The Lancashire County Football Association, also known simply as the Lancashire FA, is the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

within the historical county boundaries of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of football at all levels in the county.

History and organisation

The Lancashire County FA was formed on 28 September 1878 at a meeting held one Saturday afternoon in the parlour of The Volunteer Inn, Bromley Cross. The LFA runs a number of different cup competitions catering for the various levels of football played throughout the county, which is based on the historic county boundaries of

, before the 1974 county boundary re-organisation, rather than the current administrative county boundaries and so includes

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 t ...

to the north and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Bor ...

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, w ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

to the south.

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, historically part of Lancashire, is not administered by the Lancashire FA and is instead covered by the Cheshire FA. The administrative area covered by the Lancashire County FA overlaps with areas covered by Manchester FA and Liverpool FA. According to the ''Memorandum on Areas and Overlapping of Associations'' the Manchester FA covers the area 12 miles from Manchester Town Hall and is confined to

. The Liverpool FA covers 18 miles in

and 8 miles in Cheshire from Liverpool Town Hall. In addition in an agreement with the Cumberland FA the Lancashire FA received eight clubs in the South Cumberland area of

Millom Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southwest Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Fur ...

from the end of season 1969/70. The county is divided into nine areas with each area having one member on the LFA Council. The divisions are as follows: Division 1:

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

– Pendle – Rossendale
Division 2:

Blackburn with Darwen Blackburn with Darwen is a borough and unitary authority area in Lancashire, North West England. It consists of the industrial town of Blackburn and the market town of Darwen including other villages around the two towns. Formation It was f ...

–

Hyndburn Hyndburn is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington and covers the outlying towns of Clayton-le-Moors, Great Ha ...

–

Ribble Valley Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status within the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The total population of the non-metropolitan district at the 2011 Census was 57,132. Its council is based in Clith ...

Division 3:

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

Division 4: Bury –

Division 5:

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came ...

–

West Lancashire West Lancashire is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The council is based in Ormskirk, and the largest town in the borough is Skelmersdale. At the 2011 Census, the population of the borough was 110,68 ...

Division 6:

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

– South Ribble –

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

– Fylde
Division 7:

–

Division 8: Barrow – Lancaster – Wyre
Division 9: St Helens –

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

–

The Lancashire FA governs 100 leagues, 4,000 teams and 1,500 referees.

Lancashire County Schools team

In the 2005–06 season the Lancashire County FA Schools team won the

English Schools' Football Association The English Schools' Football Association was founded in 1904 and is the governing body of schools' football in England. It is responsible for the running and development of schools competitions and festivals at primary and secondary school age ...

Under-16 Inter County Trophy. In the semi-final held at Victoria Park, Burscough, Lancashire beat Leicestershire & Rutland County Schools FA 3–1. They then beat Devon County Schools FA 2–1 in the final which was held at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

on 11 May 2006.

County Ground

The Lancashire FA are based at the County Ground, Thurston Road in Leyland. They moved their headquarters to the County Ground in 1998 from

. The County Ground is the current home of Bolton Wanderers reserve team, who play in the

Premier Reserve League The Premier Reserve League (officially known as The Barclays Premier Reserve League for sponsorship reasons) was the reserve team league for the top English football teams in the Premier League. The league was split into a northern and a south ...

and who, in the 2009–10 season, play in the North Division. The club also use the ground for all their home matches in the

Manchester Senior Cup The Manchester FA Senior Cup (originally known as the Manchester and District Challenge Cup, later the Manchester Cup) is an annual football tournament held between the clubs of the Manchester Football Association which was first played in 1885 ...

. The county representative team and county youth team also use the ground for home matches, and up until the 2009–2010 season County Cup finals were played at the County Ground. The ground has a 500-seater covered stand. Facilities include an all-weather pitch as well as six corporate rooms, the largest of which, the Tom Finney Suite, can seat up to 100.

Affiliated Leagues

Men's Saturday Leagues

*Accrington Combination *Blackburn and District Combination *East Lancashire League *Furness Premier League * Lancashire League *

Lancashire Amateur League The Lancashire Amateur Football League is an English association football league founded in 1899. Currently the league consists of five divisions – Premier, One, Two, Three and Four. The Premier Division is at level 14 in the English football ...

*Mid Lancashire and District League * North Lancashire & District Football League *Rochdale Alliance League *SportsReach League *

West Lancashire League The West Lancashire Football League is a football competition based in northern England, consisting of five divisions – three for first teams (Premier, One and Two), and two for reserve teams. The league is currently sponsored by Lancaster- ...

