Crystal Palace
Shauna Guyatt Eagle Eye View
Aimee Everett Mirabelle Food
Kirsten REILLY ANDY DAVIS
Ria Percival Impact Sponsorship
Molly Sharpe
Impact Sponsorship
ISABELLA SIBLEY CHRISTOPHER WOODS
Hello everybody, and a very warm welcome back to the VBS Community Stadium in Sutton for this afternoon’s Women’s Championship game against Birmingham City.
This is the start of a big block of games for us –five matches in the next five weeks – and we’ll be counting on your support more than ever as we reach a crucial point in the season.
It’s great to start that run here in Sutton. I was really impressed with the fans when we were last here a fortnight ago – you were absolutely fantastic, and you make such a difference to our performance, so thank you.
Being in south London again this afternoon, I’m really keeping my fingers crossed for loads of fans to be at today’s game, and for it to be a great day.
I was really proud of our performance last time out against Blackburn, but in this league, you have to shift your focus very quickly. We have to take each week’s challenge as it comes and not dwell on any defeat, or victory, too long.
Although there were so many positives for us to take from the performance, we know that this week poses us a different challenge against a different
I was really impressed with the fans when we were last here a fortnight ago – you were absolutely fantastic, and you make such a difference to our performance, so thank you
type of opponent in Birmingham. We’ll have to switch our style of play again – and we’ve been busy preparing this week to do just that.
This group are so good at resetting every week and for us, at this moment in time, that’s really been working well. We want to keep that ethos, keep our confidence up, and focus on the task at hand.
We hope that we can give you another performance you are proud of, and that you have a great time at today’s match.
Enjoy the game,
LauraHead coach
Good afternoon everybody and once again, a warm welcome back to the VBS Community Stadium for today’s match against Birmingham City.
Firstly, congratulations to Elise, Izzy, Abbie, Lexi and Araya for representing their countries over the international break, and doing their club proud.
With all the girls back now after those fixtures, we know that the next five weeks – in which we play five of our remaining seven league matches – could be hugely important to the outcome of our season.
It’s great that three of those games, however, are at home, where you’ve provided us with such fantastic support all season. The girls and I know that we can count on you to really inspire us every match, home and away –and I know today in Sutton will be no different.
Birmingham are a tough team to play against with some strong individuals, but we’ve been preparing all week and we know that we also have lots of quality in our squad – so it should be a great game this afternoon.
We’ve been good this season at getting our heads down and focusing each week
We’ve been good this season at getting our heads down and focusing each week on a new challenge, and with so many big games to come, we want to continue doing just that
on a new challenge, and with so many big games to come, we want to continue doing just that. As always there’s been a lot of desire and commitment in training this week to make sure we’re ready to take on Birmingham.
Like I said last time out, we know just how much each win could count for at this stage of the season – so we’ll be looking to build on our win over Blackburn and, with your support, take home three more important points.
Thank you, as always, for your fantastic support – and enjoy the game!
Aimee
Five Crystal Palace Women’s players featured for their respective nations during February international break – find out how they got on below!
Championship top scorer Elise Hughes started for Wales in their eye-catching 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in Tallaght on Tuesday evening.
The forward was looking to add to her first senior international goal for Wales – scored against Iceland in December – after netting 18 times in 20 club appearances this season.
On the occasion of her 21st cap, Hughes started up front and served as an impressive target player for her teammates, involved in the build-up to the corner which led to Wales’ first goal after seven minutes, before getting a flick which led to Susan Woodham’s strike 15 minutes later.
At the other end, club teammate Izzy Atkinson also appeared in the match for Ireland, playing the final 18 minutes as her team sought a route back into the match. Abbie Larkin was an unused substitute for the Girls in Green.
Three days prior, Atkinson and Larkin both featured in a 0-0 friendly draw with Italy at Fiorentina’s Viola Park; Atkinson
started what proved to be a tight game of few chances, with Larkin coming on for the final 21 minutes of the fray.
At youth international level, Lexi Potter and Araya Dennis, on loan from Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, were both called up for England U19s’ warm-weather training camp, ahead of April’s crucial European Championship qualifiers.
As part of this, the Young Lionesses took part in the friendly La Nucia tournament in Alicante, facing France (a 3-2 defeat) at
the Camilo Cano Sports City, and Norway (a 2-2 draw) at Meliá Villaitana Hotel.
On both occasions, Potter started the game – captaining the Young Lionesses for the former –with Dennis coming off the bench for the final half-an-hour.
Both Potter and Dennis scored in fixtures for England U19s earlier this season, and will hope to have impressed enough to form part of interim head coach John Griffiths’ squad for April’s qualifiers against Italy, Switzerland and Portugal.
izzy atkinson
The Republic of Ireland international has made a flying start to her Palace career since signing from West Ham last month, having previously played for Shelbourne and Celtic – where she scored the winning goal in the 2022 Scottish Women’s Cup Final.
Get to know Izzy…
What made you want to join Crystal Palace?
I think the exciting fight for promotion. I just wanted to come here, help the team out and win loads of games, and hopefully we can get promoted together.
And you knew some of the girls already…
I knew Hayley [Nolan] and Anna [Filbey] from before joining, so I’ve obviously been watching Palace a bit lately.
They both spoke very highly of the club and were keen on me coming here as well! I’d heard only good things.
How would you describe your game?
I’m someone who likes to dribble with the ball, attack, and bring a bit of energy and speed to the game. I enjoy getting on the ball, so I’m coming here to hopefully have an attacking impact and help us win games.
How did it feel to score your first Palace goal?
I had a few chances on my debut [against Charlton] which I didn’t finish, so I was just buzzing to score [at Southampton] and buzzing to get the three points! I was buzzing, absolutely buzzing.
Age 22
Position
Winger
Nationality
Republic of Ireland
Signed
2024 - West Ham
Izzy has been a fantastic addition. She offers a lot of experience in terms of international football and domestic football, and has already had a direct impactLaura Kaminski Head coach
What are your targets for this season?
Goals, goals, goals, and wins –that’s what we need! Especially with the matches we’ve got coming up, we just need to take each game as it comes.
Crystal Palace Women have made an excellent start to their 2023/24 campaign at their new home: the VBS Community Stadium. Catch up with the season so far in our comprehensive Stat Zone...
Crystal palace f.c.
Fran KITCHING (GK)
Annabel JOHNSON
Fliss GIBBONS
Chloe ARTHUR
Anna FILBEY
Aimee EVERETT
Isabella SIBLEY
Molly SHARPE
Elise HUGHES
Annabel BLANCHARD
Kirsten REILLY
Natalia NEGRI (GK)
Hayley NOLAN
Lexi POTTER
Keira BARRY
Polly DORAN
Shauna GUYATT
Araya DENNIS
Ria PERCIVAL
Shanade HOPCROFT
Lucy WATSON
Abbie LARKIN
Demi LAMBOURNE (GK)
Annis-Clara WRIGHT (GK)
Izzy ATKINSON
M. Golba
D. Griffin
L. Bowles
C. Small
birmingham city f.c.
Lucy THOMAS (GK)
Martha HARRIS
Ellie MASON
Louise QUINN
Gemma LAWLEY
Jade PENNOCK
Jamie FINN
Libby SMITH
Christie HARRISON-MURRAY
Katie DUNGATE
Lily AGG
Ivana FUSO
Siobhan WILSON
Rebecca HOLLOWAY
Lucy QUINN
Cho SO-HYUN
Claudia WALKER
Remi ALLEN
Charlie DEVLIN
Jade MOORE
Choe YU-RI
Charlotte CLARKE (GK)
Neve HERRON
Delphi COLE
