2023/24
sun 28 apr 2024 14:00 kick-off
THE STATE OF PLAY
Last weekend, Palace beat Lewes 2-0 at The Dripping Pan in our final away game of the season, putting us on the verge of the Championship league title and – with it – our firstever promotion to the Barclays Women’s Super League.
A magnificent first-half goal from Shanade Hopcroft –a soaring, dipping volley from 30 yards – and Molly Sharpe’s composed second-half finish, combined with Charlton’s win at Sunderland at the same time, means the Eagles have all but
A record-breaking season
palace √ sunderland sUN 28 apr | 14:00
won the league for the first time in our modern history.
Heading into today, we hold a three-point lead over second-placed Charlton at the top of the table – and a massive 22-goal lead in terms of goal difference (+35 against +13).
That means that, barring an unlikely combination of
It’s almost certain to be a celebratory day in SE25, capping a sensational first season at the helm for Kaminski and Head of Women’s Football, Grace Williams. With 21 out of 22 Women’s Championship fixtures played in 2023/24, the Eagles have already set a plethora of Palace records, with more goals (55), more wins (14), fewer defeats (4) and more points (45) than ever before. What a season.
results – Palace host thirdplaced Sunderland at Selhurst Park today, and Charlton fourth-placed Southampton – Laura Kaminski’s side will be hoisting aloft the Championship trophy at the end of today’s match.
For the full league table, see page 21.
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Thank you to all of you for joining us at Selhurst Park today for the final game of the season – and indeed to all of you who have supported us throughout the season as a whole.
Ishould start by saying that we are fully aware of the situation with regards to the league table – and we therefore know that the job isn’t quite done yet. But to be in the position we are at this stage of the season means a lot to the group, to the staff who have worked tirelessly to get this over the line, and to me.
As the season has got closer to its end, we’ve remained focused. We always knew that the external noise at this stage of the season was something we had to channel positively. All we could affect is our performance and the way that we play.
That applies even when we look back on the season overall. We’ve been so consistent. Whenever we’ve put things wrong, we’ve really tried to get back in on the Monday morning and fix it quickly. We’ve had some blips throughout the year, but we’ve always turned it around, working really hard every week to put things right.
I’ve been lucky enough to have a group that’s been dedicated to that idea, to that philosophy. They’ve bought into it completely, and I think
they’ve been absolutely outstanding in terms of their performances as a result.
If you look at the players, I’ve got a real mixed group who have knitted together well this year. I’ve young, tenacious, hungry players, who want to learn and want to develop, and others who are wise with a few years under their belts, and who understand how to rein those young ones in – so for me, that’s been the secret to our success.
We’ve been really cool and calm all year, but to be in this position is what we’ve been striving for all along. I always knew the potential of this group, which is why I came to the club at the start of the season.
I haven’t just got a talented group of players, or a group of amazing athletes who work hard for each other – I’ve also found a special group of people.
It’s been an absolute privilege to work alongside them this year, and what a great club Crystal Palace has been to do it at. The feeling at this the club is just so united, so together, and so progressive. I’m so happy for everyone here, because I know they’ve worked so hard.
A special thank you to Steve, Dougie and the board. Their ambition, their dedication and their backing from the get-go is a huge reason why we are where we are now.
Now, to be at home, to be at Selhurst Park, with our fans, our staff, our players’ families, all our friends... I can’t imagine how the full-time whistle today is going to feel.
What I will say, however, is this: although the goal difference spins a certain way, we will again feel the pressure to perform today, against a superb Sunderland team who have pushed us, and the other teams around us, all the way this season. We want to finish the season on a high, and give everyone who comes down to Selhurst a performance to be really proud of.
What a year for every player and person attached to this club. Thank you for your outstanding support – here in south London, up and down the country, online and across the world, we hope we’ll continue to make you proud.
