Crystal Palace F.C. Women

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Crystal Palace Women
File:Crystal Palace FC logo (2022).svg
Full nameCrystal Palace Football Club Women
NicknameThe Eagles
Founded1992
GroundVBS Community Stadium
Capacity5,013
ChairmanSteve Parish
ManagerJo Potter
LeagueWomen's Super League 2
2024–25WSL, 12th of 12 (relegated)
Websitecpfc.co.uk/women
File: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 2, the second tier of English women's football. The team, known as the "Eagles", is affiliated to the men's equivalent.

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

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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]

File:My Cato Lewes FC Women 0 Crystal Palace Women 1 FAC 14 12 2025-587.jpg
My Cato and teammates in December 2025

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]

But the following season was hugely disappointing for the club as they finished in bottom place and returned immediately to the Women's second tier. Following relegation to the WSL2, Jo Potter was appointed as manager on 24 June 2025.[9]

Players

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Current squad

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As of 7 September 2025[10]

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. Nation Player
1 GK File:Flag of England.svg ENG Eve Annets (on loan from Manchester City)
3 MF File:Flag of Scotland.svg SCO Jamie-Lee Napier
4 MF File:Flag of Scotland.svg SCO Chloe Arthur
5 MF File:Flag of Sweden.svg SWE My Cato
6 DF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Aimee Everett (captain)
7 DF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Isabella Sibley
8 FW File:Flag of England.svg ENG Molly-Mae Sharpe
9 FW File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg WAL Elise Hughes
10 FW File:Flag of Scotland.svg SCO Kirsty Howat
11 FW File:Flag of Suriname.svg SUR Ashleigh Weerden
12 MF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Lola Brown (on loan from Chelsea)
14 MF File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg WAL Josie Green
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 MF File:Flag of Ireland.svg IRL Hayley Nolan
16 MF File:Flag of Scotland.svg SCO Emma Watson (on loan from Manchester United)
17 FW File:Flag of England.svg ENG Annabel Blanchard
18 MF File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg BEL Justine Vanhaevermaet
19 GK File:Flag of Finland.svg FIN Milla-Maj Majasaari
20 FW File:Flag of New Zealand.svg NZL Indiah-Paige Riley
22 MF File:Flag of Ireland.svg IRL Ruesha Littlejohn
24 MF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Shanade Hopcroft
27 FW File:Flag of Ireland.svg IRL Abbie Larkin
29 DF File:Flag of Jamaica.svg JAM Allyson Swaby
30 GK File:Flag of the United States.svg USA Shae Yáñez
47 GK File:Flag of England.svg ENG Annis-Clara Wright

Out on loan

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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. Nation Player

Former players

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For details of current and former players, see Category:Crystal Palace F.C. (Women) players.

Club staff

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Position Name
Chairman England Steve Parish[11]
Head of women's football England Grace Williams[5]
Manager England Jo Potter
Assistant Manager England Adam Jeffrey[12]
Goalkeeping Coach Italy Daniel Matraszek
Physical Performance Coach Portugal Chico Lyons
Physiotherapist Italy Tadej Citti

Honours

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Leagues

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Cups

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  • Surrey County Cup
    • Winners: 2010–11, 2015–16
    • Runners-up: 2005–06, 2007–08, 2012–13
  • Capital Women's Senior Cup
    • Runners-up: 2017–18
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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.[13]

See also

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References

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  7. ^ 'No-one expected this' - Crystal Palace reach WSL, Emma Smith, BBC Sport, 28 April 2024
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