Crystal Palace F.C. (Women)

Crystal Palace Football Club Women, formerly known as Crystal Palace Ladies Football Club, is a women's association football club based in south-east London which competes in the FA Women's Championship. The club, known as the "Eagles", is affiliated to Crystal Palace F.C., the men's equivalent. The women's section encompasses the under-9 age group through to senior level, including an academy at The Priory School in Orpington. The club have played their home matches at Gander Green Lane, Sutton, since the start of the 2023–24 season. They previously played at Hayes Lane, the home ground of Bromley F.C., between 2014 and 2023.

Crystal Palace Women
Full nameCrystal Palace Football Club Women
Nickname(s)The Eagles
Founded1992
GroundGander Green Lane
Capacity5,032
ChairmanRichard Spokes
ManagerLaura Kaminski
LeagueWomen's Championship
2022–23Women's Championship, 5th of 12

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 later achieved their first cup success beating Chelsea in the Surrey FA County Cup Final in 2011. Palace reached the FA Women's Premier League in 2013–14. The club won the Division One title in 2015–16 after going the whole season undefeated and also won the Surrey FA County Cup that same season beating AFC Wimbledon in the final.

In 2018, The Guardian newspaper claimed that the Crystal Palace Ladies reserve team players were told "they face not being able to represent the club any longer if they cannot each raise £250 in sponsorship, or put up the money themselves", though the club reported this as "inaccurate." The Crystal Palace F.C. men's star first team player Wilfried Zaha, who had just signed a new contract made "a substantial financial contribution" to help subsidise the club's female section. The club issued a statement: "Everyone knows what Crystal Palace means to Wilf and he wants to give the same opportunities to the next generation of aspiring players at Palace Ladies that he enjoyed when coming up through junior teams."[1]

In 2019, the women's team was featured in Harry's Heroes: The Full English, a television documentary shown on ITV. They lost 1–0 to a team of male former professional footballers.[2]

On 10 June 2019, the club announced it would play as "Crystal Palace FC" instead of "Crystal Palace Ladies F.C." following the growing trend within the women's game to move away from the term "Ladies".[3]

Players

Current squad
As of 23 September 2023

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK England ENG Fran Kitching
2 DF England ENG Annabel Johnson (vice-captain)[4]
3 DF England ENG Felicity Gibbons
4 MF Scotland SCO Chloe Arthur
5 MF Wales WAL Anna Filbey
6 DF England ENG Aimee Everett (captain)[4]
8 FW England ENG Molly Sharpe
9 FW Wales WAL Elise Hughes
10 FW England ENG Annabel Blanchard
11 MF Scotland SCO Kirsten Reilly
12 DF England ENG Lia Cataldo
13 GK England ENG Natalia Negri
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 FW Jamaica JAM Paige Bailey-Gayle
15 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Hayley Nolan
16 MF England ENG Ellie Noble
17 MF England ENG Alexia Potter (on loan from Chelsea until 30 June 2024)
19 FW England ENG Keira Barry (on loan from Manchester United until 30 June 2024)[5]
20 DF Australia AUS Polly Doran
21 MF England ENG Shauna Guyatt
22 FW England ENG Araya Dennis
24 FW England ENG Shanade Hopcroft
31 GK England ENG Annis-Clara Wright
— MF Scotland SCO Leigh Nicol
— MF England ENG Isabella Sibley

Former players

Club staff
Position Name
Chairman England Richard Spokes
Vice-chairman England John Harney
Head of women's football England Grace Williams
Honorary president England Bill Nighy
Manager England Laura Kaminski[6]
Assistant manager England Adam Jeffrey[7]
First-team coach England Kirk Stoneham
Goalkeeping coach England Lee Heywood
Strength and conditioning coach England Chico Lyons
Sports therapist England Laila Braam

Honours

Leagues

Cups
  • Surrey County Cup Winners (2): 2011, 2016

See also

References
  1. "Crystal Palace Ladies: Wilfried Zaha makes 'substantial financial contribution' to club". BBC Sport. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  2. 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.
  3. "A new identity for Crystal Palace Ladies Football Club". CPFC Official Site. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  4. "Aimee Everett named Crystal Palace Women Captain". cpfc.co.uk. Crystal Palace FC. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  5. "Keira Barry joins Crystal Palace Women on loan". cpfc.co.uk. Crystal Palace FC. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  6. "Palace Women appoint Laura Kaminski as head coach". cpfc.co.uk. Crystal Palace FC. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
  7. "Adam Jeffrey joins Palace Women as Assistant Coach". cpfc.co.uk. Crystal Palace FC. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
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