LNER
CHAIRPERSON – Paula Stainton
CLUB SECRETARY –David Winterburn
SPORTING DIRECTOR –Steph Turnbull
MANAGER – Emily Senior
ASSISTANT MANAGER –Paula Crowther
FIRST TEAM COACH – Lee Briggs
GK COACH – Stu Horsfield
S&C COACH – Zack Holdaway
PHYSIO – Connor Kavanagh
MEDIA CO-ORDINATOR –Charlie Hopper
RESERVE TEAM MANAGER –Matty Turner
DEVELOPMENT TEAM
MANAGER – Dan Jackson
Good evening and welcome to our only York City Ladies game this season at the York Community Stadium.
enabling us to engage with a wider audience, but these games do take a lot of resource in terms of time planning, organising and promoting, as well as finance. We are really grateful for Matchday Sponsors who aid us with the latter. For this game, we are pleased to have on board TRT Rehab, who are also a part of our women in business network, BusinessBelles.
It is always great to see the larger attendances when we host games here, but we are delighted to have seen our numbers growing at our main home, the York Sport Athletic Stadium, based at the University of York Heslington site. With free car parking, a covered stand area with seating for at least 500, alongside our commitment to offer young people under 11 free admission, and the introduction of new Matchday Experiences for teams, and not forgetting the services of Café2U coffee van for refreshments, we are building a great venue for families and all supporters to come and join us.
There is still chance to treat yourself tonight to some MinsterBelles Merchandise, with an ever growing range. Our ever popular scarves and notebooks are back in stock for today, alongside beanies, mugs, water bottles, and we have a limited stock of replica shirts in many sizes both children and adults. Our aim for this season has been to continue to build from the last two seasons, as an entire club. We have put a lot of time and resource into adding to our squad, and rebuilding our entire staff team with Emily at the helm. Emily has an incredible presence around the Club, and we share the same values and vision, and it has been a delight to work with her so far and to support her in building her back room support team of Paula, Lee, Stu, Connor and Zack.
importance of our junior programme, and ladies Development and Reserve Teams ably managed by Dan, Mike, Matty and Damian, all capably supported by Steph Turnbull our Sporting/ Technical Director for our Female Pathway. Steph’s role is no mean feat, as we have nearing 300 girls across our Emerging Talent Centre, Development Centre, Talent Academy and ladies teams now and her vast knowledge, contacts and leadership continue to enable us to grow, develop and keep looking for more value to add to our programmes to the benefit of our players.
We are delighted to also host tonights game as our dedicated Football v Homophobia fixture, and to have a host of activities to reflect this, which feature later in the programme.
And also to have our media partners for the event, YO1 Radio hosting this evening’s game for us and we thank them for their support of this and many of our initiatives throughout the season.
And finally, huge thanks to our matchday volunteers who support us week in week out, and without them, we simply could not manage our matchday activities: Shell, Jyothi, Tom, Rory, Madison you have been our absolute stars this season and we love our matchday family!
We hope you all have the BEST time tonight. We love to hear you chant and cheer, so make some noise for the MinsterBelles. Your voices really do make a difference!
Paula
York City Ladies Chairman/York City FC Foundation Manager
for the squad to perform back on the big stage at LNER. The first time for me and my staff team too, and we’re all really looking forward to what should be a great clash! Many of our players have experienced playing on the big stage last season, and we’ve also added our experience of playing in front of the big crowd at Elland Road before Christmas… so the squad are fully equipped and prepared to step up to the challenge, under the lights!
The division 1 North is one of (if not the most!) competitive division’s in the whole of the WNL, because there are fine margins from the very top to bottom!
Boro will of course come into this game, full of confidence on what has been a good first half of the season for them, but on the other hand, we’re in a really good place to pick up points anywhere across the board right now. The squad are full of confidence and since our return from Christmas, our collective belief, togetherness and ambition has felt higher than ever! We’re fully aware of the challenges the game will bring, but we aim to put on a show of our own in what should be a great contest. We want to leave our MinsterBelles fans with something to shout about in the stands!
Get behind us… be our 17th player… because our squad of 16 are ready to battle this one out to the end!