Ladies and Girls Leagues

* Lancashire FA Women's County League * Lancashire Girls League * West Lancashire Girls League

Other Leagues

*Bolton Sports Federation Over 35 Veterans League *Lancashire Ability Counts *Lancaster University Inter College Men’s League

Men's Sunday Leagues

Blackburn Sunday LeagueBlackpool and Fylde Sunday AllianceBurnley and District Sunday LeagueBury and District Sunday LeagueChorley Nissan Sunday League Harry Dewhurst Memorial Sunday League
*Middleton and District Sunday League *Lancashire Evening Post Sunday League *Ormskirk and District Sunday League *Pendle Charity League *Skelmersdale and District Sunday League *South Lancashire Counties League

Small Sided Leagues

*Blackburn Community 7-a-side League *Furness Futebol – Barrow-in-Furness *Lancashire FA County 6ixes *PSL Soccer Leagues *Soccer Burnley 5's *Soccer Sixes :- Blackburn :- Lancaster :- Morecambe :- Preton * Leisure Leagues - Garstang - Longridge - Colne

Youth Leagues

*Lancashire FA Under 18 Floodlight League *Accrington and District Junior League *Barrow and District Junior League *Blackpool and District Youth *Bolton and Bury Junior Football League *Bury & Radcliffe Junior League *East Lancashire Alliance *Craven Minor Junior League *Central Lancashire Junior League *Lancaster and Morecambe Service to Youth League *Lune and District Junior League *Mid Lancashire Colts Junior League *North Bury Junior League *North Valley Youth League *Poulton and District Primary League *Preston City Development League *Rochdale and Oldham Youth League *Skelmersdale Junior League *Warburton Youth League *Wigan & District Youth League

Disbanded Leagues

A number of leagues that were affiliated to the Lancashire FA have disbanded or amalgamated with other leagues including: *

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 it ...

*Bolton & District Amateur Combination *Bolton Boys and Girls Federation *Fylde District League *Lancashire Palatine League *Lancaster and Morecambe Grassroots Sunday League *Leigh & District Amateur League *Morecambe & Lancaster Sunday Football League *Preston Churches League *Blackburn & Darwen Junior League *Hindley & District Junior League *Hyndburn & District Boys League

Members

Full members

There are 79 clubs who have full membership of the Lancashire FA. These are – *

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

* A.F.C. Blackpool *

A.F.C. Darwen Darwen Football Club is a football club from Darwen, Lancashire, England. The club was formed in 2009 as A.F.C. Darwen, a successor to the original Darwen club, which had been wound up. They currently play in the and are based at the Anch ...

* AFC Fylde * Ashton Athletic * Atherton Collieries * Atherton Laburnum Rovers *Atherton Town *BAC/EE/Springfields * Bacup Borough *BAE Systems Barrow *

Bamber Bridge Bamber Bridge is an urban village in Lancashire, England, south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". The population was 13,945 a ...

* Barrow *

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

* Blackpool Wren Rovers *Blackrod Town *

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

*Bolton Wyresdale *Breightmet United *Bridge Celtic FC, Adlington *

*Burnley United *

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale. The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Marti ...

* Bury * Charnock Richard *

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for tourists visiting the area. In 2018, the Cl ...

*Collegiate Old Boys *Croston Sports Club * Daisy Hill *

Dalton United Dalton may refer to: Science * Dalton (crater), a lunar crater * Dalton (program), chemistry software * Dalton (unit) (Da), the atomic mass unit * John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist Entertainment * Dalton (Buffyverse), minor cha ...

Eagley Eagley is a village of the unparished area of South Turton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies on southern slopes of the West Pennine Moors. Eagley Brook passes thro ...

* Everton *

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed i ...

*Fulwood Amateurs *Golborne Sports *Hesketh Bank *Hesketh Casuals *Hindsford * Holker Old Boys *Lancashire Constabulary *

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footba ...

* Leigh Genesis *

*Lytham St. Annes & Fylde YMCA F.C. *

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

*Merseyside Police *Mill Hill St. Peters *

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), ...

* Nelson *Norcross & Warbreck *Old Blackburnians *Old Boltonians *Old Xaverians *

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

*Oldham Hulmeians * Padiham *Poulton Town *

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 ...

* Prestwich Heys * Radcliffe Borough * Ramsbottom United *

* Rochdale Town *Rochdale St. Clements * Rossendale United *

Skelmersdale United Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool F.A. and the Lancashire County Footba ...

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

*Southport Trinity *

Squires Gate Squires Gate is a district and an electoral ward in South Shore, Blackpool on the Fylde coast in the county of Lancashire, England. It is located at the south of the town near the boundary with Lytham St Annes. The population of the ward taken ...

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

* Turton *Walshaw Sports *Whalley Range *

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

*Woodbank *Wyre Villa *Wythenshawe Amateurs

Associate members

Clubs who are associate members of the Lancashire FA include:- *Coppull United * Euxton Villa *Fleetwood Hesketh *Freckleton *Freehold *Garstang * Kendal Town *The Pleasant Inn (Royton)

County Cups

The Lancashire FA currently organises nineteen County Cup competitions.

Recent Lancashire County FA Cup Competition Winners

References

External links

* {{County Football Association County football associations Football in Lancashire Sports organizations established in 1878 1878 establishments in England