|
|
 |
|
|
From humble beginnings ....... |
The club was originally formed in 1999 and known as Newbold Verdon Ladies FC. In the first season the club played a number of friendlies prior to joining the East Midlands Regional League the following season. During this season the club took up an offer from Birstall Utd FC and moved to far better facilities at Meadow Lane.
In 2001/02, their first season in Division 3 south, the club finished in a creditable 5th place. The next season saw the team renamed as Birstall Utd Ladies FC and start off on a tremendous run of success.
The season 2002/03 saw the team sweep all before them and take a Division 3 South League & League Cup double winning every game played! The 16 league games saw 134 goals scored with only 9 conceded. The League Cup final against Harboro Town was a nail biting game, 2-2 after 90 minutes it finally ended with a 4-2 win.
Promotion to Division 2 in 2003/04 saw the team take an incredible consecutive League & League Cup double. Again a huge goal tally of F80 A13 in 18 league games and again a 7 point margin at the top of the table. The team had completed 2002 & 2003 undefeated before finally losing away at Clowne, the only defeat of the season. The League Cup final saw a comfortable victory over lincs side Wyberton, score 3-0.
This season saw the club also enter the Womens FA Cup for the first time. We finally bowed out in the 3rd round proper 1-5 against a strong Coventry City side who had been playing in the National Divsion the previous year. We had however taken the scalps of more senior sides such as Kettering 1-0, Solihull 4-0 amd Midland Combination side Stafford Rangers 3-0 in the earlier rounds.
Promotion again and now into Division 1 for 2004/05. A trip over to Wales to play combination side TNS (they won their league that year) in the WFA Cup saw the worst ever start and our biggest defeat ever, 1-7. back to League duties and the team won every game up until Christmas to proudly finish 2004 at the top of the league. These first eight games having a goal tally of F62 A4. 2005 appeared and a further unbeaten spell until the first serious blip arrived in March. A long - rain stopped play - lay off and a crippling injury list saw us lose two league games and get knocked out in the League Cup Semi Final. The team rallied round and got back to winning ways only to finish runners up to South Notts - by 3 points with us having a far better goal tally. Goal tally for the season was F89 A17. South Notts to their credit lost only one game all season - to us! - and went on to take a League & League Cup double. With a 3rd promotion spot available to the Premier division we had a play off final against Gedling. They started, we didnt summed up the game and we finally went down 2-3.
Prior to the start of the season of 2005/06 we entered in to negotiations with Friar Lane & Epworth FC and agreed to a move to Knighton Lane East. Not wishing to completely lose the clubs history but give recognition to our new hosts we changed name to Birstall FL&E. Again playing in Division 1 we led the league for most of the season before being pipped by Leicester City Women (who to their credit were the divisions best team and proved it by remaining unbeaten all season) and in a nail biting finish also got overtaken by Broughton Rangers. We again missed out by a mere 3 points, again had a better goal difference, +13 better than BR, finally finishing in 3rd place.
2006/07 will again see a major change to the club. Firstly, having had a superb transitional year the club has now fully adopted a change of name to Friar Lane & Epworth Ladies FC. For the first time the club will also see the introduction of a Reserve team who will be playing in the Leicestershire Womens Senior League. The season ended on a high as the first team secured runners up spot for the second time in 3 years which saw us gain automatic promotion to the East Midlands Premier Division. In the cup it was a case of nearlys reaching the semi finals of both the League & County cups. The Womens FA Cup saw us progress through the qualifying rounds but the foray finally ended with a 3-0 reverse against SE Combination side Norwich City in the 1st round proper. This was the first game in the FA Cup in 4 years where we failed to score!
2007/08 has again brought change as we seek to consolidate our newly won Premier division status. At the end of last season Manager of 6 years, Bill Almen stood down. Business commitments have meant him working abroad. The club therefore are pleased to announce that Juggy Burley & Andy Galway will be the new management team who we are sure can take the club even further. Juggy & Andy successfully covered last year when Bill was away and did a tremendous job.
|
|
|
|
TEAM CREST
|
 |
|
SPONSORED BY:
|
|
| |
 |
| |
|
|
|
