The Lancashire County Football Association, also known simply as the Lancashire FA, is the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

within the historical county boundaries of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of football at all levels in the county.

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. 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

, before the 1974 county boundary re-organisation, rather than the current administrative county boundaries and so includes

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

to the north and

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

to the south.

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, historically part of Lancashire, is not administered by the Lancashire FA and is instead covered by the

Cheshire FA The Cheshire Football Association, also simply known as Cheshire FA, is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in the county of Cheshire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of foot ...

. 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

. The Liverpool FA covers 18 miles in

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 Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southernmost Cumberland, Cumbria, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furness ( by road) and ...

from the end of season 1969/70. The county is divided into nine areas with each area having one member on the LFA Council. The divisions are as follows: Division 1:

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

– Pendle –

Rossendale Rossendale may refer to several places and organizations in Lancashire, England: Places *Rossendale Valley, a river valley *Borough of Rossendale, a local government district *Rossendale (UK Parliament constituency) Rossendale was a United King ...

Division 2:

Blackburn with Darwen Blackburn with Darwen is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, North West England. The borough includes the towns of Blackburn and Darwen plus a wider rural area which includes the villages of ...

–

Hyndburn Hyndburn is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington, the largest town, and the borough also covers the outlying ...

–

Ribble Valley Ribble Valley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Clitheroe, the largest town. The borough also includes the town of Longridge and numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. ...

Division 3:

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Division 4: Bury –

Division 5:

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

–

West Lancashire West Lancashire is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. The council is based in Ormskirk, and the largest town is Skelmersdale. The district borders Fylde to the north, over the Ribble Estuary; South Ribbl ...

Division 6: Preston –

South Ribble South Ribble is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Leyland. The borough includes the towns and villages of Penwortham, Leyland, Farington, Farington Moss, Hutton, Longton, Walmer B ...

–

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

– Fylde
Division 7:

–

Division 8: Barrow –

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

– Wyre
Division 9: St Helens –

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

–

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

Lancashire County Schools team

In the 2005–06 season the Lancashire County FA Schools team won the

English Schools' Football Association The English Schools' Football Association was founded in 1904 and is the governing body of schools' football in England. It is responsible for the running and development of schools competitions and festivals at primary and secondary school age ...

Under-16 Inter County Trophy. In the semi-final held at Victoria Park, Burscough, Lancashire beat Leicestershire & Rutland County Schools FA 3–1. They then beat Devon County Schools FA 2–1 in the final which was held at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

on 11 May 2006.

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

. The County Ground is the current home of Bolton Wanderers reserve team, who play in the

Premier Reserve League The Premier Reserve League (officially known as The Barclays Premier Reserve League for sponsorship reasons) was the reserve team league for the top English football teams in the Premier League. The league was split into a northern and a southern ...

and who, in the 2009–10 season, play in the North Division. The club also use the ground for all their home matches in the

Manchester Senior Cup The Manchester FA Senior Cup (originally known as the Manchester and District Challenge Cup, later the Manchester Cup) is an annual football tournament held between the clubs of the Manchester Football Association which was first played in 1885; ...

. 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.

Affiliated Leagues

Men's Saturday Leagues

*Accrington Combination *Blackburn and District Combination *East Lancashire League *Furness Premier League * Lancashire League *

Lancashire Amateur League The Lancashire Amateur Football League is an English association football league founded in 1899. Currently the league consists of five divisions – Premier, One, Two, Three and Four. The Premier Division is at level 14 in the English football ...

*Mid Lancashire and District League * North Lancashire & District Football League *Rochdale Alliance League *SportsReach League *

West Lancashire League The West Lancashire Football League is a football competition based in northern England, consisting of five divisions – three for first teams (Premier, One and Two), and two for reserve teams. The top division, the Premier Division, sits at ...

Ladies and Girls Leagues

Lancashire FA Women's County League The Lancashire FA Women's County League is an amateur competitive women's association football competition based in Lancashire, England run by the Lancashire FA. Founded in 1996 as the Lancashire FA Girls League, the league consists of two divisi ...

* Lancashire Girls League * West Lancashire Girls League

Other Leagues

*Bolton Sports Federation Over 35 Veterans League *Lancashire Ability Counts *Lancaster University Inter College Men’s League

Men's Sunday Leagues

Blackburn Sunday LeagueBlackpool and Fylde Sunday AllianceBurnley and District Sunday LeagueBury and District Sunday LeagueChorley Nissan Sunday League Harry Dewhurst Memorial Sunday League
*Middleton and District Sunday League *Lancashire Evening Post Sunday League *Ormskirk and District Sunday League *Pendle Charity League *Skelmersdale and District Sunday League *South Lancashire Counties League

