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Durham W.F.C.

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Durham Women F.C.
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Full nameDurham Women Football Club
NicknameThe Wildcats
Founded2014
GroundMaiden Castle, Durham
Capacity1,800 (League) 2,400 (Cup) (300 seats)[1]
OwnersLee Sanders, Dawn Hepple, Patrick Connolly and Frances Connolly
Head CoachAdam Furness
LeagueWomen's Super League 2
2024–25Women's Championship, 4th of 11
Websitedurhamwfc.co.uk
File:Soccerball current event.svg Current season

Durham Women Football Club is a women's football club based in Durham, Northern England. Since 2014 the team has competed in the Women's Super League 2 (WSL2), the second tier of Women's football in England,[2] having been awarded a licence in its inaugural season.[3] They play their home games at Maiden Castle, part of Durham University.[4]

History

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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.[6] 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.[7][8]

Durham's first competitive matches were in the 2013–14 FA Women's Cup where they reached the fifth round.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]

Durham Hospitals Radio have broadcast all home matches since 2014 via their website to Durham Hospital (UHND) and around the world; with John Middleton providing the vast majority of the commentaries.[12] 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).[13] The club transitioned from a hybrid training model to a full-time professional training model ahead of the 2023–24 Women's Championship season.[14]

In 2025, Durham University sold the club to club director Lee Sanders, co-director Dawn Hepple, and investors and long-term club supporters Patrick and Frances Connolly.[15]

On 14 September 2025, the club had its first player reach the milestone of scoring 100 goals for the club, as Beth Hepple scored in a 1–2 loss to Charlton Athletic.[16]

Players

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For a list of all former and current Durham W.F.C. players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Durham W.F.C. players.

Current squad

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File:Lewes 0 Durham 1 30 03 2019-425 (33632789218).jpg
Kathryn Hill (2) and captain Sarah Wilson (5) in March 2019
As of 13 August 2025[17]

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
2 DF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Grace Ayre
3 MF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Lauren Briggs
4 MF File:Flag of Ireland.svg IRL Tyler Toland
5 DF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Sarah Wilson (captain)
6 MF File:Ulster Banner.svg NIR Sarah Robson
7 MF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Beth Hepple
8 MF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Mollie Lambert
9 FW File:Flag of England.svg ENG Lucy Watson
10 FW File:Flag of New Zealand.svg NZL Hannah Blake
11 FW File:Flag of Scotland.svg SCO Abbi Grant
13 GK File:Flag of England.svg ENG Anna King
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Becky Salicki
15 FW File:Flag of England.svg ENG Poppy Pritchard (on loan from Manchester City)
16 MF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Grace Ede
17 FW File:Flag of Venezuela (state).svg VEN Mariana Speckmaier
18 FW File:Flag of England.svg ENG Angela Addison
19 DF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Ella Wilson
20 DF File:Flag of New Zealand.svg NZL Michaela Foster
21 MF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Amber-Keegan Stobbs
25 MF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Leyla McFarland
27 MF File:Flag of England.svg ENG Abbey Jones
35 GK File:Flag of the United States.svg USA Catriona Sheppard

Club staff

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As of 28 September 2024[18]
Head of Football Lee Sanders
First Team Head Coach Adam Furness
First Team Assistant Coach George Anthony
Goalkeeping Coach Jon Collinson
Physiotherapist Nat Gutteridge
Club doctor Dougal Southward
Strength and conditioning Coach
Sports scientist Simon Fairbairn

Records

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As of 8 May 2025

Season summary

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Results of league and cup competitions by season
Season Division P W D L F A Pts Pos FA Cup League Cup Name Goals
League Top goalscorer[nb 1]
2014 WSL 2 18 5 3 10 19 32 18 6th Fifth round Group stage Caroline Dixon 5
2015 WSL 2 18 6 2 10 24 32 20 7th Third round Group stage Courtney Corrie 5
2016 WSL 2 18 10 3 5 30 19 33 4th Fifth round Preliminary round Beth Hepple 14
2017[nb 2] WSL 2 9 5 1 3 14 10 16 5th Fourth round N/A Zoe Ness 5
2017–18 WSL 2 18 11 2 5 44 26 35 4th Quarter-final Group stage Beth Hepple 11
2018–19 Championship 20 11 6 3 37 16 39 4th Quarter-final Group stage Beth Hepple 8
2019–20[nb 3] Championship 14 10 2 2 33 10 32 3rd Fourth round Group stage Beth Hepple 10
2020–21 Championship 20 12 6 2 34 15 42 2nd Fourth round Quarter-finals Beth Hepple 10
2021–22 Championship 22 10 4 8 30 28 34 6th Fifth round Group stage Beth Hepple 10
2022–23 Championship 22 8 4 10 30 29 28 7th Fifth round Group stage Rio Hardy 9
2023–24 Championship 22 6 5 11 24 44 23 9th Fourth round Group stage Amy Andrews 9
2024–25 Championship 22 11 3 6 35 27 36 4th Fourth round Quarter-finals Mollie Lambert 8
  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

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Durham Cestria are an official partner club who compete in the FA Women's National League Division One North.[21] The club won the 2016–17 North East Regional Northern Division,[22] followed two years later by the 2018–19 North East Regional Premier Division.[23]

Honours

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League

See also

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References

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