Club History
Panthers WFC was formed in 1997 by a group of friends
who moved to London after university. The first season in Division 3 West of the
FA Greater London Women's League was somewhat shaky:
| Div 3 West |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
PTS |
| Brentford |
22 |
21 |
0 |
1 |
151 |
26 |
63 |
| Lambeth |
22 |
17 |
4 |
1 |
105 |
27 |
55 |
| Camberwell |
22 |
13 |
1 |
8 |
60 |
34 |
40 |
| Old Uxonian |
22 |
12 |
1 |
9 |
66 |
66 |
37 |
| Rangers |
22 |
11 |
3 |
8 |
51 |
61 |
36 |
| Rickmansworth |
22 |
9 |
3 |
10 |
62 |
41 |
30 |
| Chiswick |
22 |
9 |
2 |
11 |
61 |
65 |
29 |
| East Barnet |
22 |
8 |
1 |
13 |
52 |
57 |
25 |
| Brockwell |
22 |
7 |
3 |
12 |
49 |
39 |
24 |
| Egham Ladies |
22 |
7 |
2 |
13 |
36 |
48 |
23 |
| Camden Town |
22 |
6 |
4 |
12 |
48 |
59 |
22 |
| Panthers |
22 |
0 |
0 |
22 |
4 |
222 |
0 |
Yep - you read that correctly. In the 1998-99 season
we achieved notoriety by becoming the first team in the history of the Greater London Women's
League (and I suspect the only since) to finish with negative points after failing to field
a team for two matches. Once again the goal tally was abysmal although the offical league history
indicates that the goals against didn't fit in the table column so I can only assume it was 3 figures!
| Div 3 West | P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
PTS |
| Old Uxonian | 18 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 84 | 20 | 51 |
| Rickmansowrth | 18 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 64 | 21 | 48 |
| Chiswick | 18 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 84 | 25 | 42 |
| Rangers | 18 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 64 | 38 | 32 |
| Staines | 18 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 59 | 48 | 27 |
| East Barnet | 18 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 22 | 40 | 17 |
| Egham Town | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 30 | 51 | 14 |
| Brockwell | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 28 | 58 | 14 |
| Camden Town | 18 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 19 | 58 | 10 |
| Panthers | 18 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 12 | ## | -5 |
Finally in 1999-2000 we managed to lift ourselves from the bottom of the table!
| Div 3 West | P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
PTS |
| Leatherhead | 20 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 77 | 22 | 50 |
| Bedfont | 20 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 103 | 27 | 49 |
| Chiswick Utd | 20 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 91 | 37 | 40 |
| East Barnet | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 53 | 23 | 37 |
| Everett | 20 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 68 | 29 | 36 |
| Celtic | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 68 | 54 | 36 |
| Bushey Rangers | 20 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 85 | 79 | 30 |
| Egham Town | 20 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 22 | 71 | 17 |
| Camden Town | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 47 | 56 | 16 |
| Panthers | 20 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 16 | 117 | 7 |
| Merton | 20 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 17 | 132 | 3 |
The Panthers have not looked back since...
