Full name | Portsmouth Football Club Ladies |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Pompey Ladies |
Founded | 1987 |
Ground | Aerial Direct Stadium, Privett Park, Gosport |
Capacity | 3300 (1000 seated) |
Chairman | Mick Williams |
Manager | Jay Sadler |
League | FA Women's Premier League Southern Division |
2014-15 | FA Women's Premier League Southern Division, 5th |
Portsmouth FC Ladies, colloquially known as "Pompey Ladies", is a women's football club for the south coast city of Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. The club currently plays in the FA Women's Premier League National Division South after winning promotion to the National Division for the first time in their history in 2012. Their male counterparts are Portsmouth F.C. Their biggest rivals are Southampton Saints LFC and Brighton & Hove Albion WFC.
Portsmouth Football Club Ladies was formed in 1987, at a time when women`s football was in its infancy and consequently the only option was for the team to play in the Southern Region League.
The club entered the league in 1988 where they enjoyed 10 good seasons. During this period the club started introducing Youth teams to compete at a local level.
In 1998, ten years after the team first entered the English women's league system, Portsmouth F.C. Ladies gained promotion into the South West Combination League and in the same season won the South West Combination League Cup.
Portsmouth F.C. Ladies became the first women's club in Hampshire to receive the F.A. Charter Standard Club Award for excellence in provision of coaching and support staff in 2002. After having finished runners up in the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 seasons, in the 2002/2003 season Portsmouth demonstrated the impact of this excellence in coaching as the team won the South West Combination League in a convincing manner, dropping only 2 points during the course of the entire season, to gain promotion into the Premier League Southern Division for the first time.
The 2003/2004 season saw The First Team maintain their status in the Premier League Southern Division while in the same season Portsmouth F.C. Ladies reserve team won the Premier League Reserves Southern Division Two to gain promotion into Division One. The following season, Portsmouth F.C. Ladies retained the Hampshire Cup after beating local rivals Southampton 3-0 in the final.
The following season, Portsmouth finished the league in second place, finishing just eight points behind Chelsea. For the next few seasons, Portsmouth consolidated their position in the Premier League Southern Division, finishing comfortably mid-table. During the next few seasons, Portsmouth didn't finish lower than fourth place.