Durham W.F.C.

Last updated

Durham Women F.C.
Durham WFC logo.png
Full nameDurham Women Football Club
Nickname(s)The Wildcats
Founded2014
Ground Maiden Castle, Durham
Capacity2,400 (300 seats)
Parent company Durham University [1]
Head CoachAdam Furness
League Women's Championship
2023–24 Women's Championship, 9th of 12
Website https://durhamwfc.co.uk/
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

Durham Women Football Club is a women's football club based in Durham, Northern England. The team has competed in the FA Women's Championship, the second tier of Women's football in England, [2] since 2014 having been awarded a licence in its inaugural season. [3] They play their home games at Maiden Castle, part of Durham University. [4]

Contents

History

Durham W.F.C. was founded in 2014 as a collaboration between South Durham & Cestria Girls and Durham University. [5] Prior to that, Cestria, founded in 2006 as a youth team by Lee Sanders, had become perennial achievers, winning the World Peace Cup in Oslo in 2010 and finishing runners-up at the 2011 Gothia World Youth Cup. In their only season as a senior side before the merger Cestria won the 2012–13 Northern Combination Women's Football League. Sanders, in conjunction with Quentin Sloper, head of sport at Durham University, then created Durham W.F.C in time for the 2014 FA WSL expansion. [6] [7]

Durham's first competitive matches were in the 2013–14 FA Women's Cup where they reached the fifth round. [8] The team's first league game was held on 17 April 2014, a 4–2 defeat against local rivals Sunderland at their New Ferens Park home. The Wildcats secured their first league victory away at London Bees, with a 1–0 win at The Hive Stadium. Despite a difficult start to the 2014 season, the Wildcats finished 6th. They won five, drew three and lost ten of their eighteen games.

2015 saw a much improved season for the Wildcats, including a better points total, albeit achieving a lower league finish, 7th place a reward for an injury-ravaged season. However 2016, saw Durham really hit their stride, with the Wildcats competing for promotion up until the final weeks of the season. The signings of Sarah Robson, Becky Salicki and Emily Roberts among others proved a catalyst as the Wildcats excelled throughout 2016. A record-breaking season eventually ended in a 4th-place finish with a highest-ever points total. They were also awarded the 'FA WSL 2 Club of the Year' award at the 2017 FA Women's Football Awards.

2017–18 was the Wildcats best ever season, finishing 4th, gaining 35 points in the process and only two points off second place. Durham also enjoyed their best ever FA Women's Cup run, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Everton. 2018–19 started well for the Wildcats, including a Continental Cup win over FA WSL side Everton and a 0–0 draw away at newly-formed Manchester United. Durham won 3–1 in the Home League fixture, thus becoming the first team to beat the Red Devils. [9] 2018–19 also saw the Wildcats reach their second successive FA Cup quarter-final before narrowly losing 1–0 to Chelsea in front of a record attendance of 1,629. [10]

Durham Hospitals Radio have broadcast all home matches since 2014 via their website to Durham Hospital (UHND) and around the world. [11] In October 2020, Durham Women became one of 41 clubs to be founding signatories of the Football Association’s Football Leadership Diversity Code (including two others from the Women's Championship). [12] The club transitioned from a hybrid training model to a full-time professional training model ahead of the 2023–24 Women's Championship season. [13]

Players

Current squad

Kathryn Hill (2) and captain Sarah Wilson (5) in March 2019 Lewes 0 Durham 1 30 03 2019-425 (33632789218).jpg
Kathryn Hill (2) and captain Sarah Wilson (5) in March 2019
As of 21 January 2025 [14]

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
1 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Tatiana Saunders
2 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Grace Ayre
3 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Lauren Briggs
4 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Olivia Bramley
5 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Sarah Wilson(captain)
6 MF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Sarah Robson
7 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Beth Hepple
8 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Mollie Lambert
9 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Carly Johns
10 FW Flag of New Zealand.svg  NZL Hannah Blake
11 FW Flag of Scotland.svg  SCO Abbi Grant
12 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Lily Crosthwaite
No.Pos.NationPlayer
13 GK Flag of England.svg  ENG Anna King
14 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Becky Salicki
15 FW Flag of England.svg  ENG Aimee Claypole
16 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Dee Bradley
17 FW Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN Kaila Novak
19 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Ella Wilson
20 DF Flag of New Zealand.svg  NZL Michaela Foster
21 MF Flag of England.svg  ENG Erin Nicholson
22 FW Flag of Ireland.svg  IRL Eleanor Ryan-Doyle
23 GK Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN Rylee Foster
24 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Abby Holmes

