Durham W.F.C.

Durham Women F.C.
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
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

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.

Kathryn Hill (2) and captain Sarah Wilson (5) in March 2019

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

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

As of 13 February 2026[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  ENG Grace Ayre
3 DF  ENG Lauren Briggs
4 MF  IRL Tyler Toland
5 DF  ENG Sarah Wilson (captain)
6 DF  NIR Sarah Robson
7 MF  ENG Beth Hepple
8 MF  ENG Mollie Lambert
9 FW  ENG Lucy Watson
10 FW  NZL Hannah Blake
11 FW  SCO Abbi Grant
13 GK  ENG Anna King
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF  ENG Becky Salicki
16 FW  ENG Grace Ede
17 FW  VEN Mariana Speckmaier
18 FW  ENG Angela Addison
19 DF  ENG Ella Wilson
20 DF  NZL Michaela Foster
21 MF  ENG Amber-Keegan Stobbs
25 FW  ENG Leyla McFarland
27 FW  ENG Abbey Jones
35 GK  USA Catriona Sheppard
— MF  IRL Lily Agg[18]

Club staff

As of 28 September 2024[19]
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

As of 8 May 2025

Season summary

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

Durham Cestria are an official partner club who compete in the FA Women's National League Division One North.[22] The club won the 2016–17 North East Regional Northern Division,[23] followed two years later by the 2018–19 North East Regional Premier Division.[24]

Honours

League

See also

References

  1. ^ Tom Garry (24 February 2025). "Outsiders Durham eye WSL place with help from EuroMillions winners". The Guardian.
  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). Retrieved 8 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (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. ^ Steph Clark (16 July 2019). "Cheap Football Shirts". Durham WFC's History and Club Details. Durham WFC.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  7. ^ "History of Durham Women FC, TheFA WSL". durham.fawsl.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  8. ^ Association, The Football. "Newcomers Durham primed for FA WSL challenge". www.thefa.com.
  9. ^ Watson, Neil. "Sunderland Ladies relish Durham derby opener". Sunderland Echo. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ "Women's FA Cup: Durham Women 0–1 Chelsea Women". BBC Sport. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ Paul MacInnes (27 October 2020). "'An important step': Tyrone Mings welcomes launch of FA's new diversity code". The Guardian.
  14. ^ FC, Durham Women (9 June 2022). "NEWS: Durham Women to take next step with full-time model". Durham Women FC. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
  15. ^ "New era for Durham Women FC after takeover". Business Daily. 13 February 2025.
  16. ^ a b "Match Report | Durham 1 – 2 Charlton". Durham Women FC. 14 September 2025. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  17. ^ "Meet The Squad". Durham Women FC. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  18. ^ "Lily Agg joins Durham on loan". Birmingham City F.C. 3 February 2026. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  19. ^ "Club Staff". Durham Women FC. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ "Player Statistics". Durham WFC. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  22. ^ "Durham Cestria". Durham WFC. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  23. ^ "2016–17 North East Regional Northern Division". The FA. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Durham Cestria Clinch Promotion". Durham WFC. 17 March 2019. Archived from the original on 11 March 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.


54°46′3.4″N 1°33′28.1″W / 54.767611°N 1.557806°W / 54.767611; -1.557806

allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durham_Women%27s_F.C.