We’ve found ourselves in some difficult positions, and at times, the wrong side of those fine margins, but the confidence lies in that we still pose consistent threats, no matter the opposition – you can see that from our fine margin results against Cheadle (top of the league), Barnsley (7th) and 10th), feeling confident than ever, this second half of the season and I’m excited for what’s to come and tipping those fine margins our way!
Emily Senior First Team Manager
The 24/25 FA NWL season has been the ultimate rollercoaster. Going into the new season off the back of an incredible ending to the last, where we remained in this competitive league, every player and staff member that had represented York City Ladies wanted to progress further as a team and achieve more.
The goal was to start the season the best we could. So, we had added depth to our squad with a range of talent that represented and aligned with our club culture. All the girls at York City Ladies hold characteristics of being strong minded, kind, determined and all of a great standard of technical ability. By adding fire power to our squad, from the perspective of the group and coaching staff, we felt like we wanted to change the storyline of being known as the underdogs. We knew that we were building towards being in contention of winning games consistently, and being taken seriously.
When the season began, despite our strong start during preseason we were finding it difficult to hit the ground running with winning fixtures. Every Sunday we were faced with opposition that would challenge us competitively, and unfortunately we had fallen short by the opposition taking the points from the games. Even though this was hard, we all remained together as one and made sure that we would rectify the mistakes and fight back.
Eventually, with this mentality, we had started to see progression as a whole when we were winning and gaining points, and our position in the league improving. However, during this period, we had lost a vital member of our club, and a fan favourite when he had become manager of York City Ladies last year, Chris Holloway and the back room staff. I would like to personally thank Chris and his back room staff for all of their efforts whilst they were at the club, and we all wish them the best on their next chapter.
Nevertheless, we continued to gain momentum with our new manager, Emily Senior. She immediately impacted the club through her coaching qualities, and passionate personality. Since the appointment of Emily Senior and her coaching staff, they have all showcased their footballing knowledge and were ready to progress us all as individuals, a squad and club. Emily Seniors morals aligns with the squads and mine.
From the moment of Emily Senior’s appointment, the squad have experienced a range of playing styles and added tactical development. Despite falling short on the first couple of games that we had played, we were getting closer to the results that we had wanted and most importantly deserved. We were faced with uncontrollable factors that made some games that we had played, extremely difficult. However, we persevered and have since started to gain further momentum through our qualities in and out of possession and moving out of the relegation zone by winning games comfortably.
This brings us here today at the LNER stadium. I hope that we can showcase to our ever growing community and fan base that we are here to win. We are incredibly thankful for the continued support of you being here today and throughout our season. Your support never goes unnoticed and enjoy the game.
Ocean Rolandsen
Elisha Hardcastle
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Lucy Lendhill
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Emily Cattle
Felicity Jones
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Hannah Shuttleworth
RYLO FREIGHT
Imogen Hayhurst
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Jess Holder
SUE CLAYTON ART
Karli Smith
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Milly Ash
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Ocean Rolandsen
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Rebecca Sidwell
Ruby Gibbs
Ruby Gore
Nina Howell
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Grace Hemmings
Kerry Heslop
SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Grace Twiby
SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Charlie Ramsden
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Kanisha Underdown
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Dani Trickett
Charlie Blythe
Lucy Cooper
Lillian Scott
SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Rosie Bell SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Lucy Fairbank SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Eden Coles
Daubney
Ruby Watt SPONSORSHIP
Katie Varley SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Amy Kennedy SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Abbie Clark
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Aaliyah Anjorin
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Caroline Kilkenny SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Izzy Eaton SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Amelia O’Flaherty
Emia HendricksonEastwood
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Erin Rodgers
Isabella Marshall SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Layla Addy SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Summer Harvey SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Molly Loughton SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Kazia Walby SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Heather Smith
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Daisy Masefield
Eliza Newton
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Sophie Bentley
SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Nuncia White Gonzalez
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Olivia Sellars
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Grace Sykes
Eliza Benson
SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Imani Todman
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Sophie Wilson
SPONSORED BY FAMILY
Faye Singleton
Lenni Hodgson
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
Ruby Shaw
SPONSORSHIP AVAILABLE
We are now two seasons into seeing spectators wearing our replica kits, but it still gives us a real kick. This season we launched the “Lendal” kit inspired by the architectural feature of Lendal bridge to add to our “Monkbar” away kit, designed with a nod to the City’s Coat of Arms featured in the York City badge, and there is still plenty of time to order yours. Thank you to our Kit Partner, Kitlocker who host our online store for replica shirts and we have Home, Away and Goalkeeper shirts, as well as some of the other items available priced from £31.95 for children and £34.95 for adult sizes. You can even personalise them with your favourite players names and numbers.
https://www.kitlocker.com/ yorkcitymerchandise/index.php
Last season we also introduced our very first MinsterBelles scarves and YCL Beanie hats, which have been such a hit, that we have had to order more!
