Lancashire County Football Association Explained

Lancashire County Football Association
Size:198
Formation:1878
Purpose:Football association
Headquarters:The County Ground
Thurston Road
Location:Leyland
Lancashire PR25 2LF
Leader Title:Chief Executive
Leader Name:Simon Gerrard

The Lancashire County Football Association, also known simply as the Lancashire FA, is the governing body of football within the historical county boundaries of Lancashire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of football at all levels in the county.[1]

History and organisation

The Lancashire County FA was formed on 28 September 1878 at a meeting held one Saturday afternoon in the parlour of The Volunteer Inn, Bromley Cross.[2] [3]

The LFA runs a number of different cup competitions catering for the various levels of football played throughout the county, which is based on the historic county boundaries of Lancashire, before the 1974 county boundary re-organisation, rather than the current administrative county boundaries and so includes Barrow-in-Furness to the north and Manchester, Rochdale, Oldham and Liverpool to the south. Warrington, historically part of Lancashire, is not administered by the Lancashire FA and is instead covered by the Cheshire FA. The administrative area covered by the Lancashire County FA overlaps with areas covered by Manchester FA and Liverpool FA. According to the Memorandum on Areas and Overlapping of Associations the Manchester FA covers the area 12 miles from Manchester Town Hall and is confined to Lancashire. The Liverpool FA covers 18 miles in Lancashire and 8 miles in Cheshire from Liverpool Town Hall. In addition in an agreement with the Cumberland FA the Lancashire FA received eight clubs in the South Cumberland area of Millom from the end of season 1969/70.[4]

The county is divided into nine areas with each area having one member on the LFA Council.[5] The divisions are as follows:

Division 1: BurnleyPendleRossendale
Division 2: Blackburn with DarwenHyndburnRibble Valley
Division 3: Bolton
Division 4: BuryRochdale
Division 5: Chorley – Liverpool – West Lancashire
Division 6: PrestonSouth Ribble – Blackpool – Fylde
Division 7: Oldham – Manchester
Division 8: BarrowLancasterWyre
Division 9: St HelensWiganWarrington

The Lancashire FA governs 100 leagues, 4,000 teams and 1,500 referees.[1]

Lancashire County Schools team

In the 2005–06 season the Lancashire County FA Schools team won the English Schools' Football Association Under-16 Inter County Trophy. In the semi-final held at Victoria Park, Burscough, Lancashire beat Leicestershire & Rutland County Schools FA 3–1.[6] They then beat Devon County Schools FA 2–1 in the final which was held at Ewood Park in Blackburn on 11 May 2006.[7] [8]

County Ground

The Lancashire FA are based at the County Ground, Thurston Road in Leyland. They moved their headquarters to the County Ground in 1998 from Blackburn.[9]

The County Ground is the current home of Bolton Wanderers reserve team, who play in the Premier Reserve League and who, in the 2009–10 season, play in the North Division.[10] The club also use the ground for all their home matches in the Manchester Senior Cup. The county representative team and county youth team also use the ground for home matches, and up until the 2009–2010 season County Cup finals were played at the County Ground. The ground has a 500-seater covered stand.

Facilities include an all-weather pitch as well as six corporate rooms, the largest of which, the Tom Finney Suite, can seat up to 100.[11]

Affiliated Leagues

Men's Saturday Leagues

Ladies and Girls Leagues

Other Leagues

Men's Sunday Leagues

Small Sided Leagues

- Blackburn

- Lancaster

- Morecambe

- Preton

- Garstang - Longridge - Colne

Youth Leagues

Disbanded Leagues

A number of leagues that were affiliated to the Lancashire FA have disbanded or amalgamated with other leagues including:

Members

Full members

There are 79 clubs who have full membership of the Lancashire FA.[12] These are –

Associate members

Clubs who are associate members of the Lancashire FA include:-

County Cups

The Lancashire FA currently organises nineteen County Cup competitions.[13]

CompetitionCurrent Sponsor2014-2015 Holders
Lancashire FA Challenge Cup (Senior Cup)
Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy (Junior Cup) The Co-operative Group
Lancashire FA Professional Youth Cup(no sponsor)Preston North End F.C.
Lancashire FA Amateur Shield(no sponsor)Coppull United
Lancashire FA Amateur CupSharrocksBlessed Sacrament
Lancashire FA Sunday TrophyMaxlocalPoulton Youth
Lancashire FA Women's Knock-Out CupNayler GroupBlackburn Rovers Ladies
Lancashire FA Under-18 Youth Cup(no sponsor)Ulverston Rangers Juniors U18
Lancashire FA Under-16 Youth CupRigby TaylorAston U16
Lancashire FA Under-15 Youth Cup(no sponsor)Myerscough College J.F.D.C. U15
Lancashire FA Under-14 Youth CupMilanoLytham St. Annes Y.M.C.A. U14
Lancashire FA Under-13 Youth Cup(no sponsor)Mill Hill (Blackburn) U13
Lancashire FA Under-12 Youth CupSolidstripLadybridge U12 Pumas
Lancashire FA Under-16 Girls Knockout CupTescoPreston North End Women's (Juniors) U15 Blues
Lancashire FA Under-14 Girls Knockout CupTescoPreston North End Women's (Juniors) U14
Lancashire FA Under-18 Inter-League Cup(no sponsor)Preston & District League
Lancashire FA Under-16 Inter-League Cup(no sponsor)East Lancashire Alliance
Lancashire FA Under-14 Inter-League Cup(no sponsor)Craven Minor League
Lancashire FA Under-12 Inter-League Cup(no sponsor)Wigan & District Youth League

Recent Lancashire County FA Cup Competition Winners

SeasonLancashire FA Senior CupLancashire FA Challenge TrophyLancashire FA Amateur ShieldLancashire FA Amateur Cup
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08Euxton Villa
2008–09Little Lever Sports Club
2009–10Hurst Green
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14Prestwich FC
2014–15
2015–16
2016–17
2017–18

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Governance – Lancashire, A footballing County . Lancashire County Football Association . 22 January 2007.
  2. Web site: About us . Lancashire County Football Association . 22 January 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081110204555/http://www.lancashirefa.com/AboutUs/ . 10 November 2008 .
  3. Web site: Burnley Express - Saturday 5 October 1878 . Burnley Express newspaper .
  4. Web site: FA – Memorandum on Areas and Overlapping of Associations . FA . 10 June 2011.
  5. Web site: About us: LFA Council . Lancashire County Football Association . 22 January 2007.
  6. Web site: U16 FAPL Trophy: Lancs 3–1 Leics . . 4 April 2007 . 6 November 2008 .
  7. Web site: National Finals Round-up Under 16 FA Premier League Inter County Trophy Final . . 2006 . 6 November 2008 .
  8. Web site: ESFA Premier League Under 16 Inter County Trophy . . 4 April 2007 . 6 November 2008 .
  9. News: Local football league chiefs move to Leyland. 27 August 1998. Lancashire Evening Telegraph. 19 November 2008.
  10. News: Fixture List 2009/2010 . . 2 December 2009 . 9 December 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091126045231/http://www.bwfc.co.uk/page/Reserves/0,,1004~1719342,00.html . 26 November 2009 . dead .
  11. Web site: About us: Facilities . Lancashire County Football Association . 22 January 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071015100701/http://www.lancashirefa.com/AboutUs/Facilities/ . 15 October 2007 .
  12. Book: Lancashire Football Association Directory of Members Handbook 2007–08 . Lancashire County Football Association . 2007 . .
  13. Web site: Fixtures and Results . Lancashire County Football Association . 10 June 2011.