2024–25 Women's Championship

Football league season

Women's Championship
Season	2024–25
Matches played	50
Goals scored	139 (2.78 per match)
Top goalscorer	Isobel Goodwin (7 goals)
Biggest home win	Birmingham City 5–0 Sunderland (8 September 2024)
Biggest away win	Portsmouth 0–5 Southampton (15 September 2024)
Highest scoring	Sunderland 4–3 Bristol City (3 November 2024)
Longest winning run	(4 matches) Charlton Athletic Sunderland
Longest unbeaten run	(5 matches) Charlton Athletic
Longest winless run	(9 matches) Portsmouth
Longest losing run	(7 matches) Portsmouth
← 2023–24 2025–26 → All statistics correct as of 17 November 2024.

The 2024–25 Women's Championship season (known as the Barclays Women's Championship for sponsorship reasons) will be the seventh season of the rebranded Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England, and the tenth season since the creation of the WSL 2.

Ahead of the season, it was announced that selected league matches would be streamed live globally on the league's YouTube channel. The transition followed the creation and subsequent takeover of the running of the league by NewCo, an independent, club-owned entity, which replaced The Football Association after recommendations from a government-backed review into the women's game in 2023.

Teams

London City Lionesses

Sunderland class=notpageimage| Location of clubs for the 2024–25 season

Twelve teams were originally due to compete in the Championship for the 2024–25 season, the same number as the previous season, although this was later reduced to eleven prior to the start of the season. Crystal Palace were promoted to the Women's Super League as 2023–24 Women's Championship winners. They will be replaced by Bristol City who returned to the division following relegation from the Women's Super League after one season. Following a switch to a two down, two up system with the FA Women's National League, the 2024–25 season marks the first time more than one newly-promoted team will contest the Championship. Lewes and Watford were relegated to the FA Women's National League, Lewes after a six-season spell and Watford after one season following their promotion the previous year. They were replaced by Newcastle United, winners of the 2023–24 FA Women's National League North, and Portsmouth, winners of the 2023–24 FA Women's National League South. Both these clubs are making their Championship debuts.

On 30 June 2024, it was announced Reading had withdrawn from the Championship and would re-enter at the fifth tier, citing financial issues. The FA confirmed the league would instead operate with eleven teams for the season, reducing from two relegation spots to one. The league will return to a twelve team league at the beginning of the 2025–26 season.

Team	Location	Ground	Capacity	2023–24 season
Birmingham City	Birmingham (Bordesley)	St Andrew's	29,902	5th
Blackburn Rovers	Blackburn	Ewood Park	31,367	6th
Bristol City	Bristol (Ashton Gate)	Ashton Gate	27,000	WSL, 12th
Charlton Athletic	London (Charlton)	The Valley	27,111	2nd
Durham	Durham	Maiden Castle	1,700	9th
London City Lionesses	London (Hayes)	Hayes Lane	5,000	8th
Newcastle United	Newcastle upon Tyne (Kingston Park)	Kingston Park Stadium	10,200	WNL North, 1st
Portsmouth	Havant	Westleigh Park	5,300	WNL South, 1st
Sheffield United	Sheffield	Bramall Lane	32,050	7th
Southampton	Southampton	St Mary's Stadium	32,384	4th
Sunderland	Hetton-le-Hole	Eppleton CW	2,500	3rd

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Southampton	Marieanne Spacey	Changed role	30 April 2024	End of season (4th)	Remi Allen	12 July 2024
London City Lionesses	Remi Allen	End of contract	9 May 2024	End of season (8th)	Jocelyn Prêcheur	27 June 2024
Sheffield United	Luke Turner (interim)	End of interim period	19 July 2024	End of season (7th)	Ash Thompson	19 July 2024
Bristol City	Lauren Smith	Resigned	27 August 2024	Preseason	Loren Dykes (interim)	27 August 2024
Bristol City	Loren Dykes (interim)	End of interim period	19 September 2024	6th	Stephen Kirby	19 September 2024