2000-1 season:
| Div 3 West | P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
PTS |
| Bushey Rangers | 22 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 140 | 21 | 63 |
| Chiswick Utd | 22 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 118 | 26 | 57 |
| Celtic | 22 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 77 | 36 | 48 |
| Everett | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 74 | 30 | 44 |
| Chiswick | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 47 | 47 | 39 |
| Merton | 22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 42 | 56 | 32 |
| Camberley | 22 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 37 | 41 | 31 |
| Wandsworth | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 38 | 80 | 24 |
| Virginia Water | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 28 | 46 | 18 |
| Panthers | 22 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 87 | 13 |
| Staines | 22 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 20 | 95 | 11 |
| The Falcons | 22 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 20 | 95 | 2 |
2001-2 season:
| Div 3 West | P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
PTS |
| Camberley Town |
20 |
18 |
1 |
1 |
74 |
16 |
55 |
| Everett Ladies |
20 |
16 |
2 |
2 |
102 |
21 |
50 |
| Chiswick Ladies |
20 |
13 |
1 |
6 |
67 |
30 |
40 |
| Merton |
20 |
12 |
2 |
6 |
92 |
39 |
38 |
| Panthers |
20 |
10 |
2 |
8 |
62 |
55 |
32 |
| Celtic |
20 |
9 |
1 |
10 |
70 |
68 |
28 |
| Wandsworth Westside |
20 |
7 |
1 |
12 |
36 |
58 |
22 |
| Virginia Water |
20 |
5 |
4 |
11 |
48 |
59 |
19 |
| Staines Town |
20 |
5 |
3 |
12 |
51 |
103 |
18 |
| Hook & Southborough |
20 |
5 |
0 |
15 |
18 |
59 |
15 |
| Falcons |
20 |
1 |
1 |
18 |
12 |
124 |
4 |
The 2002-3 season saw a reorganisation of the league and the creation of
two new fourth divisions. The Panthers moved to Division 3, an amalgamation of the two previous East and West
Divisions. Competition was tough.
| Div 3 | P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
PTS |
|
| Battersea Irons | 18 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 50 | 19 | 41 |
| Stonewall Phoenix | 18 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 64 | 28 | 40 |
| Garston | 18 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 47 | 36 | 34 |
| Camden Town | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 42 | 35 | 31 |
| FC London (1949) | 18 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 44 | 49 | 25 |
| Chiswick Ladies | 18 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 37 | 41 | 18 |
| St Margaretsbury | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 41 | 46 | 17 |
| Merton | 18 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 40 | 56 | 17 |
| Panthers | 18 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 21 | 44 | 14 |
| Coppermill Athletic | 18 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 33 | 65 | 13 |
The team went from strength to strength and achieved promotion
from Division 3 to 2 in the 2003-4 season.
| Div 3 | P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
PTS |
| London Colney | 16 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 87 | 11 | 40 |
| Hitchin Town | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 68 | 12 | 40 |
| Panthers | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 53 | 26 | 32 |
| Hampton & Richmond Borough | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 48 | 29 | 27 |
| Camden Town | 16 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 43 | 34 | 27 |
| Garston | 16 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 33 | 42 | 16 |
| Merton | 16 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 20 | 82 | 10 |
| FC London (1949) | 16 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 23 | 64 | 5 |
| Chiswick Ladies | 16 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 12 | 87 | 4 |
2004/05 saw a lot of change for the Panthers, with a new management team, the
creation of a reserve side, and many new players brought in to the club. Having
been promoted the previous season the first team made a sluggish start in Division
2, losing three of the first five league games. However, nine wins and a draw
from the next ten games propelled the team up the league into third place, leaving
the final league game at home to second placed Hitchin Town, who led the Panthers
on goal difference. A goal behind with twenty minutes left, a superb comeback
saw us equalising and going on to grab a last gasp goal to finish second and achieve
promotion.
The season was also memorable for cup competitions. We reached the first round
proper of the FA Women's Cup in our first season of entering it, and reached
the last four of the London FA Women's cup, along with Arsenal, Charlton and
Fulham, seeing off West Ham United in the quarter finals. This led to a semi-final
at Fulham, which, for all we lost 4-1, was a fantastic day out for the club
and was an achievement that no-one would have thought possible at the start
of the season.
In their first season, the reserves found life tough and finished the season
adrift at the bottom of the league. It was never going to be easy starting a
new team, as players have to gel, the first few games were played without a
manager, and we had no recognised goalkeeper for much of the season. However,
enough ability and determination has been shown to make us confident that the
team can move forward next season and begin to move up the league. The reserves
just have to look at where the first team were a few years to where they are
now to see that a slow start can easily be turned around given time.