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Full name | London City Lionesses Football Club | ||
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Founded | 13 May 2019 | ||
Ground | Princes Park, Dartford | ||
Capacity | 4,100 | ||
Owner | Michele Kang | ||
Head coach | Darren Smith | ||
League | Women's Championship | ||
2022–23 | Women's Championship, 3rd of 12 | ||
Website | Club website | ||
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London City Lionesses is a professional women's association football club based in Dartford, 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]
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]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For details of current and former players, see Category:London City Lionesses players. |
Position | Staff |
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Manager | ![]() |
Assistant coach | ![]() |
Goalkeeper coach | ![]() |
Performance analyst | ![]() |
Lead strength & conditioning coach | ![]() |
Lead sports therapist | ![]() |
Nutritionist | ![]() |
Information correct as of 4 July 2023. Only competitive matches are counted.
Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Win%[nb 1] | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chris Phillips | ![]() |
13 May 2019 | 15 October 2019 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 16 | 57.14 | [16] |
John Bayer (interim) | ![]() |
15 October 2019 | 27 May 2020 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 27 | 28.57 | [16] |
Lisa Fallon | ![]() |
27 May 2020 | 9 October 2020 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 0.00 | [17] |
Melissa Phillips | ![]() |
9 October 2020 | 24 January 2023 | 61 | 31 | 12 | 18 | 92 | 65 | 50.82 | [18] |
Nikita Runnacles (interim) | ![]() |
24 January 2023 | 4 July 2023 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 24 | 18 | 58.33 | [19] |
Carolina Morace | ![]() |
4 July 2023 | present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | [20] |
Season | Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | FA Cup | League Cup | Name | Goals |
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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 |