Derby County Women

Derby County Women grew from a grassroots idea: founders Sheila Rollinson and Jess Reid, both playing for a Coventry side at the time, wanted a women's club closer to home in the Derby and Burton area, and advertised for players in the local papers to get it off the ground. The club that emerged went through several identities — Burton Wanderers and Beacon Wanderers among them — before settling as Derby County Ladies and becoming a founder member of the Midland Combination League when the FA reorganised women's football in the early 1990s. A milestone came in 2008/09, when they won promotion by beating Crewe 4-2 at Pride Park. Nicknamed the Ewe Rams, they run a full academy pathway of nine youth teams feeding the senior side, and became formally incorporated as a company under the Derby County banner in 2019.