Crystal Palace F.C. (Women)

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Crystal Palace Women
Crystal Palace FC logo (2022).svg
Full nameCrystal Palace Football Club Women
Nickname(s)The Eagles
Founded1992
Ground VBS Community Stadium
Capacity5,013
Chairman Steve Parish
Manager Leif Gunnar Smerud
League Women's Super League
2023–24 Women's Championship, 1st of 12 (promoted)
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

Crystal Palace Football Club Women is a women's association football club based in South London, England, which competes in the Women's Super League, the highest level of English women's football. The team, known as the "Eagles", is affiliated to the men's equivalent Crystal Palace F.C..

Contents

The club play its home matches at the VBS Community Stadium in Sutton, South London, as well as select matches at Selhurst Park. They previously played at Hayes Lane, the home ground of Bromley F.C., between 2014 and 2023.

History

The club was formed in 1992 as Crystal Palace Ladies F.C.. Since 2003, the club has risen up England's football pyramid, winning the South East Combination Women's Football League in 2003–04, and they later achieved their first cup success defeating Chelsea in the Surrey FA County Cup final in 2011. Palace won the London and South East Women's Regional Football League title in 2013–14, gaining promotion to the FA Women's National League regional section. They won the South East Division One title in 2015–16, after going the whole season undefeated. The club also won the Surrey FA County Cup that same season against AFC Wimbledon in the final.

In 2018, Palace were given semi-professional status, and secured a Tier 2 license, allowing them to become a founding member of the FA Women's Championship, the second highest tier in women’s football. [1] Then in 2019, it was announced by the club they would play under the name "Crystal Palace F.C." instead of "Crystal Palace Ladies F.C.", following the growing trend within the women's game at that time to move away from the term "Ladies". [2]

Following mixed results in their first three years in the Women's Championship, Palace recorded back-to-back top-five finishes in the 2021–22 and 2022–23 seasons. [3] It was around this time that the club officially became part of the CPFC Limited group in June 2022, and they received full professional status in 2023, followed by the securing of a Tier 1 license in April 2024, which would allow their eventual entry into the Women's Super League (WSL). [4]

In the summer of 2023, the club appointed Grace Williams, [5] as Head of Women’s Football, and Laura Kaminski, [6] as Head Coach. This resulted in Palace gaining promotion to the Women's Super League as champions at the end of the 2023–24 Championship season. The club scored 55 goals – and conceded just 20 – in 22 matches. It also marked Palace’s inaugural promotion to the top-flight of women’s football. [7] The promotion was sealed with a final-day draw against Sunderland at Selhurst Park, in front of a record crowd of 6,796. [8]

Players

Current squad

As of 31 January 2025 [9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
2 DF Flag of Denmark.svg  DEN Katrine Veje
3 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Felicity Gibbons
4 MF Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Chloe Arthur
5 MF Flag of Sweden.svg  SWE My Cato
6 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Aimee Everett (captain)
8 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Molly-Mae Sharpe
9 FW Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  WAL Elise Hughes
10 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Annabel Blanchard
11 FW Flag of the Netherlands.svg  NED Ashleigh Weerden
14 MF Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  WAL Josie Green
15 MF Flag of Ireland.svg  IRL Hayley Nolan
17 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Lexi Potter (on loan from Chelsea)
19 GK Flag of Finland.svg  FIN Milla-Maj Majasaari
No.Pos.NationPlayer
20 FW Flag of New Zealand.svg  NZL Indiah-Paige Riley
21 FW Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN Clarissa Larisey [10]
22 MF Flag of Denmark.svg  DEN Mille Gejl
23 DF Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  WAL Lily Woodham (on loan from Seattle Reign FC)
24 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Shanade Hopcroft
27 FW Flag of Ireland.svg  IRL Abbie Larkin
28 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Katie Stengel
30 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Shae Yáñez
47 GK Flag of England.svg  ENG Annis-Clara Wright
77 DF Flag of Ireland.svg  IRL Isibeal Atkinson
FW Flag of Finland.svg  FIN Ria Öling [11]
DF Flag of the Netherlands.svg  NED Aniek Nouwen (on loan from Chelsea)
DF Flag of Jamaica.svg  JAM Allyson Swaby

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Isabella Sibley(at Newcastle United until end of the 2024–25 season)

Former players


Club staff

PositionName
Chairman Flag of England.svg Steve Parish [12]
Head of women's football Flag of England.svg Grace Williams [5]
Head Coach Flag of Norway.svg Leif Gunnar Smerud [6]
Assistant Coach Flag of England.svg Adam Jeffrey [13]
Goalkeeping Coach Flag of Italy.svg Daniel Matraszek
Physical Performance Coach Flag of Portugal.svg Chico Lyons
Physiotherapist Flag of Italy.svg Tadej Citti

Honours

Leagues

Cups

In 2019, the Palace Women team featured in the first episode of Harry's Heroes: The Full English, a documentary broadcast on the ITV television network. They played a team of male former professional footballers losing the match 1–0. [14]

See also

References

  1. "CLUB STATEMENT: FA Women's Championship - News - Crystal Palace Ladies FC". 9 February 2019. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  2. "A new identity for Crystal Palace Ladies Football Club". CPFC Official Site. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  3. "Crystal Palace Women announce 22/23 squad – with 15 additions - News". Crystal Palace F.C. 4 August 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  4. "Crystal Palace – 23/24 Women's Championship winners! - News". Crystal Palace F.C. 28 April 2024. Archived from the original on 16 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  5. 1 2 "Crystal Palace appoint new Head of Women's Football - News". Crystal Palace F.C. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  6. 1 2 "Palace Women appoint Laura Kaminski as head coach". cpfc.co.uk. Crystal Palace FC. 14 July 2023. Archived from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  7. 'No-one expected this' - Crystal Palace reach WSL, Emma Smith, BBC Sport, 28 April 2024
  8. "Report: Palace win Women's Championship crown at Selhurst Park - News". Crystal Palace F.C. 28 April 2024. Archived from the original on 14 May 2024. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  9. "Women Squad". Crystal Palace F.C. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  10. "Palace sign Canada forward Larisey on two and a half year deal". BBC Sport. 18 January 2025. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  11. "Palace Women sign Finland international Ria Öling - News". Crystal Palace F.C. 22 January 2025. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  12. "Parish urges women's league overhaul to build on Euro 2022 - News". Crystal Palace F.C. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  13. "Adam Jeffrey joins Palace Women as Assistant Coach". cpfc.co.uk. Crystal Palace FC. 22 August 2023. Archived from the original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  14. Jeffries, Stuart (18 March 2018). "Harry's Heroes review – an answer to the question: 'Who ate all the pies?'". The Guardian . Retrieved 24 March 2019.