Association The London Football Association (LFA) is the regional Football Association for inner areas of London. The London FA was established in 1882 and is affiliated to The Football Association. The London FA administers all levels of men's, women's and ...

. Matches are played on Sundays. The league is at Tier 7 of the women's pyramid. It promotes to 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 ...

, and does not relegate to any league.

History

The league was founded in 1972 as the Hounslow and District Ladies Football League (H&DIST League) with two divisions, named Division A and Division B. In the debut edition, Kingston Grasshoppers won Division A and Barnet Copthall won Division B. Players originally paid to participate, with fees of £3 as of 1974. Gallaher Ladies were named the league's first champions on 9 February 1973 after defeating Moselely 4–0 and securing an unbeaten season.

Name changes

The league renamed itself Greater London Women's Football League in 1983, then to Greater London Women's Regional League in 1990, and back to Greater London Women's Football League in 2003.

Expansion

The league added a third division in 1975, a fourth division in 1978, a fifth Premier division in 1991 that offered promotion into the WFA National League, and a sixth division in 1996. In 1975, the league named Steve Perryman its president and added a third division. By 1978,

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

had joined the league

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. By 1982,

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

, and

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

had joined. The first league match held at a men's first division ground was on 19 April 1989 at

The Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which i ...

between Millwall and Romford. Hackney Women's F.C., a woman-run and openly lesbian club with an anti-racist charter, was founded in 1986 and began competing in the Greater London Women's Regional League in the 1990s. The club reported incidents of homophobic and bigoted behavior experienced by players to the

Women's Football Association The Women's Football Association (WFA) was the governing body of women's football in England. It was formed in 1969 and was disbanded in 1993, as responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the game of women's football in England passed to Th ...

and

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

joined in 1992, and Queen's Park Rangers Women joined in 1997. Fulhuam launched the league's, and nation's, first professional women's club on 20 April 2000. Longtime members Brentford W.F.C. held its first match at Griffin Park on 1 March 2003. In 2006, Fulham Deaf L.F.C. joined the league. In 2008, they won the treble of Division 4, the Sue Sharples Memorial Trophy, and the Russell Cup. Ashford Town W.F.C and New London Lionesses join in 2016.

Sue Sharples Memorial Trophy

On 19 April 1994, Tottenham Hotspur Reserves player Sue Sharples died during training. The league added a cup competition named the Sue Sharples Memorial Trophy in her honor, and Tottenham Hotspur Reserves won the inaugural competition.

John Greenacre Memorial Trophy

On 24 November 2018, West Ham United L.F.C. co-founder and club president

John Greenacre John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

died of cancer. The league renamed its cup the John Greenacre Memorial Trophy in his honor.

Teams

The teams competing during the 2023–24 season are:

References

External links

Official website
6 Football competitions in London Women's sport in London {{England-footy-competition-stub