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Birmingham City	9	6	1	2	17	5	+12	19	Promotion to the WSL
2	Durham	9	6	1	2	16	10	+6	19
3	Bristol City	9	5	2	2	16	11	+5	17
4	London City Lionesses	9	5	1	3	16	10	+6	16
5	Sunderland	9	5	1	3	14	18	−4	16
6	Southampton	9	4	3	2	14	6	+8	15
7	Newcastle United	9	4	3	2	13	9	+4	15
8	Charlton Athletic	9	4	2	3	15	12	+3	14
9	Blackburn Rovers	9	2	0	7	9	15	−6	6
10	Sheffield United	10	1	1	8	7	17	−10	4
11	Portsmouth	9	0	1	8	2	26	−24	1	Relegation to the National League

Updated to match(es) played on 17 November 2024. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
Notes:

Dependent on obtaining a licence.

Results

Home \ Away	BIR	BLB	BRI	CHA	DUR	LCL	NEW	POR	SHU	SOU	SUN
Birmingham City		2–0	26 Jan	15 Dec	20 Apr	4 May	0–2	4–0	16 Feb	16 Mar	5–0
Blackburn Rovers	2 Mar		23 Mar	0–2	2–3	1–2	4 May	2–0	1–2	30 Mar	26 Jan
Bristol City	0–0	2–1		16 Mar	15 Dec	19 Jan	2–0	1–0	30 Mar	16 Feb	27 Apr
Charlton Athletic	23 Mar	1 Feb	1–2		2–1	2 Mar	20 Apr	3–0	26 Jan	0–1	3–3
Durham	1–0	16 Feb	4 May	19 Jan		3–2	16 Mar	30 Mar	2–1	26 Jan	1–2
London City Lionesses	1–2	16 Mar	2–1	2–0	27 Apr		1–1	5–1	23 Mar	15 Dec	16 Feb
Newcastle United	27 Apr	TBC	2 Mar	3–3	0–1	30 Mar		26 Jan	2–0	1–1	23 Mar
Portsmouth	19 Jan	27 Apr	20 Apr	16 Feb	0–3	2 Feb	0–2		1–1	0–5	16 Mar
Sheffield United	1–2	20 Apr	2–4	0–1	2 Feb	0–1	19 Jan	2 Mar		27 Apr	0–1
Southampton	0–2	0–1	1–1	4 May	1–1	20 Apr	2 Feb	23 Mar	2–0		19 Jan
Sunderland	2 Feb	2–1	4–3	30 Mar	2 Mar	1–0	1–2	15 Dec	4 May	0–3

Updated to match(es) played on 17 November 2024. Source: Source
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers

As of 17 November 2024

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Isobel Goodwin	London City Lionesses	7
2	Shania Hayles	Newcastle United	6
2	Lexi Lloyd-Smith	Bristol City	6
3	Rianna Dean	Southampton	5
3	Eleanor Dale	Sunderland	5
4	Katie Bradley	Charlton Athletic	4
	Maria Farrugia	Sheffield United
	Katie Kitching	Sunderland
	Mollie Lambert	Durham

Top assists

As of 17 November 2024

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Rachel Rowe	Southampton	4
2	Kosovare Asllani	London City Lionesses	3
	Melisa Filis	Charlton Athletic
	Beth Hepple	Durham
	Jodie Hutton	Charlton Athletic
	Sofia Jakobsson	London City Lionesses
	Jamie-Lee Napier	Bristol City

Clean sheets

As of 11 November 2024

Rank	Player	Club	Clean Sheets
1	Lucy Thomas	Birmingham City	5
2	Fran Stenson	Southampton	4
3	Fran Bentley	Bristol City	3
	Tatiana Saunders	Durham
	Claudia Moan	Newcastle United