Small Sided Leagues

*Blackburn Community 7-a-side League *Furness Futebol – Barrow-in-Furness *Lancashire FA County 6ixes *PSL Soccer Leagues *Soccer Burnley 5's *Soccer Sixes :- Blackburn :- Lancaster :- Morecambe :- Preton * Leisure Leagues - Garstang - Longridge - Colne

Youth Leagues

*Lancashire FA Under 18 Floodlight League *Accrington and District Junior League *Barrow and District Junior League *Blackpool and District Youth *Bolton and Bury Junior Football League *Bury & Radcliffe Junior League *East Lancashire Alliance *Craven Minor Junior League *Central Lancashire Junior League *Lancaster and Morecambe Service to Youth League *Lune and District Junior League *Mid Lancashire Colts Junior League *North Bury Junior League *North Valley Youth League *Poulton and District Primary League *Preston City Development League *Rochdale and Oldham Youth League *Skelmersdale Junior League *Warburton Youth League *Wigan & District Youth League

Disbanded Leagues

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

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 i ...

*Bolton & District Amateur Combination *Bolton Boys and Girls Federation *Fylde District League *Lancashire Palatine League *Lancaster and Morecambe Grassroots Sunday League *Leigh & District Amateur League *Morecambe & Lancaster Sunday Football League *Preston Churches League *Blackburn & Darwen Junior League *Hindley & District Junior League *Hyndburn & District Boys League

Members

Full members

There are 79 clubs who have full membership of the Lancashire FA. These are – *

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

* A.F.C. Blackpool * A.F.C. Darwen *

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

Ashton Athletic Ashton Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester, England. Affiliated to the Lancashire County Football Association, they are currently members of the and play at Brocstedes Park. History The ...

* Atherton Collieries * Atherton Laburnum Rovers *Atherton Town *BAC/EE/Springfields * Bacup Borough *BAE Systems Barrow *

Bamber Bridge Bamber Bridge is a large village in Lancashire, England, south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". People who live in Bamber Bri ...

* Barrow *

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

* Blackpool Wren Rovers *Blackrod Town *

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

*Bolton Wyresdale *Breightmet United *Bridge Celtic FC, Adlington *

*Burnley United *

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. The town is located approximately north-northeast of Liverpool and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Its north ...

* Bury *

Charnock Richard Charnock Richard is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Chorley, Lancashire, in England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,748. History The village was named in the early 13th century by the local ...

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for to ...

*Collegiate Old Boys *Croston Sports Club * Daisy Hill *

Dalton United Dalton may refer to: Science * Dalton (crater), a lunar crater * Dalton (program), chemistry software * Dalton (unit) (Da), a.k.a. unified atomic mass unit * John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist * 12292 Dalton, an asteroid Ente ...

Eagley Eagley is a village of the unparished area of South Turton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically part of Lancashire, it lies on southern slopes of the West Pennine Moors. Eagley Brook passes through ...

* Everton *

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

*Fulwood Amateurs *Golborne Sports *Hesketh Bank *Hesketh Casuals *Hindsford * Holker Old Boys *Lancashire Constabulary *

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Foot ...

* Leigh Genesis *

*Lytham St. Annes & Fylde YMCA F.C. *

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine current power * Marine debris * Marine energy * Marine habitats * Mari ...

*Merseyside Police *Mill Hill St. Peters *

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

*Norcross & Warbreck *Old Blackburnians * Old Boltonians *Old Xaverians *

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

*Oldham Hulmeians *

Padiham Padiham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Calder, Lancashire, River Calder, in the Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, Lancashire, England. It is located north west of Burnley, and north ea ...

*Poulton Town *

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

* Prestwich Heys *

Radcliffe Borough Radcliffe Football Club (formerly Radcliffe Borough) is an English football club based in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, where they play their home games at Stainton Park. The club was formed on 24 May 1949 and currently plays in the National L ...

* Ramsbottom United *

* Rochdale Town *Rochdale St. Clements * Rossendale United *

Skelmersdale United Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the Liverpool County Premier League and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool Count ...

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

*Southport Trinity *

Squires Gate Squires Gate is a district and an electoral ward in South Shore, Blackpool on the Fylde coast, in the Blackpool district, in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located at the south of the town near the boundary with Lytham S ...

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

* Turton *Walshaw Sports *Whalley Range *

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

*Woodbank *Wyre Villa *Wythenshawe Amateurs

Associate members

Clubs who are associate members of the Lancashire FA include:- *Coppull United * Euxton Villa *Fleetwood Hesketh *Freckleton *Freehold *Garstang * Kendal Town *The Pleasant Inn (Royton)

County Cups

The Lancashire FA currently organises nineteen County Cup competitions.

Recent Lancashire County FA Cup Competition Winners

References

External links

* {{County Football Association County football associations Football in Lancashire Sports organizations established in 1878 1878 establishments in England