LCFC Women 2025/26 Season

[Lineker's Lugs]

45 minutes ago, lcfcrinaldi said:

Indeed, thats a very literal way to look at it. They could loose, they could draw or they could even win.

 

But looking at it with the lense of last season, the latter 3 fixtures I listed above are ones that we should expect to take points.

Again you’re using the word ‘expect’.  They can hope to get something from those matches but they can’t expect to as Leicester have a weaker squad than all three of those teams. London City haven’t strengthened enough yet, but almost certainly will and if they do Leicester are firmly destined for 12th and a relegation play off unless they upgrade many positions in the starting XI.

 

Also, and sorry to be that person, but it’s lose not loose.  Leicester fans should know how to spell lose!

[lcfcrinaldi]

1 hour ago, Lineker's Lugs said:

Again you’re using the word ‘expect’.  They can hope to get something from those matches but they can’t expect to as Leicester have a weaker squad than all three of those teams. London City haven’t strengthened enough yet, but almost certainly will and if they do Leicester are firmly destined for 12th and a relegation play off unless they upgrade many positions in the starting XI.

 

Also, and sorry to be that person, but it’s lose not loose.  Leicester fans should know how to spell lose!

Im a glass half full kind of guy and those are certainly my expectations.

I do expect we will stay up still as despite there being an overhaul in the squad, aside from Momiki, we haven't lost anyone (thus far) that would have been 1st team regulars going into this season anyway, meaning that purely avoiding another injury catastrophe would put us in a better position than last season.

Yes we want and need them to strengthen, obviously. But I really don't understand the level of pessimism the team gets given.

Also, London City are going to throw money at it this season, but it doesn't guarantee results, and though yes they got promoted, they werent absolute stand-outs to win the championship, so again, I think people still need to be a bit more measured about the perception on them.

 

I understand that generally the club is in disseray right now and the mens team relegation has hit everyone in the guy. But its really not all that bad when it comes to the women's team in perspective.

 

I hope my grammar and spelling above is acceptable, I would hate for you to have to correct me again.

Particularly with how sorry you were about doing it last time.

Edited 25 July 2025 by lcfcrinaldi

[SK3Blue]

21 minutes ago, lcfcrinaldi said:

Im a glass half full kind of guy and those are certainly my expectations.

I do expect we will stay up still as despite there being an overhaul in the squad, aside from Momiki, we haven't lost anyone (thus far) that would have been 1st team regulars going into this season anyway, meaning that purely avoiding another injury catastrophe would put us in a better position than last season.

Yes we want and need them to strengthen, obviously. But I really don't understand the level of pessimism the team gets given.

Also, London City are going to throw money at it this season, but it doesn't guarantee results, and though yes they got promoted, they werent absolute stand-outs to win the championship, so again, I think people still need to be a bit more measured about the perception on them.

 

I understand that generally the club is in disseray right now and the mens team relegation has hit everyone in the guy. But its really not all that bad when it comes to the women's team in perspective.

 

I hope my grammar and spelling above is acceptable, I would hate for you to have to correct me again.

Particularly with how sorry you were about doing it last time.

I think we sometimes lose sight of the fact that other teams like Man Utd haven’t bought players in, and the West Ham’s and Tottenham’s of this league will struggle too. 
 

I hear you on most of what you’ve said, however I think it’s not only Momiki, but also Howard and Bott are quite key to this too. Whilst Soph had her critics, you always got 100% from her and we will miss that rubbing off on what I assume will be Kees stepping in. Bott was a tremendous reader of the game and often bailed us out of the brown stuff. 
 

Taks, Rose, Lena and Nevin’s time was up, but those other 3 and potentially Rantala too going I think is a huge shift in terms of team balance as they all had completely different attributes that were part of the build. 
 