So don’t miss out if you want to buy one of these, they are only available to purchase at matches.
Another big seller is our Note & Autograph books and pens, and we promise to ensure post game that players will come to Pitchside to ensure they get signed.
We have Merchandise stalls today available before kick off in the FanZone area and inside the Hospitality Entrance area – taking both cash and card payments, and prices start from as low as £2 for the Pens, so do go and see our lovely Matchday volunteers and have a look at what’s on offer.
Good evening and a warm welcome back to the LNER Community Stadium for this evening’s game against Middlesbrough FC Women.
Community Stadium, back in April 2024. Following the exciting conclusion of the season, with the unbelievable win at Middlesbrough, to secure our National League status, alongside winning the Women’s County Cup at the Riverside Stadium. Since the high of that, we have obviously witnessed a lot of change, both on the pitch, and off the pitch. Firstly, the introduction of a handful of new players, during pre-season, then the change of management with Emily Senior arriving alongside Paula Crowther, Lee Briggs, Stu Horsfield, Connor Kavanagh and Zack Holdaway. It’s been brilliant getting to know the new coaching team and I am sure that they will do everything they can to drive the positivity within the team and the club.
Since the turn of the year, we’ve had to battle the frustration of the weather before finally returning to action with an exciting trip to Doncaster Rovers Belles. A brilliant second-half performance, saw Senior’s side leading with just seconds to
snatch a late point. We then made the long trip over to AFC Fylde (that was a very, very long day) and a secondhalf double from Fliss Jones, alongside a smart finish from Emia Hendrickson-Eastwood saw the MinsterBelles leave with all three points and climb out of the relegation zone. A fantastic result!
That brings me to this evening’s game, under the lights! A really exciting opportunity for the players to play on the big stage as well as the supporters to watch their favourite MinsterBelles players. It’s also fantastic that the club are continuing their support of the Football v Homophobia campaign, with this evening’s game dedicated to it. We are really proud to be supporting this and I hope you can take a look at some of the fantastic things on offer this evening.
Thanks for your continued support.y the game today and thank you for your continued support.
Charlie Hopper | Media Coordinator
Having the support of local partners is absolutely essential to the growth of York City Ladies. Every penny we receive through sponsorship enables us to add more value to our offer to players and helps us to develop as a Club. also recognise the value of building genuine partnerships and supporting local with our own resources, and continue to deepen our relationships with sponsors and local businesses through our opportunities and our BusinessBelles women in business network. Todays matchday sponsor is the incredible organisation TRT Rehab. Iwona, founder and owner of TRT Rehab is one of our BusinessBelles, and responded as soon as we indicated we were looking for a sponsor for todays game, so we are delighted to be able to share their vision with our fans to “Break free from pain. Restore and transform your life.” Iwona told us that she is “Thrilled to sponsors this local ladies football match. Supporting active lifestyles and building community spirit is at the heart of what we do. Just as we help working professional recover, stay pain-free and feel their best every day, we’re proud to back these incredible women as they showcase their strength, teamword and passion on the pitch”.
Thank you also to our Away Travel Sponsors PullmanYork, who have been true allies of York City Ladies for several years.
In addition, this season, we have brought on board The Grand, York, as sponsors of our matchday experiences, which has been an incredibly rewarding relationship as we have also worked with them in various other guises as they hosted our home shirt launch and also regularly host our Business Belles networking events including our March event which will include a birthday cake provided by their chefs to mark our first anniversary since we began monthly events. We look forward to continuing to develop our relationship going forward. And thank you to our many player sponsors featured on those pages. We also continue to have a number of donors who wish to remain anonymous, but we must acknowledge the value of their support and unrestricted fund contribution.
