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Arsenal Ladies Football Club are an
English
women's football club affiliated with
Arsenal
F.C. The club was founded in
1987 by
Vic Akers, the kit manager for the Arsenal men's team, who today is still
the club's general manager, and turned semi-professional in
2002. They play
their home matches at
Meadow Lodge, home of
Southern League side
Boreham Wood. Arsenal are one of the most successful clubs in
English women's football; the first team has won the
FA Women's Premier League seven times, the
FA
Women's Cup six times, and the
Women's League Cup eight times – this includes two domestic Trebles, in
1993 and
2001. Arsenal have
also represented England three times in the
UEFA Women's Cup, and have twice reached the semi-finals, in
2003 and
2005, which is the
furthest any English women's club have ever got in the competition. The second
time round, they lost narrowly to
Sweden's
Djurgården/Älvsjö 2-1 on aggregate.
Many of the club's players represent their international side; four of the
first team, including England's biggest women's football star,
Kelly
Smith, were in the
England squad for the
2005 European Championship. The club also boasts several
Wales,
Scotland and
Republic of Ireland internationals.
The Ladies club is not part of Arsenal Football Club proper, but a separate
club who enjoy affiliation. Nevertheless, ties between the two are close;
Arsenal F.C. vice-chairman
David Dein
is president of Arsenal L.F.C., and the Ladies club are entitled to play at
Highbury once a season.
Honours
-
FA Women's Premier League National Division: 7
- 1992-93, 1994-95, 1996-97, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2004-05.
- 1992-93, 1994-95, 1997-98, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2003-04.
- 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2004-05.
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