For me, I do think they’ll finish bottom regardless of what comes in, that’s not down to the players we have, I just feel we haven’t managed the DoF position well, and the timing along with the good ‘frees’ being snapped up inevitably leaves us with the unknown, most likely Frenchies, Leuven loans and a couple of Villa rejects that the newly appointed DoF will reel in. I assume the transfer kitty is non existent, I know we had to sell Kop to get Hlin and the fee for Kop was a lot more than we expected to get. 
 

They have to make the KP a difficult place to come, there were signs of that last season of course but the away form was woeful and that was down to a manager who couldn’t set them up right. 
 

Naturally I hope they have a good season but for me the shambles off the field and the exodus leaves us wanting, last year the likes of Green, Remy, Palmer, Ava were no major loss, this year there is some huge gaps and we’re banking on Leitzig on what I feel will be shooting practice for most opponents. 

[Lineker's Lugs]

14 minutes ago, lcfcrinaldi said:

Im a glass half full kind of guy and those are certainly my expectations.

I do expect we will stay up still as despite there being an overhaul in the squad, aside from Momiki, we haven't lost anyone (thus far) that would have been 1st team regulars going into this season anyway, meaning that purely avoiding another injury catastrophe would put us in a better position than last season.

Yes we want and need them to strengthen, obviously. But I really don't understand the level of pessimism the team gets given.

Also, London City are going to throw money at it this season, but it doesn't guarantee results, and though yes they got promoted, they werent absolute stand-outs to win the championship, so again, I think people still need to be a bit more measured about the perception on them.

 

I understand that generally the club is in disseray right now and the mens team relegation has hit everyone in the guy. But its really not all that bad when it comes to the women's team in perspective.

 

I hope my grammar and spelling above is acceptable, I would hate for you to have to correct me again.

Particularly with how sorry you were about doing it last time.

 

I apologise if the correction has offended you in any way.  I just liked the irony given Leicester's experience of losing.

 

Clearly I take the opposite view to you regarding the team, possibly because I just take an interest in women's football generally rather than supporting Leicester.  I'd have loved the club to have pushed the boat out when they were first promoted as if wouldn't have taken much to build a very competitive side. But other than giving them Belvoir Drive it seems to have always been a case of doing the bare minimum and now they've been left behind and seemingly have no interest in catching up.

 

Fair point about London City at the moment, but the point is they have shown intent.  If Leicester did the same the pessimism would lift, although what's happened with the men's team does cast a shadow over the women's side as well.  Player for player the squad is just poor and Rantala is the only injured player that would make a difference (if she stays).  Leitzig is the only retained player from that announcement last week that would have been a loss in my opinion.

 

I think pessimism is realism where this team is concerned, but time will tell and I'd be happy to be wrong.

 

 

 

[lcfcrinaldi]

3 minutes ago, Lineker's Lugs said:

 

I apologise if the correction has offended you in any way.  I just liked the irony given Leicester's experience of losing.

 

Clearly I take the opposite view to you regarding the team, possibly because I just take an interest in women's football generally rather than supporting Leicester.  I'd have loved the club to have pushed the boat out when they were first promoted as if wouldn't have taken much to build a very competitive side. But other than giving them Belvoir Drive it seems to have always been a case of doing the bare minimum and now they've been left behind and seemingly have no interest in catching up.

 

Fair point about London City at the moment, but the point is they have shown intent.  If Leicester did the same the pessimism would lift, although what's happened with the men's team does cast a shadow over the women's side as well.  Player for player the squad is just poor and Rantala is the only injured player that would make a difference (if she stays).  Leitzig is the only retained player from that announcement last week that would have been a loss in my opinion.

 

I think pessimism is realism where this team is concerned, but time will tell and I'd be happy to be wrong.

 

 

 

Don't worry, no offense taken.

 

Happy to agree to disagree.

 

Of course none of us know how the season will go now, as you said, we can pull points from any game, this is also down to the unpredictable nature of the WSL, outside of the top 4. Which also adds to the point that you can't apply realism when there is no definitive answer because it hasn't happened yet.