Enjoy the game, Laura
Good afternoon and for the final time this season, a warm welcome to south London and Selhurst Park for what promises to be a very special day.
as captain, to be top of the league heading into the final day of the season, you are always going to be proud. The fact that we are in such a strong position just makes me all the prouder – our points tally and our goal difference are a great reflection on just how well we’ve played all season long.
Obviously, that does relieve a little bit of pressure on us this afternoon – but then again, we all know that the job is not done yet, and that we’d like nothing more than to sign off a special season with one last good performance.
We’ve remained focused, just as we have every week, and have been back out on the grass, working hard to be ready to go again this afternoon. Sunderland have been a fantastic team this season with such a strong defence in particular, so we know we’ll have to work hard to get anything out of the contest.
It’s our last game of the season, of course, and as captain, I think I can honestly say that every single one of the girls has been tremendous, week in, week out. It’s
not all been plain sailing – we’ve had setbacks, just like any other team – but we’ve also had the spirit and resilience to get up and
go again. That, in the end, is what I’m most proud of in each and every one of the group.
Special mentions must go, of course, to Elise – who, although she is injured today, could still finish the season as the
Championship’s top scorer, with 16 goals – and Fliss, who currently the leads the way for assists (with 8). There are so many individuals who have had outstanding seasons, but hopefully we’ll have two more prizes for Palace players to collect at full-time today!
We’re all hoping Elise will have as quick a recovery as possible, and we’ll be right behind her during her recovery process as well.
Finally, I just wanted to take the chance to say thank you to you, our amazing supporters. We’ve heard you every single week, whatever part of the country we’ve played in, singing loud and proud and giving us that extra boost whenever we’ve needed it. This is as much your day to celebrate as it is ours –this is truly something we have achieved together.
I’ve often said you’re the best supporters in the Championship… and I’m sure you’ll be the best in the Women’s Super League as well!
Enjoy today’s match, Aimee
captain
By winning the title today, we can seal promotion to the Women’s Super League, where we will compete with the very best sides in the country.
To welcome Arsenal, Chelsea and more to south London next season will be an occasion we will all relish
enthusiasm when the Conti Cup final was played at Selhurst Park last season, so to be able to host Super League action will be a privilege, and we hope to see as many of you there as possible.
Finally, I want to thank you for your support throughout the season. Laura and the players have spoken all season about the levels of support they have received, both at home and away, and I know that it has spurred the team on to record some very special results along the way. To hear the fans chanting the players’ names, getting behind the team from the very first minute to the last, and keeping their belief through thick and thin, is a special feeling. To everyone who has been with the team this year, thank you.
We have seen the crowds grow and grow throughout the campaign, with thousands joining us back in March and another fantastic turnout today –and I know next season we will see even more
If this is your first time supporting the women’s side, thank you for joining us. We have seen the crowds grow and grow throughout the campaign, with thousands joining us back in March and another fantastic turnout today – and I know next season we will see even more. This team is on an exciting journey, and it’s fantastic that we can be with them all the way.
I hope you enjoy the game, and have the chance to give the team the congratulations they deserve for an outstanding campaign.
Upthe Palace
Crystal Palace Women go into the final day of the 2023/24 season almost guaranteed to finish it as Women’s Championship winners. This is the story of how they achieved a historic feat…
July –Palace’s new era
The summer rang in an off-season of vast change in south London, with a move to a new ground, the VBS Community Stadium in Sutton, ahead of 2023/24.
Palace fans were also able to celebrate the appointments of Grace Williams as the club’s new Head of Women’s Football; Laura Kaminski as the new head coach; Adam Jeffrey as the new assistant coach; and eight new players donning the red and blue for the very first time.
A chapter of change – but one with results both immediate, and spectacular…
August & September –An explosive start
After a strong set of pre-season results, Palace Women’s first competitive game of 23/24 – their first outing at Sutton, accompanied by an electric atmosphere – was a hint towards the rollercoaster ride to come.
Taking on Reading, who were newly-demoted from the Women’s Super League, the Eagles were grateful to Elise Hughes’ 102ndminute looping header, from Fliss Gibbons’ perfectly-flighted cross, for a point, having gone behind in the 88th minute to a scruffy goal.
