Middlesbrough FC Women

Middlesbrough Women were founded in 1976 as Cleveland Spartans, making them one of the longer-established women's clubs in the North East. Founding members of the Northern Combination in 1998, they spent much of their history in the third and fourth tiers, with a spell in the second-tier Premier League Northern Division in the early 2000s. For a long stretch the side ran independently of the men's club, and after a period of independent ownership from 2017 they were officially re-affiliated with Middlesbrough FC in 2023 — bringing the women's team properly back under the Boro banner. Nicknamed Boro like the men's side and based on Teesside, they've continued to push up the pyramid, winning their division as champions to earn promotion.