 

Your assumption that I have no deeper understanding of the WSL past Leicester is wide of the mark to by the way.

[lcfcrinaldi]

13 minutes ago, SK3Blue said:

I think we sometimes lose sight of the fact that other teams like Man Utd haven’t bought players in, and the West Ham’s and Tottenham’s of this league will struggle too. 
 

I hear you on most of what you’ve said, however I think it’s not only Momiki, but also Howard and Bott are quite key to this too. Whilst Soph had her critics, you always got 100% from her and we will miss that rubbing off on what I assume will be Kees stepping in. Bott was a tremendous reader of the game and often bailed us out of the brown stuff. 
 

Taks, Rose, Lena and Nevin’s time was up, but those other 3 and potentially Rantala too going I think is a huge shift in terms of team balance as they all had completely different attributes that were part of the build. 
 

For me, I do think they’ll finish bottom regardless of what comes in, that’s not down to the players we have, I just feel we haven’t managed the DoF position well, and the timing along with the good ‘frees’ being snapped up inevitably leaves us with the unknown, most likely Frenchies, Leuven loans and a couple of Villa rejects that the newly appointed DoF will reel in. I assume the transfer kitty is non existent, I know we had to sell Kop to get Hlin and the fee for Kop was a lot more than we expected to get. 
 

They have to make the KP a difficult place to come, there were signs of that last season of course but the away form was woeful and that was down to a manager who couldn’t set them up right. 
 

Naturally I hope they have a good season but for me the shambles off the field and the exodus leaves us wanting, last year the likes of Green, Remy, Palmer, Ava were no major loss, this year there is some huge gaps and we’re banking on Leitzig on what I feel will be shooting practice for most opponents. 

Likewise, I also agree with points made there, particularly with the behind the scenes aspects.

I guess we have to sit back and see in terms of incomers that will build on the current squad.

[Lineker's Lugs]

10 minutes ago, lcfcrinaldi said:

Don't worry, no offense taken.

 

Happy to agree to disagree.

 

Of course none of us know how the season will go now, as you said, we can pull points from any game, this is also down to the unpredictable nature of the WSL, outside of the top 4. Which also adds to the point that you can't apply realism when there is no definitive answer because it hasn't happened yet.

 

Your assumption that I have no deeper understanding of the WSL past Leicester is wide of the mark to by the way.

 

I wasn't suggesting you don't have a wider understanding of the league, just that as you are more invested in Leicester doing well you might be more inclined to look for positives than I am.

 

Edited 25 July 2025 by Lineker's Lugs

[SK3Blue]

Sophie Howard to Como confirmed

[CosbehFox]

I trust the club will do absolutely zero about the likely increase in interest on Women's football. 

 

Golden opportunity to spend some money (doesn't have to be huge loads) and increase the crowds. They won't and I think it's one of the biggest signs that the owners are well and truly fed up with the club. 

Edited 28 July 2025 by CosbehFox

[SK3Blue]

1 hour ago, CosbehFox said:

I trust the club will do absolutely zero about the likely increase in interest on Women's football. 

 

Golden opportunity to spend some money (doesn't have to be huge loads) and increase the crowds. They won't and I think it's one of the biggest signs that the owners are well and truly fed up with the club. 

Definitely need a marquee signing but not likely to get one, be lucky to get anyone decent in now, arguably the biggest ‘signing’ will be securing Rantala again. 
 

The salary for the likes of Howard who was at the club 5 years wasn’t that great, can’t imagine the others were on decent salaries either, but that is likely to be the only reinvestment, free transfers given the same wage or lower. Seems to be the same with the men, Ward out Begovic in for example. 

Edited 28 July 2025 by SK3Blue

[CosbehFox]

24 minutes ago, SK3Blue said:

Definitely need a marquee signing but not likely to get one, be lucky to get anyone decent in now, arguably the biggest ‘signing’ will be securing Rantala again. 
 