References

"Women's Super League dates for the 2024/25 season revealed, with new campaign to start on September 21". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 2024-06-07. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
"WSL key dates for 2024/25 confirmed". www.brightonandhovealbion.com. Archived from the original on 2024-02-23. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
"Crystal Palace Women promoted to Women's Super League after clinching Women's Championship title". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 2024-06-06. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
Downey, Sophie (30 April 2024). "Bristol City's relegation hammers home stark financial realities of WSL". The Guardian.
Veevers, Nick (21 April 2024). "Lewes relegated from Barclays Women's Championship". The FA - Womens Leagues and Competitions.
"'This defeat didn't define our season but it certainly summed it up'". Watford Observer. 17 April 2024. Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
"Newcastle United: Magpies promoted to Women's Championship after 10-0 win". BBC Sport. 14 April 2024. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
"Pompey Women Promoted To Championship". www.portsmouthfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2024-06-06. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
"Reading withdraw from Championship". Reading FC. 30 June 2024. Archived from the original on 3 August 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
Veevers, Nick (30 June 2024). "FA and Women's Professional Game statement on Reading FC Women". The FA. Archived from the original on 30 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
"Marieanne Spacey-Cale steps down as Southampton head coach". BBC Sport. 30 April 2024.
"Remi Allen appointed Southampton FC Women's Head Coach". www.southamptonfc.com. 12 July 2024. Archived from the original on 20 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
"Club Statement — Remi Allen". London City Lionesses. 9 May 2024. Archived from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
"Jocelyn Prêcheur agrees to become London City Lionesses Head Coach". London City Lionesses. 27 June 2024. Archived from the original on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
^ "Ash steps up to head coach role". Sheffield United FC. 19 July 2024. Archived from the original on 26 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
^ "Lauren Smith: Bristol City manager resigns". BBC Sport. 27 August 2024.
^ "City appoint Kirby as Women's Head Coach". Bristol City FC. 19 September 2024. Archived from the original on 20 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
"Women's Championship Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 26 November 2024. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
"Women's Championship Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 26 November 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
"Women's Championship Top Assists". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 26 November 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
"FA Women's Championship Table & Stats". Footy Stats. Retrieved 16 September 2024.

External links

Official website

Women's Super League and Women's Championship

Seasons

Women's Super League	2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Spring Series 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Championship	2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

Clubs

2024–25 Women's Super League	Arsenal Aston Villa Brighton & Hove Albion Chelsea Crystal Palace Everton Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United
2024–25 Championship	Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bristol City Charlton Athletic Durham London City Lionesses Newcastle United Portsmouth Sheffield United Southampton Sunderland

Competition

WSL	Clubs Records and statistics Hat-tricks Managers Foreign players English women's champions

Awards

Associated
competitions

Categories: WSL/Championship
Portal

Women's football in England

National teams

League
competitions

Levels 1–4	Women's Super League Women's Championship FA Women's National League North South
Levels 5–6	Eastern East Midlands London & South East North East North West Southern South West West Midlands
Levels 7–10	Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Birmingham Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Riding Essex Gloucestershire Greater London Greater Manchester Hampshire Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Liverpool Midwest Counties Norfolk North Riding Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Sheffield & Hallamshire Somerset South East Counties Staffs Suffolk Surrey Sussex Thames Valley Counties West Riding Wiltshire

Cup competitions

Awards

History

2024–25 in English women's football

« 2023–24 2025–26 »

National teams

League
competitions

Level 1	Women's Super League
Level 2	Women's Championship
Level 3	FA Women's National League Premier Division (North, South)
Level 4	FA Women's National League Division One (Midlands, North, South East, South West)

Cup competitions

Club seasons
Women's Super League	Arsenal Aston Villa Brighton & Hove Albion Chelsea Crystal Palace Everton Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United
Women's Championship	Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bristol City Charlton Athletic Durham London City Lionesses Newcastle United Portsmouth Sheffield United Southampton Sunderland
Summer 2024 transfers Winter 2024–25 transfers

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