Guiseley A.F.C. Vixens



Guiseley Association Football Club Vixens is an English women's football team founded in 1993 by Martin Cockerill as Leeds City Vixens, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The Guiseley Vixens compete in the FA Women's Cup and are amongst the teams in the FA Women's Premier League Northern Division One, which is the fourth tier of Women's Football in England and Wales.

The club is known not only for its open age team but also for the younger girls' teams which wear the same uniform. All age groups play in the West Riding Girls Football League and other small tournaments around Yorkshire. The club is working with Leeds City Council to promote women's football in Leeds.

History


Throughout the club's history, younger girls have joined, permitting the club to enter successful teams in the West Riding Girls Football League      and the u16sA play in the Four Counties Regional Girls League (playing against Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United). The club have always generally played in white and blue.

Leeds City Vixens was started in 1993 by Martin Cockerill and his children. At first it was called Meanwood Vixens but it grew into what is now known as Leeds City Vixens. Immediately the team made a name for itself and grew as part of the Sheffield and District Girl's League, winning the u12's, u14's and u16's. Leeds City Vixens open age played in the Yorkshire & Humberside League. In the season 1999/00 they finished 2nd with 51 points. In 2000/01 they got 41 points and finished 5th. In 2001/02 they finished 10th with 16 points. In 2002/03 they finished 5th with 27 points and got promoted to the next tier. They started playing in the Northern Combination League for the 2003/2004 season. A bad finish left them 10th at the end of the season and they were relegated back down. At the end of the 2004/2005 season, they finished top of the Yorkshire & Humberside League which brought them back up to the Northern Combination, where they remain. In the 2005/06 season they finished 2nd. In the 2006/2007 season they finished 2nd and came close to promotion. Over the course of the season they won 15 games, drew 4 games, and lost 2 games. The 2007/08 season saw a change in venue for the team. They now play at the same ground as Yorkshire Amateur A.F.C. and finally won promotion in 2008/09, finishing as champions of the Northern Combination Women's Football League.

Five-a-Side
Leeds City Vixens teams annually play a Five-a-Side tournament with other clubs around England. The 2007/08 five a side tournament will be held in May 2008. The tournament is sponsored by Manning Stainton.

Sponsorship
The club have been sponsored by Mears as official sponsor and corporate partner. This is a five-year partnership with Mears initially giving a cheque for £7,500. The British Army is the uniform sponsor, effective October 2008, for a two-year period.

Other teams connected with Leeds City Vixens
The club has many younger ages on the team including U16sA, U16sB, U15s, U13s, U11s, U10s, U9s. Most age groups give out awards at the end of the year the awards such as "Player of the year" and "Most improved player".

They Vixens also have a reserve team. The reserve team plays in the West Riding Girls Football League Premier Division. The third side is managed by Martin Walker and they play in the West Riding Girls Football League.

The U16sA play in the Four Counties League. The U16sB Play in the West Riding Girls Football League Division 1. The U15s Play in the West Riding Girls Football League Division 1. The U13s Play 11-a-side matches in the West Riding Girls Football League Division 1. The U11s Play in the West Riding Girls Football League Division 3. The U10s Play in the West Riding Girls Football League Division 1. The U9s play in the West Riding Girls Football League.

Honours

 * Twice Reebok's English champions
 * 4 times PUMA's World Champions
 * Twice Snicker's Champions of England
 * Women's Yorkshire County Cup
 * Coca Cola's North East England champions

Mascot
The official Leeds City Vixens mascot is Vicky the Vixen. Vicky is normally found at the Leeds City Vixens football development centre. She gets young girls from around Leeds interested in football. Unlike many mascots Vicky the Vixen is a female because Leeds City Vixens is a female team. The idea for the Vixens to have a mascot came from Martin Cockerill, the founder of Leeds Vixens, in September 2006.

Current squad
As of 11 April 2010

Current staff
As of 14 February 2010
 * Manager: Andrew Thorpe
 * Coach: Gary Cocker
 * Coach: Ste Talbot