The salary for the likes of Howard who was at the club 5 years wasn’t that great, can’t imagine the others were on decent salaries either, but that is likely to be the only reinvestment, free transfers given the same wage or lower. Seems to be the same with the men, Ward out Begovic in for example. 

Doesn't stop at the players. 

 

How about some proper marketing of the women's games? 

 

The 1715 kick off v Spurs on a Saturday night is a massive opportunity with no clash with LCFC or any youth football. 

[SK3Blue]

2 hours ago, CosbehFox said:

Doesn't stop at the players. 

 

How about some proper marketing of the women's games? 

 

The 1715 kick off v Spurs on a Saturday night is a massive opportunity with no clash with LCFC or any youth football. 

As I’ve mentioned before, there is still a large contingent of blokes watching Leicester, not enough women, and women need to back it. There’s a lot of women watching the men. 
 

One or two clubs like Brighton give men’s ST holders free entry to women’s games. If 1% of our men’s ST holders came along and bought someone with them, it’s 500 on the gate for a start. 

[CosbehFox]

16 minutes ago, SK3Blue said:

As I’ve mentioned before, there is still a large contingent of blokes watching Leicester, not enough women, and women need to back it. There’s a lot of women watching the men. 
 

One or two clubs like Brighton give men’s ST holders free entry to women’s games. If 1% of our men’s ST holders came along and bought someone with them, it’s 500 on the gate for a start. 

They've done the latter before. Minor boost on attendances. 

 

They need to get around the junior clubs with the girls and female teams. Into the community groups etc. It's been mentioned to me that one of the errors WSL is making for the non-big clubs (although its notable how the bigger clubs by default of TV move away from that slot) is that the scheduling directly clashes with when most girls football is played. 

 

The Women's game has a youthful following and that's not what I'd use to describe LCFC's existing fanbase. That's where it begins. If I am making these observations as a fan, then someone paid should be able to do it relatively easy. It has the opportunity to be an excellent gateway into Leicester City. How have Bristol City got those crowds is a good example to look at. 

 

They'd help themselves if they probably billed a gate as we want to hit five figures with this - shouted about it right from the top. Some clubs have attempted double headers as well. Or trying to make international weekend games the biggest pull. 

Edited 28 July 2025 by CosbehFox

[lcfcrinaldi]

I think one of the biggest factors in attendance numbers for us is the fact that Leicester City in general has a relatively small fan base, particularly when you consider those top 5 clubs in the EPL.

Its hard to ignore that when the likes of Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool and man U's womens team play at the KP, the stadium is far busier, and not with Leicester fans, but are from Leicester/surrounding areas.

 

I myself have a few friends that are fans of Man U & Liverpool (men's teams) and only really have a passing interest in the WSL.

We need to convert those people.

Edited 28 July 2025 by lcfcrinaldi

[CosbehFox]

Just now, lcfcrinaldi said:

I think one of the biggest factors in attendance numbers for us is the fact that Leicester City in general has a relatively small fan base, particularly when you consider those top 5 clubs in the EPL.

Its hard to ignore that when the likes of Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool and man U's womens team play at the KP, the stadium is far busier, and not with Leicester fans.

That's why I say look at what Bristol City have done when they achieved an average attendance of nearly 7k in the top flight 

[lcfcrinaldi]

22 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

That's why I say look at what Bristol City have done when they achieved an average attendance of nearly 7k in the top flight 

Yes, i agree. Playing devil's advocate though, you could argue that Bristol was helped by geography there as well. They practically have the audience of the whole of the west/south West of England as an audience whereby there is no local reasonabley high profile teams about. But that might be a minor point.

 

I don't think there's a real right or wrong answer on how they increase attendance optimally, we just want to see them do something.

