WLFC History

Wakefield Ladies Football Club was formed in 1998, by three work colleagues who were playing in an inter-departmental 5-a-side football tournament.

The three founder members, Martin Smith, Narelle Summers and Vicky Emmerson, enjoyed the competition so much, that they decided to advertise for more players with the intention of setting up a women's 11-a-side football team.

The advertisements in local newspapers in and around the Wakefield area, proved to be a resounding success and within a matter of weeks, Wakefield Ladies had attracted enough players to form not only an Open Age team, but also an Under 16's team.

Martin Smith took on the role of Manager for the Open Age team and after a few months of training and several friendly matches, Wakefield Ladies joined the Yorkshire and Humberside League Division 2 for the 1999-2000 season.

Wakefield Ladies had an outstanding debut season and finnished 3rd in the League, gaining promotion into the 1st Division at their first attempt and also won the Yorkshire Plate Competition, beating Kirklees Ladies 2-1 in the final.

At the close of that season, Martin Smith left the club and Keith Emmerson took on the job of the Open Age Manager.  Wakefield Ladies continued to go from strength to strength and with two other local teams folding, WLFC attracted several more players.  The expansion of the squad, enabled WLFC to now have a 1st Team and a Reserve Team.

Although gaining promotion again, WLFC endured a difficult period during the end of last season and were on the verge of folding.  With new manager Keith Emmerson leaving the club mid-way through the season and Wakefield Ladies FC Reserve team splitting from the club at the close of the season.

Despite these set backs, WLFC have shown their resilience and true strength of character and are now a stronger club than ever.  We have a new Manager, Dave Needham and have recently appointed a coach, Karl Linnighan, who is an ex-pro.  Our squad is getting stronger in depth, with a back-bone of players that have been at the club since the start and with several new players who have joined the club throughout the closed season.  With the added bonus of having a brilliant sponsor, Neil's Auto Services, who has given the club all of the financial backing that it needs.

Wakefield Ladies are now playing in the Yorkshire and Humberside Premier Division, we are based at Snapethorpe School in Wakefield.  We train twice a week and a fully qualified FA coach takes all of the sessions.  We have a fantastic club spirit and great team morale and after a hard summer of pre-season training, we are looking forward to the coming season and hope to continue the success that we have achieved over the last two years.