Ladywood F.C. was formed in 1976 by Mr Robert Green to give young local boys a chance to play in organised games. They began with a set of 'second hand' shirts and 'hand made' shorts, made by the mother of the 'left back'.

Ladywood F.C. began by playing friendly matches against local 'cub' packs until joining the Belper Floodlit Under 13's League the following year. In the first year they were beaten in the final of the cup competition, the following year they went on to win the league without loosing a game.

By now their reputation was growing and in 1978 they entered the Derby Parks League (now the Derby City League) with both Under 14's and Under 12' teams. In the beginning Ladywood played their league games away from Ilkeston on the Derby Park pitches until Kirk Hallam School was approached about the availability of their facilities. This began a long association with the school, with league matches, committee meetings, training sessions, Cabarets and Presentation Nights all being held at the school.

Unfortunately, with the inception of the School Funding system the cost of hiring the facilities at the school rose by 400% and Ladywood were reluctantly forced to look for a new HQ.

From these humble beginnings the club has expanded, where at it's height in 1997 they ran a team for Under 9 and 10 in the Community League played on Saturday mornings, Under 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 teams in the Derby City League that played on Sunday mornings and 2 senior teams that played in the Long Eaton Sunday League (the highest standard of local football to amateur and semi-professional players on a Sunday morning).

Over the years the club has enjoyed varying degrees of success and won numerous trophies. Their first success was in their second season when they won the Derby Parks League and their most reacent trophy was won at the end of the 1999-2000 season when the 2nd senior team won the Long Eaton Sunday League cup for the third time.

Ladywood's involvements in the local community has been extended across the water as during the 1994-1995 season they were approached by the Ilkeston and District Twin Towns Association with a view to representing the town in a sporting festival with our French cousins from Chalons. The success of this venture saw Ladywood invited back on an unofficial visit the following year to take part in "Euro-Foot '96". This tournament involved teams from Italy, Germany, France and Ladywood representing Ilkeston and England.

Over the years Ladywood and Chalons have performed exchanges every second year with the most recent being performed during the 2004-2005 season where a team from Ilkeston visited Chalons for Easter to take part in 2 friendly matches.

All a far cry from the days of hand made shorts and the dream of a few individuals.

Long may it continue.