[CosbehFox]

20 minutes ago, lcfcrinaldi said:

Yes, i agree. Playing devil's advocate though, you could argue that Bristol was helped by geography there as well. They practically have the audience of the whole of the west/south West of England as an audience whereby there is no local reasonabley high profile teams about. But that might be a minor point.

 

I don't think there's a real right or wrong answer on how they increase attendance optimally, we just want to see them do something.

I counter act your point by saying Rugby Union is absolutely huge in that area at grassroots level including the women’s game. So they have to compete against that
 

But yeah I want to see the club actively be proud and loud about its womens side. 

[SK3Blue]

I doubt we will follow suit given that renewals are already invited and some would have paid. 

[lcfcrinaldi]

17 minutes ago, SK3Blue said:

I doubt we will follow suit given that renewals are already invited and some would have paid. 

They could open it up for season tickets holders to just book their match day tickets as and when they are going though, rather than reserving a whole seat for them for every game.

Similarly as to what they had to do when we played the odd home game at Burton.

[SK3Blue]

11 minutes ago, lcfcrinaldi said:

They could open it up for season tickets holders to just book their match day tickets as and when they are going though, rather than reserving a whole seat for them for every game.

Similarly as to what they had to do when we played the odd home game at Burton.

Fair point. 
 

Reminds me though, another thing is these cup games, King Power said they don’t want women’s cup games at the stadium!  My experience of Burton is crowds of 100-150 and I was sat near David Nugent last time who’s daughter was a ball girl.  Probably about 50 paying punters when you take away players families!

Edited 28 July 2025 by SK3Blue

[Brizzle Fox]

1 hour ago, CosbehFox said:

That's why I say look at what Bristol City have done when they achieved an average attendance of nearly 7k in the top flight 

The women's team seem very much an integral part of the club, something that Nige instigated when he was manager of the men's team,  as well as the wider Bristol Sport collective including the Bears and the Flyers.

 

Their games are very heavily promoted within Ashton Gate when the men's games are on etc.  Also train at the same venue as the men.

 

The club also heavily promote the team at local schools, girls football clubs etc.

 

Also a fair bit of ticket discounting etc, with % off season tickets, matchday tickets for men's season ticket holders etc.

 

Going back to the Bristol Sport ownership umbrella, although this has many issues, in particular when trying to get buyers for the mens football club, it seems to work to the advantage of the women's team, in giving that a sense of oneness with the other Bristol clubs, that maybe we don't see with the Leicester women's team, which rightly or wrongly sometimes feels from a distance, very separate from the men's team.

[CosbehFox]

3 minutes ago, SK3Blue said:

Fair point. 
 

Reminds me though, another thing is these cup games, King Power said they don’t want women’s cup games at the stadium!  My experience of Burton is crowds of 100-150 and I was sat near David Nugent last time who’s daughter was a ball girl.  Probably about 50 paying punters when you take away players families!

Again another error. Should have partnered with a non-league ground in Leicestershire.

 

The ground still would have been better quality than say Everton's ground. Kingsmeadow is by all practices a dressed up non-league ground. 

[Craig]

36 minutes ago, SK3Blue said:

I doubt we will follow suit given that renewals are already invited and some would have paid. 

Ours are about half the price of their "early bird" prices anyway.

 

Edit - But we should certainly be doing something to attract more in on the back of the success, particularly when most of those players will be playing there this season. 

Edited 28 July 2025 by Craig

[lcfcrinaldi]

6 hours ago, CosbehFox said:

Again another error. Should have partnered with a non-league ground in Leicestershire.

 

The ground still would have been better quality than say Everton's ground. Kingsmeadow is by all practices a dressed up non-league ground. 

My daughter was playing an exhibition match at whetstone not too long ago, which I believe is Leicestershire football HQ, has King Power sponsorship all over it too, was surprised they don't play there instead of Burton.

 

Hinckley's Leicester Road stadium would also be an option, but i think there's financial stuff going on with that club that may hold it back.

[SouthStandUpperTier]

Cayman, Kees & Cain back in today...