Chorley F.C. Women

Chorley Women FC trace their heritage to 1978, taking the Chorley name after a rename in 1983 and playing their early football in the North West Women's Leagues in Lancashire. Their standout early figure was striker Anne Stockdale, twice the regional division's leading scorer — including a remarkable 44 goals in 22 games in 1988/89. After fourteen seasons chasing it, the club reached the Northern Combination in 2011/12 and adapted quickly, finishing runners-up in each of its first two seasons there. More recently Chorley took an unusual organisational step, formally incorporating as a Community Interest Company — by their account the only club across the top six tiers of English women's football to adopt that not-for-profit, community-owned legal structure, with the aim of reinvesting everything back into the women's game.