On Friday, Michele Kang announced that she has taken over London City Lionesses FC, an independent club that competes in the FA Women's Championship. The English club is another “cornerstone” in her vision to expand her global multi-club organization after agreeing to take over OL Feminine and become owner of the Washington Spirit earlier this year.
“As you can imagine, when you're trying to build an outstanding women's soccer organization, you have to be where the focus is,” Kang told The Athletic ahead of Friday's announcement. “England is definitely one of them. I was looking for a way to land and with the London City Lionesses being the only independent team it was a no-brainer.”
Instead of having to convince a men's club to allow Kang to separate its women's team from the club structure, Kang can immediately enter the second tier of women's football in England, with an eye on the WSL.
“Our goal is clearly to move up,” Kang said with a smile.
This independent structure only came about because LCL founder Diane Culligan stepped in to help Millwall FC a few years ago when they were struggling to finish the season on the women's side. Culligan had already established himself independently in the youth game.
While a standalone women's team model is the norm in the United States and other countries, this is not the case in England, where many teams are affiliated with top men's clubs.
“I think it’s fair to say that my ideas and the people running the club at the time were not compatible and that’s when we decided to part ways,” Culligan said. “That’s where the London City Lionesses were born and we went from there. The only truly independent professional women’s football club in the UK when it comes to a professional game.”
LCL play at Princes Park in Dartford (James Fearn – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
The Lionesses currently sit ninth in the Championship standings, despite finishing second and third in the previous two seasons. Their head coach is Carolina Morace and home games are played at Princes Park in Dartford, 18 miles southeast of central London.
“It's the middle of the season, we will do everything we can to finish the season as successfully as possible,” said Kang. “We'll figure out where we can provide some operational help here in terms of resources without impacting their work.”
Whatever their plan, the Lionesses will retain their branding and identity even after the takeover – similar to how Lyon and The Spirit operate. Adding another team is also another reason to justify greater centralized resources in the multi-club organization. “I can make the kind of investment at scale that men’s teams can afford,” Kang said.
In May, Kang told The Athletic that her goal was to add three to five more teams by the end of 2023. While the Lionesses are the only team to have added them this year, conversations about potential teams are ongoing around the world.
“We are having some discussions in Asia; That will certainly be the first part of next year,” Kang said. “We will try to pick up where we left off.” She still has other European countries, South America and Mexico in her sights – as she noted on Friday. Kang also said that they have already started discussions in Africa.
In London City's case, Kang wants to balance the conclusion of the 2023-2024 season with a long-term strategy, not just for promotion, but for becoming a top team in the WSL and then winning. From a business perspective, the timing is promising, with the top leagues moving to an independent structure outside the Football Association and under NewCo in November. To earn this reward, the Lionesses must first earn a promotion, but Kang has shown in the past that she is willing to invest for such an outcome.
“The NewCo model for BWSL and BWC is a great example of how women’s sport is being promoted in England and globally,” Kang said. “We need more investment focused exclusively on women’s football so that resources are not compromised.”
For Kang, there is also an important example of the potential to move up to a lower league: Wrexham. A Championship club promoted to the WSL has already been widely reported on and Liverpool produced a 90-minute documentary about their move to the WSL. But it's hard to ignore how “Welcome to Wrexham” has raised awareness and engagement in the lower divisions of English soccer here in the US, and has also helped the team's new ownership immensely.
When asked if it was on her mind, she couldn't help but laugh before answering: “Absolutely. That’s what we’re here for and we’ll definitely write another chapter.”
(Photo: Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images)