The league was founded in 1972 as the Hounslow and District Ladies Football League (H&DIST League) with two divisions, named Division A and Division B. In the debut edition, Kingston Grasshoppers won Division A and Barnet Copthall won Division B. Players originally paid to participate, with fees of £3 as of 1974.[2] Gallaher Ladies were named the league's first champions on 9 February 1973 after defeating Moselely 4–0 and securing an unbeaten season.[3]
Name changes
The league renamed itself Greater London Women's Football League in 1983, then to Greater London Women's Regional League in 1990, and back to Greater London Women's Football League in 2003.[2]
Expansion
The league added a third division in 1975, a fourth division in 1978, a fifth Premier division in 1991 that offered promotion into the WFA National League, and a sixth division in 1996. In 1975, the league named Steve Perryman its president and added a third division. By 1978, Millwall had joined the league Fulham. By 1982, Tottenham, Watford, and West Ham had joined. The first league match held at a men's first division ground was on 19 April 1989 at The Den between Millwall and Romford.[2]
Hackney Women's F.C., a woman-run and openly lesbian club with an anti-racist charter, was founded in 1986 and began competing in the Greater London Women's Regional League in the 1990s. The club reported incidents of homophobic and bigoted behavior experienced by players to the Women's Football Association and The Football Association.[4]
Fulhuam launched the league's, and nation's, first professional women's club on 20 April 2000. Longtime members Brentford W.F.C. held its first match at Griffin Park on 1 March 2003.[7] In 2006, Fulham Deaf L.F.C. joined the league. In 2008, they won the treble of Division 4, the Sue Sharples Memorial Trophy, and the Russell Cup. Ashford Town W.F.C and New London Lionesses join in 2016.[2]
Sue Sharples Memorial Trophy
On 19 April 1994, Tottenham Hotspur Reserves player Sue Sharples died during training. The league added a cup competition named the Sue Sharples Memorial Trophy in her honor, and Tottenham Hotspur Reserves won the inaugural competition.[2]
John Greenacre Memorial Trophy
On 24 November 2018, West Ham United L.F.C. co-founder and club president John Greenacre died of cancer. The league renamed its cup the John Greenacre Memorial Trophy in his honor.[2]
Teams
The teams competing during the 2023–24 season are:
Premier Division[8]
Camden Town WFC
Comets
Hammersmith
Headstone Manor
Islington Borough
Leyton Orient
London Academicals
Regents Park Rangers
Richmond & Kew
Tooting Bec
Division 1 South[10] AFC Wimbledon Development
Ashford Town (Middlesex) Reserves
Balham
CB Hounslow United
Clapham United
Holmesdale Keets
Kennington United
South London
South London Laces
Sporting Duet
Division 2 North[11]
Alexandra Park
East Finchley
Edgeware & Kingsbury Enfield Town Thirds
Hendon
Islington Borough Reserves
London Football School
Regents Park
Rose
Tower Hamlets Reserves
Division 2 South & Central[12]
AFC Croydon Athletic
CB Hounslow United Reserves
Camden Town Reserves
Civil Service
Corinthian Casuals
Grenfell Athletic
Hammersmith Reserves
South London Reserves
Tooting Bec Reserves
United Dragons
Wandsworth Borough
^Caudwell, Jayne (2007). Caudwell, Jayne (ed.). Femme-fatale: re-thinking the femme-inine. pp. 145–158. doi:10.4324/9780203020098. ISBN9780203020098. This chapter offers an account of a women's football club based in North London, England. As advertised on the club's website Hackney Women's Football Club (HWFC) was founded in 1986 ... Copies of letters to the Greater London Women's Regional League (GLWRL), correspondence with the Women's Football Association (WFA, pre 1991) and the Football Association (FA, post 1991) detail incidents that occur on the field of play.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
