Loughborough Students Football Club, nicknamed “The Scholars,” is a non-league football club based in Loughborough, Leicestershire.
Established in 1920, they currently compete in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Division One Midlands, which is part of the eighth tier of English football. The team calls Loughborough University Stadium their home ground.
Men’s football at the institution began in 1919-20 under Principal Herbert Schofield. Known then as Loughborough Technical Institute, the team lifted the Northern Junior Cup in 1922, claimed the University Championship in 1938-39 and won the Leicestershire Senior League in 1940. Post-war, it secured three straight UAU titles from 1947 to 1949.
Loughborough University FC dominated student football in the 1950s and 1960s, winning nine UAU crowns between 1951 and 1969 after becoming a university in 1966 while competing in the Leicestershire Senior League Division Two until 1972. Under long-serving coach Mike Holliday, three more university titles followed in the 1970s, alongside a friendly victory over a Manchester United XI.
The club returned to the non-league system in 2007-08, taking the Midland Combination League Cup and earning promotion to the Midland Alliance in 2009; it later twice finished in the Alliance top five and retained the League Cup in 2013. Coaches since 2011 have included Stuart McLaren, Michael Skubala, Karl Brennan and Alex Ackerley, while a broad BUCS programme and steady player production have continued despite mixed league results.