Club staff

As of 28 September 2024 [15]
Head of FootballLee Sanders
First Team Head CoachAdam Furness
First Team Assistant CoachGeorge Anthony
Goalkeeping CoachJon Collinson
PhysiotherapistNat Gutteridge
Club doctorDougal Southward
Strength and conditioning CoachKara Elderkin
Sports scientistSimon Fairbairn

Records

As of January 15 2024

Season summary

Results of league and cup competitions by season
SeasonDivisionPWDLFAPtsPos FA Cup League Cup NameGoals
LeagueTop goalscorer [nb 1]
2014 WSL 2 1853101932186th Fifth round Group stage Caroline Dixon5
2015 WSL 21862102432207th Third round Group stage Courtney Corrie5
2016 WSL 21810353019334th Fifth round Preliminary round Beth Hepple14
2017 [nb 2] WSL 295131410165th Fourth round N/A Zoe Ness 5
2017–18 WSL 21811254426354th Quarter-final Group stage Beth Hepple11
2018–19 Championship 2011633716394th Quarter-final Group stage Beth Hepple8
2019–20 [nb 3] Championship1410223310323rd Fourth round Group stage Beth Hepple10
2020–21 Championship2012623415422nd Fourth round Quarter-finals Beth Hepple10
2021–22 Championship2210483028346th Fifth round Group stage Beth Hepple10
2022–23 Championship2284103029287th Fifth round Group stage Rio Hardy 9
2023–24 Championship2265112444239th Fourth round Group stage Amy Andrews9
  1. ↑ Goals in all competitions (League, FA Cup and League Cup are counted)
  2. ↑ Shortened Spring Series: teams only played each other once and there was no WSL Cup
  3. ↑ Season curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Durham Cestria

Durham Cestria are an official partner club who compete in the FA Women's National League Division One North. [18] The club won the 2016–17 North East Regional Northern Division, [19] followed two years later by the 2018–19 North East Regional Premier Division. [20]

Honours

League

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Durham Women's Football Club Ltd Accounts 2019–2020". Companies House. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  2. ↑ "Women's Super League: North East seeks knock-on effect". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Durham Women: 'We travel to matches in vans, then play the opposition off the park'". thetimes.co.uk (Archived). Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ↑ Donnelly, Mark (12 September 2020). "Durham Women Move To New Home Ground". Durham Women FC.
  5. ↑ Clark, Steph. "Durham Women gear up for Super League bow". Northern Echo. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  6. ↑ "History of Durham Women FC, TheFA WSL". durham.fawsl.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  7. ↑ Association, The Football. "Newcomers Durham primed for FA WSL challenge". www.thefa.com.
  8. ↑ Watson, Neil. "Sunderland Ladies relish Durham derby opener". Sunderland Echo. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  9. ↑ "Manchester United Women lose unbeaten record at Durham". BBC Sport. 9 December 2018. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  10. ↑ "Women's FA Cup: Durham Women 0–1 Chelsea Women". BBC Sport. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  11. ↑ "NEWS: Durham Women & Durham Hospitals Radio Continue Partnership". Durham WFC. 26 August 2022. Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  12. ↑ Paul MacInnes (27 October 2020). "'An important step': Tyrone Mings welcomes launch of FA's new diversity code". The Guardian.
  13. ↑ FC, Durham Women (9 June 2022). "NEWS: Durham Women to take next step with full-time model". Durham Women FC. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  14. ↑ Donnelly, Mark (29 August 2021). "Meet The Squad". Durham Women FC. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  15. ↑ "Club Staff". Durham Women FC. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  16. ↑ Joseph Saunders (16 January 2024). "Record crowd watch Man City dump Durham Women out of the cup". Palatinate . Archived from the original on 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  17. 1 2 "Player Statistics". Durham WFC. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  18. ↑ "Durham Cestria". Durham WFC. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  19. ↑ "2016–17 North East Regional Northern Division". The FA. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  20. ↑ "Durham Cestria Clinch Promotion". Durham WFC. 17 March 2019. Archived from the original on 11 March 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.

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