Then, in September, two historic victories: a 2-1 win over Birmingham City on a baking hot day at St Andrew’s, with captain Aimee Everett thumping home the opener from a corner, ignited Palace’s season and gave them their first win under Kaminski.
That was swiftly followed by a 9-1 demolition of Durham in Sutton. Annabel Blanchard scored three and Hughes hit four, with Hayley Nolan and Molly Sharpe also getting in on the act, to help secure a club-record win, later named the Performance of the Week by the League Managers’ Association.
September did end with the frustration of conceding a lastminute equaliser to Sunderland on the road, but Palace went into the first international break of the season having laid down a marker of their intent.
October – Awards galore
Blanchard claimed both the Championship’s Player and Goal of the Month awards for September, with Kaminski taking Manager of the Month – and that form continued when fixtures resumed.
Palace immediately picked up where they left off in October, securing a dominant 4-0 win over then-league leaders Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park; summer signing Shanade Hopcroft got her first goal for the club, with Polly Doran, Blanchard and Sharpe the other scorers.
A week later, Palace’s goal glut continued, running away with the second-half at home to London City Lionesses. Level at 1-1 at the break, a second-half Blanchard hat-trick put Palace on course for a 6-1 win which saw them move up to third in the table.
October did see Palace suffer their first defeat of the season, however: an end-to-end contest, but eventual 2-3 loss, to Charlton at the Valley, despite Araya Dennis’ Goal of the Season contender from 35 yards (which later won the league’s monthly prize).
November & December Records & Cups
As would come to prove a vital habit for Palace, the disappointment of defeat did not linger for long.
The Eagles bounced back straight away, with 3-0 and 3-2 wins away to Watford and home to Lewes respectively in early November. Young England internationals Shauna Guyatt and Lexi Potter grabbed spectacular first professional goals in those respective fixtures.
Then, the first attendance record fell: with Palace and Southampton battling at the top of the table, a club-record 4,442 fans – a figure bettered later in the season (and quite likely again today!) – witnessed a 4-3 thriller go in the Saints’ favour, despite goals from Everett and Hughes (two).
Cup competitions took centre-stage in the winter months: a 3-0 win over Watford in the Continental League Cup group stages made up for the disappointment of a penalty shoot-out defeat to Lewes in the same competition.
the Championship summit and –as would be the case for most of the rest of the season – having a game in hand.
As Kaminski would summarise: “This group play some fantastic football, so we’ll look to really progress, hold on to that and crack on in the next half of the season.
“We’ve still got a long way to go this season, so we have to stay focused and really concentrate on
January – New arrivals and new frontiers
But both results were bettered by a thumping 6-0 win over Chatham Town in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup third round, Hughes the provider of another hat-trick, and Sharpe with the pick of the goals.
With a 1-1 draw at Reading, Palace Women concluded 2023 in fourth place, just two points off
Palace welcomed three fresh faces to south London in the January transfer window, with Ria Percival, Izzy Atkinson and Abbie Larkin all arriving, but experienced mixed fortunes on the pitch in arguably their most challenging spell of the season.
There was the joy of a dramatic 3-1 win over Blackburn in the FA Cup fourth-round – the
first time Palace had won backto-back games in the competition in their professional era, thanks to a key second-half penalty save from Demi Lambourne, and a late turnaround kick-started by Nolan – which was followed by a hard-fought 2-0 win over London City Lionesses in the league.
But that was tempered by elimination from the League Cup group stages at London City just three days later, with the frustration of a scrappy 1-0 defeat to Charlton in Sutton at the end of January resulting in Palace slipping to fifth in the table.
February – The grand stage
Nevertheless, Palace once again laid a real marker for their title aspirations with their response: a superb 2-1 win over Southampton
at St Mary’s Stadium. Atkinson grabbed her first goal for the club with a wonderful solo effort, on the way to winning Championship Player of the Month.
