# London City Lionesses

London City Lionesses is a professional women's association football club based in Hayes, Bromley, England. 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.

## History

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. The breakaway was already agreed in principle by the FA. The transfer of Millwall's Championship licence was officially approved by the FA on 29 June 2019. 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.
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. 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. 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. On 15 December 2023, the Culligans sold the club to entrepreneur and Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang for an undisclosed price.
On 27 June 2024 Kang announced the signing of Kosovare Asllani, captain of the Sweden national side, and the appointment of Jocelyn Prêcheur, formerly of Paris St Germain, as the new manager. The signing of Asllani, who has previously played for Manchester City, Real Madrid and AC Milan, was described as "a statement of intent that will have raised eyebrows around the global women's game." It was also announced that the club would move from Princes Park (Dartford) to Hayes Lane in Bromley under a ground-sharing agreement with Bromley F.C. The club also purchased Cobdown Park, a 28-acre site in Aylesford, Kent with the aim of developing a world-class training facility there.
On 27 July 2024, Kang announced the launch of Kynisca Sports International Ltd., a worldwide multi-team organisation to provide the infrastructure to support the development of London City Lionesses alongside sister clubs Washington Spirit and Olympique Lyonnais Féminin. Under Kynisca, it was intended that each club would retain its own established identity, but that there would be a shared, central capability for aspects such as performance science and technology, data analytics, global scouting, and sporting staff development.

## Players
### Current squad

    As of 6 February 2025.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | DF | NZL | Grace Neville |
| 3 | DF | SCO | Emma Mukandi |
| 4 | DF | ENG | Georgia Brougham |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Teyah Goldie (on loan from Arsenal) |
| 6 | DF | IRL | Megan Campbell |
| 7 | MF | CHN | Shen Mengyu |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Saki Kumagai |
| 9 | FW | SWE | Kosovare Asllani |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Gesa Marashi |
| 11 | FW | SRB | Miljana Ivanović |
| 12 | GK | ENG | Hermione Cull |
| 13 | MF | CMR | Charlène Meyong |
| 14 | MF | ESP | María Pérez |
| 15 | MF | SWE | Sofia Jakobsson |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | MF | SWE | Julia Roddar |
| 17 | MF | ENG | Lucy Fitzgerald |
| 18 | FW | ENG | Danielle Carter |
| 19 | FW | FIN | Lotta Lindström |
| 20 | DF | ENG | Maddi Wilde |
| 22 | DF | ENG | Cerys Brown |
| 23 | FW | ENG | Isobel Goodwin |
| 24 | DF | ENG | Freya Godfrey (on loan from Arsenal) |
| 25 | MF | NGA | Rofiat Imuran |
| 27 | DF | USA | Corrine Henson |
| 28 | GK | ENG | Sophie Hillyerd |
| 32 | GK | ENG | Emily Orman |
| 33 | FW | ENG | Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah |
| 35 | GK | ENG | Sophia Poor (on loan from Aston Villa) |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 8 | MF | ENG | Connie Scofield (at Sheffield United W.F.C. until 30 June 2025) |
| 21 | FW | ENG | Amelia Ajao (at AFC Wimbledon Women until 30 June 2025) |

### Former players
## Club staff

    As of 26 June 2024.
| Position | Staff |
| Director of football | Ronald Thompson |
| Head coach | Jocelyn Prêcheur |
| Goalkeeper coach | Darren Smith |

## Managerial history

Information correct as of 27 June 2024. Only competitive matches are counted.
List of London City Lionesses managers :
| Name | Nationality | From | To | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Win% |
| Chris Phillips | England | 13 May 2019 | 15 October 2019 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 16 | 057.14 |
| John Bayer (interim) | England | 15 October 2019 | 27 May 2020 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 27 | 028.57 |
| Lisa Fallon | Ireland | 27 May 2020 | 9 October 2020 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 000.00 |
| Melissa Phillips | United States | 9 October 2020 | 24 January 2023 | 61 | 31 | 12 | 18 | 92 | 65 | 050.82 |
| Nikita Runnacles (interim) | England | 24 January 2023 | 4 July 2023 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 24 | 18 | 058.33 |
| Carolina Morace | Italy | 4 July 2023 | 7 February 2024 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 28 | 035.00 |
| Darren Smith (interim) | England | 7 February 2024 | 2 March 2024 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 000.00 |
| Remi Allen | England | 2 March 2024 | 9 May 2024 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 066.67 |
| Jocelyn Prêcheur | France | 27 June 2024 | present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | !— |
* ↑ Win% is rounded to two decimal places

## Seasons

Results of league and cup competitions by season :
| Season | Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | FA Cup | League Cup | Name | Goals |
| Season | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Top goalscorer | Top goalscorer |
| 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 |
| 2023–24 | Championship | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 26 | 36 | 25 | 8th | R5 | QF | Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah | 8 |
* ↑ Goals in all competitions (Championship, FA Cup and League Cup are counted.)