Loughborough Lightning Football Club (formerly Loughborough Foxes) is a football club based in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Loughborough University Stadium.

History The club was founded in 1999 as Shepshed Foxes by Gail and Paul Fox, who wanted to give girls in the surrounding area an opportunity to play football, before becoming Loughborough Foxes in 2002.

After playing in local leagues for much of the first 15 years of their history, Loughborough were promoted to the FA Women's Premier League Northern Division (the 3rd tier of women's football) for the first time in 2015 from the Midlands Division One but would suffer relegation back to the 4th tier after just one season. The Foxes returned to the now renamed FA Women's National League in 2018 having secured promotion and the Midlands Division One title with a record of 21 wins and 1 draw from 22 games.

In January 2019, Loughborough Foxes player and junior team coach Molly Webb died aged 25, with Director of Football Steve Wilkinson describing her as "a joy to spend time with; she was vibrant, enthusiastic, a motivator and someone you want in your team whatever the situation.". The Foxes would end their first season back at the third tier of women's football in 7th place in the 2018–19 FA Women's National League Southern Division before being realigned to the Northern Division for the following season.

In June 2021, the club merged with the Loughborough University performance team to become Loughborough Lightning F.C.

Players Current squad

Recent seasons

Year League Lvl Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Position FA Women's Cup League Cup Res Rec Res Rec 2006–07 Leicestershire Women's Senior League 7 12 9 0 3 51 17 +34 27 2nd of 7PromotedPR 0-0-11R 0-0-1 2007–08 East Midlands Regional Women's Football LeagueDivision One South 6 16 8 7 1 50 23 +27 31 2nd of 9Promoted1Q 0-0-11R 0-0-1 2008–09 East Midlands Regional Women's Football LeaguePremier Division 5 20 14 4 2 62 21 +41 46 1st of 11Promoted1Q 0-0-1QF 2-0-1 2009–10 Midland Combination Women's Football League 4 22 2 3 17 23 78 -55 9 12th of 12Relegated2R 1-0-1 2010–11 East Midlands Regional Women's Football LeaguePremier Division 5 20 16 2 2 81 23 +58 50 1st of 11Promoted3Q 1-0-1 2011–12 Midland Combination Women's Football League 4 20 8 2 10 35 39 -4 26 6th of 112R 2-0-1QF 1-0-1 2012–13 Midland Combination Women's Football League 4 20 6 1 13 32 46 -14 19 9th of 112R 2-0-1QF 1-0-1 2013–14 Midland Combination Women's Football League 4 20 8 2 10 48 63 -15 251 point deducted 7th of 11Transferred1R 1-0-11R 0-0-1 2014–15 FA Women's Premier LeagueMidlands Division One 4 22 16 4 2 69 26 +43 52 1st of 12Promoted1R 1-0-11R 0-0-1 2015–16 FA Women's Premier LeagueNorthern Division 3 22 3 2 17 26 58 -32 11 12th of 12Relegated4R 2-0-1QF 2-0-1 2016–17 FA Women's Premier LeagueMidlands Division One 4 22 18 0 4 111 31 +80 54 2nd of 123QR 0-0-13R 3-0-1 2017–18 FA Women's Premier LeagueMidlands Division One 4 22 21 1 0 91 9 +82 64 1st of 12Promoted2R 2-0-12R 2-0-1 2018–19 FA Women's National LeagueSouthern Division 3 22 10 4 8 48 32 +16 34 7th of 12Transferred4R 2-0-1SF 5-0-1 2019–20 FA Women's National LeagueNorthern Division 3 Season abandoned3R 1-0-11R 0-0-1 2020–21 FA Women's National LeagueNorthern Division 3 Season abandoned2R 0-0-1Not held 0-0-0 2021–22 FA Women's National LeagueNorthern Division 3 24 6 5 13 35 63 -28 23 10th of 133R 2-0-12R 3-0-1 2022–23 FA Women's National LeagueNorthern Division 3 22 0 3 19 10 59 -49 3 12th of 12Relegated2R 1-0-11R 1-0-1 2023–24 FA Women's National LeagueDivision One Midlands 4 22 16 5 1 59 21 +38 53 2nd of 122R 2-0-1PR 1-0-1 2024–25 FA Women's National LeagueDivision One Midlands 4 22 19 3 0 85 10 +75 60 1st of 12Promoted2R 2-0-1DR 0-0-1

Records Best League performance: 7th FA Women's National League South (third level), 2018–19 Best FA Women's Cup performance: Fourth Round, 2015–16 & 2018–19

References

External links Official website