Next up was a day to remember – but surely one Palace will now get to repeat next season – as the Eagles visited Emma Hayes’ all-conquering Chelsea side in the FA Cup fifth-round.
After a superb team performance, with Palace showing all the resilience and endeavour which had taken them that far, only a spectacular back-heeled finish in the 81st minute from Mayra Ramirez – the world’s most expensive women’s player – saw the four-in-a-row Women’s Super League champions progress at Palace’s expense.
The result was Chelsea’s but the day, in truth, belonged to Palace and their away supporters at Kingsmeadow – everyone superb from the first minute to the last.
Given a taste of competing with a WSL team, Palace reasserted themselves in the
league, dispatching Blackburn convincingly in Sutton thanks to goals from Blanchard, Atkinson, Chloe Arthur and Hopcroft.
Kaminski was named Championship Manager of the Month for the second time.
March – More history made
On Mother’s Day, Palace began March with a celebration of their families, before making more history by winning at Selhurst Park for the first time in the Championship. A hard-fought game against Sheffield United was settled by a late poacher’s effort from Sharpe.
A scrappier return fixture a week later saw the Blades claim revenge at Bramall Lane, but Palace responded in impressive fashion once more. A 3-0 win over Watford, again at Selhurst Park – with another club-record 5,566 tickets sold – was capped by superb goals from Sharpe, Percival and Blanchard.
Knowing that maximum points in the season run-in would secure promotion, a 5-1 win at Durham on Easter Sunday – Blanchard (two), Sharpe, Hughes and Hopcroft with the goals – set Palace up perfectly for the final month. Three big games left – could they deliver?
April – The clincher
Returning for the international break with their destiny in their own hands – a point off the summit and a game in hand – it really felt like the season was there for Palace to seize.
The run-in began with second-placed Palace at home to fourth-placed Birmingham –themselves not out of the title race – in our final game of the season at Sutton.
Palace rose to the challenge, as Blanchard’s cross picked out Hughes for her 23rd goal of a landmark campaign. The Eagles were forced to battle hard to stay in front – but holding firm, with the likes of Lambourne, Percival, Everett, Nolan and Gibbons all outstanding at the back – a 1-0 win was secured.
That brings us, then, to last weekend – a day at The Dripping Pan none of a Palace persuasion will ever forget.
Our final away game of 2023/24 was settled by a Hopcroft wondergoal – a ferocious dipping volley from 30 yards certain to win many an accolade in the future –and a composed Sharpe finish.
That – in combination with Charlton’s 1-0 win over Sunderland in the north-east – means that Palace will today almost certainly win the Women’s Championship title, unless there is a remarkable a 22-goal swing in Charlton’s favour on the final day (the Addicks host fourth-place Southampton).
One game to go, one point required to mathematically make certain. As Kaminski herself has said: “To be at home, at Selhurst, with our fans, our staff, our players’ families, all the friends that are attached… I can’t explain how this weekend’s going to look.
“But what I will say is, although the goal difference spins a certain way, we will again feel the pressure to perform. We want to give the people who are coming down a performance to be really proud of.
“What a year it’s been. What a year for every player and person attached to this club. It’s been outstanding.”
Still one game left to go, but the completion of iconic season – and with it, promotion to the glittering realms of the Women’s Super League – is so nearly here
Demi Lambourne
Loan signing Lambourne is on the verge of her second promotion to the Women’s Super League, having helped Leicester reach the top-flight in 2021 and stay up the following season.
fliss gibbons
Gibbons was formerly Brighton’s Player of the Year in their 2015 promotion campaign, and has been instrumental in creating opportunities for her attacking teammates this season, particularly from set-pieces.
Aimee Everett
apps (goals) 26 (2) joined 2021 from
An all-action ball-winning defender, captain Everett was Palace’s Player of the Season in her debut campaign for the club in 2022, and has previously reached the Women’s Super League with both Liverpool and Leicester.
