Leicester City launch women’s team

LEICESTER CITY LAUNCH PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S TEAM

Leicester City have announced the launch of their professional women’s team, having acquired the independently established Championship side, Leicester City Women.

The English Premier League side has supported Leicester City Women’s club since its inception in 2004 but has now moved the acquire the club with a view to grow the women’s game throughout the city.

Leicester City also have plans to collaborate on larger scale that goes beyond the elite professional level and help to promote women’s grassroots football locally.

King Power International, Leicester’s parent company, plans to fully integrate the club into the Leicester City brand alongside the club’s first and youth teams and has already transferred the teams FA Women’s Championship license.

The move sees the women’s team retain all of its previous management, playing and support staff, who will all become full-time. The former Leicester City Women’s chairman, Rohan Morgan, will become an advisor to an LCFC Women’s Football Leadership Group.

Leicester City Chairman, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, is excited for the future of the women’s side and the Leicester City brand, “This is a really proud day,” he explains excitedly, “the introduction of a women’s team embedded within the club has been an ambition of ours for some time and today it can start to be realised.

“The club’s co-operation with LCWFC since 2004 has been a valuable gateway to the women’s game. Its chairman, Rohan Morgan, and its staff and players deserve great credit for the solid foundations they have built and we’re really excited to see how we can progress with the setup in-house. “LCFC Women will carry the standard, but our vision for developing the women’s game in Leicester is wideranging. We want to build on the recent success of women’s football to inspire a generation of young girls and to ensure opportunities exist for the gifted among them to have a future in the game.

“Exactly 10 years on from King Power first arriving in Leicester, this is a significant expansion in our vision for the club – both in terms of diversification and our dedication to football for all; and in our ongoing commitment to excellence in every one of the club’s pursuits.”

Of the announcement, club chairman, Rohan Morgan added: “This is an amazing step forward, both for our team and for women’s football in the city. For many years now, we have

proudly represented Leicester City in the women’s game and tried to build an organisation with solid foundations, high standards and the potential for growth.

“Officially joining the Leicester City family is the best possible endorsement of that work and I’m extremely proud of every player, member of staff and volunteer – several of whom will be continuing the journey with us – that has helped bring us to this point. Thanks to the belief of Khun Aiyawatt, Susan Whelan and everyone at Leicester City, we have an incredible opportunity to build on that potential and be a part of the club’s vision for success.”

Leicester City Women are already an established football side in the Championship, finishing last season in sixth after the season was ended abruptly due to the COVID-19 pandemic in what was their second season in the second tier of the women’s football league setup.