# 2023–24 Women's Championship

The 2023–24 Women's Championship season (known Barclays Women's Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the rebranded Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England, and the ninth season since the creation of the WSL 2.
In April 2023, The Football Association board announced changes to the Women's Championship, increasing the number of relegation spots in the 2023–24 season to two in order for both FA Women's National League champions (North and South) to win promotion at the end of the season. Previously only one team had been relegated and replaced by the winner of a playoff match between the Northern Premier Division and Southern Premier Division champions. The changes will not impact the structure of the Women's Super League with a one up, one down system.
On 14 April 2024, Watford were the first team to be mathematically confirmed as relegated from the Championship after only one season back in the second division. They sat seven points adrift from safety with two games remaining. Lewes' relegation was confirmed on 21 April 2024 after defeat to Crystal Palace coupled with a victory for Reading over Durham left Lewes four points behind with only one game left to play. Relegation ended Lewes' six-season spell in the Championship stretching back to the 2018–19 campaign. The 2023–24 Women's Championship title was still mathematically undecided until the final day of the season although Crystal Palace went in to the day three points ahead of Charlton Athletic and had a superior goal difference by 22. Crystal Palace secured the title with a point on the final day, playing out a goalless draw with Sunderland at Selhurst Park.

## Teams

Twelve teams competed in the Championship for the 2023–24 season, the same number as the previous season. Bristol City were promoted to the Women's Super League as 2022–23 Women's Championship winners. They will be replaced by Reading who were relegated on the final day of the 2022–23 Women's Super League season, ending a seven-season stay in the WSL which began in 2016 following the club's promotion as 2015 WSL 2 winners. Coventry United were relegated to the FA Women's National League after four seasons in the second division. They were replaced by the winners of the 2022–23 FA Women's National League playoff, Southern Premier Division winners Watford, who beat Northern champions Nottingham Forest 1–0. They returned after just one season away having been relegated at the end of the 2021–22 season.
| Team | Location | Ground | Capacity | 2022–23 season |
| Birmingham City | Birmingham | St Andrew's | 29,902 | 2nd |
| Blackburn Rovers | Bamber Bridge | Sir Tom Finney Stadium | 3,000 | 10th |
| Charlton Athletic | Crayford | Oakwood | 1,180 | 4th |
| Crystal Palace | Sutton | Gander Green Lane | 5,032 | 5th |
| Durham | Durham | Maiden Castle | 1,700 | 7th |
| Lewes | Lewes | The Dripping Pan | 3,000 | 9th |
| London City Lionesses | Dartford | Princes Park | 4,100 | 3rd |
| Reading | Reading | Madejski Stadium | 24,161 | WSL, 12th |
| Sheffield United | Sheffield | Bramall Lane | 32,050 | 8th |
| Southampton | Southampton | St Mary's Stadium | 32,384 | 6th |
| Sunderland | Hetton-le-Hole | Eppleton CW | 2,500 | 11th |
| Watford | Ruislip | Grosvenor Vale | 4,085 | WNL, 1st |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Reading | Kelly Chambers | Resigned | 20 June 2023 | End of season (WSL, 12th) | Liam Gilbert | 18 August 2023 |
| London City Lionesses | Nikita Runnacles (interim) | End of interim period | 4 July 2023 | End of season (3rd) | Carolina Morace | 4 July 2023 |
| Crystal Palace | Mike Lowne (interim) | End of interim period | 14 July 2023 | End of season (5th) | Laura Kaminski | 14 July 2023 |
| Blackburn Rovers | Matt Bee (interim) | End of interim period | 17 July 2023 | End of season (10th) | Simon Parker | 17 July 2023 |
| Sheffield United | Jonathan Morgan | Sacked | 2 February 2024 | 8th | Luke Turner (interim) | 2 February 2024 |
| London City Lionesses | Carolina Morace | Sacked | 7 February 2024 | 10th | Darren Smith (interim) | 7 February 2024 |
| London City Lionesses | Darren Smith (interim) | End of interim period | 2 March 2024 | 10th | Remi Allen | 2 March 2024 |
| Birmingham City | Darren Carter | Mutual consent | 11 April 2024 | 5th | Emily Simpkins (interim) | 12 April 2024 |
| Birmingham City | Emily Simpkins (interim) | End of interim period | 15 April 2024 | 5th | Amy Merricks | 15 April 2024 |

## Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Crystal Palace (C, P) | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 55 | 20 | +35 | 46 | Promotion to the WSL |
| 2 | Charlton Athletic | 22 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 32 | 17 | +15 | 45 | |
| 3 | Sunderland | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 31 | 18 | +13 | 41 | |
| 4 | Southampton | 22 | 13 | 0 | 9 | 39 | 25 | +14 | 39 | |
| 5 | Birmingham City | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 33 | 19 | +14 | 36 | |
| 6 | Blackburn Rovers | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 25 | 28 | −3 | 36 | |
| 7 | Sheffield United | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 32 | 31 | +1 | 29 | |
| 8 | London City Lionesses | 22 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 26 | 36 | −10 | 25 | |
| 9 | Durham | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 24 | 44 | −20 | 23 | |
| 10 | Reading | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 20 | 40 | −20 | 22 | |
| 11 | Lewes (R) | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 22 | 39 | −17 | 16 | Relegation to the National League |
| 12 | Watford (R) | 22 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 22 | 44 | −22 | 15 | Relegation to the National League |
* ↑ Dependent on obtaining a licence.

## Results

| Home \ Away | BIR | BLB | CHA | CRY | DUR | LEW | LCL | REA | SHU | SOU | SUN | WAT |
| Birmingham City | | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 5–2 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Charlton Athletic | 3–1 | 3–2 | | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 |
| Crystal Palace | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | | 9–1 | 3–2 | 6–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–4 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| Durham | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–5 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–5 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Lewes | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 2–1 |
| London City Lionesses | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Reading | 0–4 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 1–3 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Sheffield United | 0–4 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Southampton | 1–3 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Sunderland | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 5–3 | 4–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | | 2–1 |
| Watford | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–3 | |
* ↑ Originally scheduled to be played on 17 December, the Blackburn Rovers match against Lewes was postponed due to Lewes playing in the FA Cup.
* ↑ Originally scheduled to be played on 19 November, the Blackburn Rovers match against Reading was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
* ↑ Originally scheduled to be played on 18 February, the Charlton match against Reading was postponed due a waterlogged pitch.
* ↑ Originally scheduled to be played on 3 March, the Crystal Palace match against Birmingham City was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
* ↑ Originally scheduled to be played on 30 September, the Crystal Palace match against Sheffield United was postponed due to the death of Maddy Cusack.
* ↑ Originally scheduled to be played on 21 January, the Reading match against Birmingham City was postponed due to an outbreak of illness in the Reading camp.
* ↑ Originally scheduled to be played on 3 March, the Watford match against Charlton was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

## Top scorers

    As of 28 April 2024
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Elise Hughes | Crystal Palace | 16 |
| 2 | Isobel Goodwin | Sheffield United | 15 |
| 3 | Annabel Blanchard | Crystal Palace | 11 |
| 4 | Carly Johns | Watford | 8 |
| 4 | Sophia Pharoah | Southampton | 8 |
| 4 | Molly Sharpe | Crystal Palace | 8 |
| 4 | Katie Wilkinson | Southampton | 8 |
| 8 | Megan Hornby | Blackburn Rovers | 7 |
| 8 | Molly Pike | Southampton | 7 |
| 8 | Emily Scarr | Sunderland | 7 |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Goal of the Month | Goal of the Month | Ref. |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | Ref. |
| September | Laura Kaminski | Crystal Palace | Annabel Blanchard | Crystal Palace | Annabel Blanchard (vs. Durham) | Crystal Palace | |
| October | Melanie Reay | Sunderland | Lucy Quinn | Birmingham City | Araya Dennis (vs. Charlton Athletic) | Crystal Palace | |
| November | Karen Hills | Charlton Athletic | Gemma Lawley | Birmingham City | Shauna Guyatt (vs. Watford) | Crystal Palace | |
| December | | | Michelle Agyemang | Watford | Lily Agg (vs. Sunderland) | Birmingham City | |
| January | Karen Hills | Charlton Athletic | Emily Scarr | Sunderland | Maria Farrugia (vs. Reading) | Lewes | |
| February | Laura Kaminski | Crystal Palace | Isibeal Atkinson | Crystal Palace | Emily Scarr (vs. Lewes) | Sunderland | |
| March | Remi Allen | London City Lionesses | Maria Farrugia | Lewes | Beth Hepple (vs. Sunderland) | Durham | |
| April | Karen Hills | Charlton Athletic | Jade Richards | Blackburn Rovers | Shanade Hopcroft (vs. Lewes) | Crystal Palace | |