The Northampton Laurels FC was an American professional soccer team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2005, the team played in Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL). The team folded after the 2008 season.

The Laurels' home was J. Birney Crum Stadium, located in the city of Allentown, where they have played since 2006. The team's colors was green and white.

The team features several players with previous professional and international experience, along with local “stand out” talent. Playing for the Laurels provides elite Lehigh Valley -area players with an opportunity to progress through the U.S. soccer system.

In their 2006 expansion season, the Laurels were the WPSL's Eastern Conference - Southern Division runners up. In addition, the team was a semi-finalist in the 2006 WPSL Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Laurels were also the WPSL Eastern Conference Mid-Atlantic Division runners up in 2007, and an Eastern Conference Semi-Finalist.

Northampton ⁱ/nɔrˈθæmptən/ is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about 67 miles (108 km) north-west of London and around 50 miles (80 km) south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is Northamptonian.

Original settlements in Northampton date back to the 6th century. Its modern development is largely due to its rapid population increase since the 1960s after a planned expansion occurred under the New Towns Commission in the early 1970s. In 2001, its urban area population was 197,199 while its town population was 189,474, making Northampton the 27th largest settlement in England, and the UK's 3rd largest town without official city status after Reading and Dudley. Northampton is the most populous district in England that is not a unitary authority, a status it failed to obtain in the 1990s local government reform.

Northampton has a history of the manufacture of boots and shoes yet engineering has taken over as a modern key industry; other industries include food processing, brewing, and the manufacture of shoe machinery, cosmetics, leather goods, and car accessories. At present, the major employers are public administration, financial services, and the distribution trade.

Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema. Composed of thin Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and fat American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957), they became well known during the late 1920s to the mid-1940s for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy and childlike friend of the pompous Hardy. They made over 100 films together, initially two-reelers (short films) before expanding into feature length films in the 1930s. Their films include Sons of the Desert (1933), the Academy Award winning short film The Music Box (1932), Babes in Toyland (1934), and Way Out West (1937). Hardy's catchphrase "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" is still widely recognized.

Prior to the double act both were established actors with Laurel appearing in over 50 films and Hardy in over 250 films. Although the two comedians first worked together on the film The Lucky Dog (1921), this was a chance pairing and it was not until 1926, when both separately signed contracts with the Hal Roach film studio, that they began appearing in movie shorts together. Laurel and Hardy officially became a team the following year in the silent short film Putting Pants on Philip (1927). The pair remained with the Roach studio until 1940, then appeared in eight "B" comedies for 20th Century Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1941 to 1945. After finishing their movie commitments at the end of 1944, they concentrated on stage shows, embarking on a music hall tour of England, Ireland, and Scotland. In 1950 they made their last film, a French/Italian co-production called Atoll K, before retiring from the screen. In total they appeared together in 107 films. They starred in 40 short sound films, 32 short silent films and 23 full-length feature films, and made 12 guest or cameo appearances, including the recently discovered Galaxy of Stars promotional film (1936).