# 2024–25 Women's Championship

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

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On 30 June 2024, it was announced Reading had withdrawn from the Championship and would re-enter at the fifth tier, citing financial issues.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 | Manager |
| Birmingham City | Birmingham (Bordesley) | St Andrew's | 29,902 | 5th | Amy Merricks |
| Blackburn Rovers | Blackburn | Ewood Park | 31,367 | 6th | Simon Parker |
| Bristol City | Bristol (Ashton Gate) | Ashton Gate | 27,000 | WSL, 12th | Stephen Kirby |
| Charlton Athletic | London (Charlton) | The Valley | 27,111 | 2nd | Karen Hills |
| Durham | Durham | Maiden Castle | 1,800 (League) 2,400 (Cup) | 9th | Adam Furness |
| London City Lionesses | London (Hayes) | Hayes Lane | 5,000 | 8th | Jocelyn Prêcheur |
| Newcastle United | Newcastle upon Tyne (Kingston Park) | Kingston Park Stadium | 10,200 | WNL North, 1st | Becky Langley |
| Portsmouth | Havant | Westleigh Park | 5,300 | WNL South, 1st | Jay Sadler |
| Sheffield United | Sheffield | Bramall Lane | 32,050 | 7th | Ash Thompson |
| Southampton | Southampton | St Mary's Stadium | 32,384 | 4th | Remi Allen |
| Sunderland | Hetton-le-Hole | Eppleton CW | 2,500 | 3rd | Melanie Reay |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Southampton | Marieanne Spacey | Change of role | 30 April 2024 | Pre season | Remi Allen | 12 July 2024 |
| London City Lionesses | Remi Allen | End of contract | 9 May 2024 | Pre season | Jocelyn Prêcheur | 27 June 2024 |
| Sheffield United | Luke Turner (interim) | End of interim period | 19 July 2024 | Pre season | Ash Thompson | 19 July 2024 |
| Bristol City | Lauren Smith | Resigned | 27 August 2024 | Pre season | 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 | 16 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 27 | 10 | +17 | 35 | Promotion to the WSL |
| 2 | London City Lionesses | 15 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 12 | +13 | 32 | |
| 3 | Charlton Athletic | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 30 | 16 | +14 | 29 | |
| 4 | Durham | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 25 | 23 | +2 | 29 | |
| 5 | Bristol City | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 27 | 17 | +10 | 25 | |
| 6 | Sunderland | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 22 | 26 | −4 | 24 | |
| 7 | Newcastle United | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 23 | 19 | +4 | 23 | |
| 8 | Southampton | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 16 | +2 | 17 | |
| 9 | Portsmouth | 16 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 41 | −30 | 8 | |
| 10 | Blackburn Rovers | 14 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 13 | 25 | −12 | 7 | |
| 11 | Sheffield United | 15 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 25 | −16 | 6 | Relegation to the National League |
* ↑ Dependent on obtaining a licence.

## Results

| Home \ Away | BIR | BLB | BRI | CHA | DUR | LCL | NEW | POR | SHU | SOU | SUN |
| Birmingham City | | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 20 Apr | 4 May | 0–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 5–0 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 0–2 | | 23 Mar | 0–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 4 May | 2–0 | 1–2 | 29 Mar | 1–1 |
| Bristol City | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 30 Mar | 0–0 | 27 Apr |
| Charlton Athletic | 23 Mar | 3–1 | 1–2 | | 2–1 | 1–1 | 20 Apr | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–3 |
| Durham | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4 May | 1–2 | | 3–2 | 3–1 | 30 Mar | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| London City Lionesses | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 27 Apr | | 1–1 | 5–1 | 23 Mar | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| Newcastle United | 27 Apr | 13 Apr | 3–2 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 30 Mar | | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 23 Mar |
| Portsmouth | 1–3 | 27 Apr | 20 Apr | 0–5 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 0–5 | 2–1 |
| Sheffield United | 1–2 | 20 Apr | 2–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | | 27 Apr | 0–1 |
| Southampton | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4 May | 1–1 | 20 Apr | 2–2 | 22 Mar | 2–0 | | 0–2 |
| Sunderland | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 30 Mar | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 4 May | 0–3 | |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of 16 March 2025
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Isobel Goodwin | London City Lionesses | 10 |
| 2 | Shania Hayles | Newcastle United | 9 |
| 3 | Lexi Lloyd-Smith | Bristol City | 8 |
| 4 | Eleanor Dale | Sunderland | 7 |
| 5 | Katie Bradley | Charlton Athletic | 6 |
| 5 | Ellie Brazil | Charlton Athletic | 6 |
| 7 | Rianna Dean | Southampton | 5 |
| 7 | Beth Hepple | Durham | 5 |
| 7 | Katie Kitching | Sunderland | 5 |
| 7 | Mollie Lambert | Durham | 5 |
| 7 | Beth Lumsden | Newcastle United | 5 |

### Top assists

    As of 16 March 2025
| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Kosovare Asllani | London City Lionesses | 5 |
| 2 | Beth Hepple | Durham | 4 |
| 2 | Megan Hornby | Portsmouth | 4 |
| 2 | Lois Joel | Newcastle United | 4 |
| 2 | Katie Kitching | Sunderland | 4 |
| 2 | Jamie-Lee Napier | Bristol City | 4 |
| 2 | Rachel Rowe | Southampton | 4 |
| 8 | Kayleigh Barton | Charlton Athletic | 3 |
| 8 | Melisa Filis | Charlton Athletic | 3 |
| 8 | Jodie Hutton | Charlton Athletic | 3 |
| 8 | Sofia Jakobsson | London City Lionesses | 3 |
| 8 | Lucia Kendall | Southampton | 3 |
| 8 | Lexi Lloyd-Smith | Bristol City | 3 |
| 8 | Tegan McGowan | Birmingham City | 3 |
| 8 | Ffion Morgan | Bristol City | 3 |
| 8 | Amber-Keegan Stobbs | Newcastle United | 3 |
| 8 | Emily Syme | Bristol City | 3 |

### Clean sheets

    As of 21 December 2024
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean Sheets |
| 1 | Lucy Thomas | Birmingham City | 6 |
| 2 | Fran Stenson | Southampton | 4 |
| 2 | Fran Bentley | Bristol City | 4 |
| 4 | Tatiana Saunders | Durham | 3 |
| 4 | Claudia Moan | Newcastle United | 3 |