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London City Lionesses
Full nameLondon City Lionesses Football Club
Founded13 May 2019; 5 years ago (13 May 2019)
Ground Hayes Lane, Bromley
Capacity5,150
Owner Michele Kang
Head coach Jocelyn Prêcheur
League Women's Championship
2023–24 Women's Championship, 8th of 12
Website Club website

London City Lionesses is a professional women's association football club based in Hayes, Bromley, England. [1] 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 independent breakaway club from Millwall Lionesses. [2] [3]

History

On 13 May 2019, a statement was released by Millwall F.C. announcing that the board of directors and senior management at the team's official women's affiliate, Millwall Lionesses, had declared their intentions to split from the club, becoming an independent entity and operating under a new name. [4] [5] The breakaway was already agreed in principle by the FA. [6] The transfer of Millwall's Championship licence was officially approved by the FA on 29 June 2019. [7] The newly-independent club's operations were funded from 2019 by blockchain entrepreneur Anthony Culligan and his wife Diane, with Diane Culligan serving as chairwoman and running the club's operations. [1] [8]

The start of the 2022-23 season saw considerable optimism from club management after England's triumph in the 2022 Euros drove an increase in club season-ticket sales. [9] The Lionesses hit challenges later that season, however, with their manager Melissa Phillips resigning in January 2023 to take an assistant manager role with Angel City FC, despite the club sitting in first place. [10] [11] In June 2023, all 20 of the club's players sent a collective message to owner Diane Culligan asking her to sell the club or raise additional investment, citing financial instability, a lack of players signed for the upcoming season and the lack of a permanent manager. [12] On 15 December 2023, the Culligans sold the club to entrepreneur and Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang for an undisclosed price. [13]

Players

Current squad

As of 27 June 2024. [14]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Republic of Ireland  IRL Grace Moloney
2 DF New Zealand  NZL Grace Neville
3 DF Scotland  SCO Emma Mukandi
4 DF England  ENG Georgia Brougham
6 MF Republic of Ireland  IRL Megan Campbell
8 MF England  ENG Connie Scofield
9 FW Sweden  SWE Kosovare Asllani
12 GK England  ENG Hermione Cull
17 MF England  ENG Lucy Fitzgerald
18 FW England  ENG Danielle Carter
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW Finland  FIN Lotta Lindström
20 DF England  ENG Maddi Wilde
24 MF England  ENG Olivia Fraser
27 DF United States  USA Corrine Henson
28 GK England  ENG Sophie Hillyerd
31 MF Republic of Ireland  IRL Ruesha Littlejohn
33 FW England  ENG Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah
44 MF England  ENG Grace Jarrett
48 FW England  ENG Muna Eze
71 MF Republic of Ireland  IRL Niamh Farrelly

Former players

Club staff

As of 26 June 2024. [15]
Position Staff
Director of football England Ronald Thompson
Manager France Jocelyn Prêcheur
Goalkeeper coach England Darren Smith

Managerial history

Information correct as of 27 June 2024. Only competitive matches are counted.

List of London City Lionesses managers
Name Nationality From To P W D L GF GA Win% [nb 1] Notes
Chris Phillips   England 13 May 2019 15 October 2019 7 4 0 3 11 16 057.14 [16]
John Bayer (interim)   England 15 October 2019 27 May 2020 14 4 3 7 17 27 028.57 [16]
Lisa Fallon   Ireland 27 May 2020 9 October 2020 5 0 1 4 2 11 000.00 [17] [18]
Melissa Phillips   United States 9 October 2020 24 January 2023 61 31 12 18 92 65 050.82 [19] [20]
Nikita Runnacles (interim)   England 24 January 2023 4 July 2023 12 7 0 5 24 18 058.33 [20]
Carolina Morace   Italy 4 July 2023 7 February 2024 20 7 4 9 29 28 035.00 [21] [22]
Darren Smith (interim)   England 7 February 2024 2 March 2024 3 0 1 2 2 8 000.00 [22]
Remi Allen   England 2 March 2024 9 May 2024 6 4 0 2 10 9 066.67 [23] [24]
Jocelyn Prêcheur   France 27 June 2024 present 0 0 0 0 0 0 ! [25]

Seasons

Results of league and cup competitions by season
Season Division P W D L F A Pts Pos FA Cup League Cup Name Goals
League Top goalscorer [nb 1]
2019–20 Championship 15 8 2 5 25 24 26 4th R4 GS Elizabeta Ejupi 4
2020–21 Championship 20 6 6 8 19 19 24 6th R4 GS Atlanta Primus 4
2021–22 Championship 22 13 2 7 35 22 41 2nd R4 GS Karin Muya
Amy Rodgers
7
2022–23 Championship 22 14 3 5 49 20 45 3rd R4 GS Sarah Ewens 14
2023–24 Championship 22 7 4 11 26 36 25 8th R5 QF Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah 8
  1. ^ Goals in all competitions ( Championship, FA Cup and League Cup are counted.)

References

  1. ^ a b Wrack, Suzanne (18 August 2019). "'Equality has to be more than words': London City Lionesses go it alone". The Guardian.
  2. ^ "London City Lionesses: Millwall Supporters Club "saddened" by women's team breakaway". BBC News. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  3. ^ "London City Lionesses: Can a women's team thrive independently?". BBC Sport. 19 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Club Statement: Millwall Lionesses". www.millwallfc.co.uk.
  5. ^ McElwee, Molly (13 May 2019). "Millwall women's team to split from club and form new London City Lionesses outfit". The Telegraph.
  6. ^ "London City Lionesses: FA Women's Football board approve Millwall switch". BBC News. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  7. ^ "London City Lionesses". womenscompetitions.thefa.com.
  8. ^ "The New Lionesses". FC Business. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  9. ^ Staunton, Peter (19 August 2022). "Meet the three-year old London football club ready to write more Lionesses history". Football London. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Melissa Phillips: London City Lionesses manager leaves Women's Championship leaders". BBC Sport. 23 January 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  11. ^ Lacey-Hatton, Jack (24 January 2023). "Women's Championship league leaders lose manager to club owned by Hollywood A-listers". The Mirror. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  12. ^ Schoninger, Charlie (29 June 2023). "London City Lionesses ask owner to sell: No manager and only four players under contract". The Independent. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Washington Spirit owner Kang buys London City Lionesses". ESPN. ESPN News Services. 20 November 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  14. ^ "First Team Squad". Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  15. ^ https://www.londoncitylionesses.com/club-staff-members
  16. ^ a b "London City Lionesses sack manager Chris Phillips". 15 October 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  17. ^ "Lisa Fallon and Melissa Phillips announced as new London City Lionesses coaching team". London City Lionesses. 27 May 2020.
  18. ^ "Lisa Fallon: London City Lionesses head coach steps down for family reasons". BBC Sport. 9 October 2020.
  19. ^ "Phillips named London City head coach". BBC Sport.
  20. ^ a b "Melissa Phillips departs as London City Lionesses head coach". London City Lionesses. 24 January 2023.
  21. ^ "Italian legend Morace appointed head coach of London City Lionesses". FAWSL Full-Time. 4 July 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  22. ^ a b "London City Lionesses part company with Carolina Morace & Nicola Williams". London City Lionesses. 7 February 2024.
  23. ^ "London City Lionesses appoint Remi Allen as First Team Head Coach". London City Lionesses. 2 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Remi Allen departs". London City Lionesses. 9 May 2024.
  25. ^ "Jocelyn Prêcheur agrees to become London City Lionesses Head Coach". London City Lionesses. 27 June 2024.

External links