If you would like to become a Partner of the Club, we have countless opportunities and can tailor make a package to suit any budget and outcomes, and we’re already beginning conversations for next season, so please do ge in contact via yorkcitylfc@ gmail.com .
Paula Stainton Foundation Manager
York City Football Club Foundation #TeamYork “Making A Positive Difference”
We keep looking for fresh innovative ways of engaging with our MinsterBelles community and to spread the word about the female game even wider, plus we take our role seriously to champion females as well as the female game.
More and more, we have the pleasure of meeting some amazing women in York and across Yorkshire through our York City Ladies network, and we wanted to be able to share their stories alongside ours.
The momentum around the female game is exciting, and York City Ladies FC are passionate about advocating for females on and off the field, including those women in business who support women in sport.
#MoreThanFootball is a positive platform for sharing stories alongside a love for the female game. Expect to hear lots of female voices. How to listen:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6Tc6kdUFh3QoGA9RVjKWYo?si=I08fwBMiRpyOnsOw-P6_GA
We are absolutely delighted to be supporting the Football v Homophobia campaign again this season as part of the FVH Month of Action.
This campaign exists to challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression at all levels in football with the aim of working together across football, to make a difference. Football should be for everyone and enjoyed by everyone.
Following the success of the last two years campaign matches, we are back with even more commitment this season and are delighted to have worked closely with the Club, Supporters Trust, LGBT Forum, York Pride and York Templars to coordinate a host of activities to take place prior to both last Saturday’s game York City FC v Woking Game and todays York City Ladies v Middlesbrough Women.
As part of the build up to the campaign, the Foundation team have run a competition through schools to design a poster promoting Football for Everyone. In addition, we have lots to represent the campaigns on matchday:
• Rainbow Captain’s armband
• 150 free tickets across the two games provided for the LGBT community
• Ginger Slice and other artists representing the LGBT Community hosting the Foundation Fan Zone Stage from 6.30-7.30pm, entertaining fans and chatting to representatives from the organisations involved
• FvH and Rainbow flags will be displayed as the teams walk out and in the pre-match photo
• FvH Football for the referee to collect as the teams walk out to also feature in the pre-match photo
Reflecting on the past 12 months, one moment that stood out was York City Football Club Foundation’s powerful commitment to inclusivity by working alongside the men’s and women’s teams to dedicate matches to Football vs Homophobia.
As trustees of York LGBT Forum and York Pride, we applaud the clubs for taking a stand against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in football. Their leadership sets an inspiring example for all those in sport.
February also marks LGBTQ+ History Month, a time to celebrate diversity and inclusion. It’s fantastic to kick off the month alongside York City Ladies, reinforcing the message that football should be for everyone.
Fans are the heartbeat of football clubs shaping their culture and making the sport truly welcoming. York City Foundation is built on strong community values, from its vital work in mental health to its unwavering support for young people, and the Foundation is making a real impact, and that deserves to be celebrated.
Football is more than just a game – it’s a community, and we must all play our part in making it inclusive.
We are also incredibly proud that York City Football Club and Foundation were nominated for a Football vs Homophobia award in 2024.
Today’s Football vs Homophobia dedication is made even more special
by the presence of Ginger (a local drag queen), Tommi Boi (a local drag king) and Phil Grosset (a queer artist), as well as community groups. Their involvement highlights the vibrant diversity within our community and the importance of visibility in sports.
Let’s keep pushing forward to ensure football remains a safe, welcoming space for all – regardless of sexuality, gender, race, ability, faith, or any other factor that too often divides us.
Come on, MinsterBelles
All the best Jake Furby LGBT Forum Trustee
It’s an absolute privilege to be here tonight as we come together to celebrate LGBT+ History Month here in York. I’m honoured to be speaking on behalf of York Pride, an organisation that is deeply committed to honouring our community’s past while championing its future. LGBT+ history is woven into the very fabric of York, even if, for too long, it has gone untold. Our city, with its ancient streets and rich heritage, has been home to stories of resilience, love, and activism—stories that deserve to be remembered, honoured, and shared.
But LGBT+ history isn’t just about the distant past – it’s about understanding the battles fought within our own lifetimes. York itself has seen remarkable progress, from early grassroots activism to the growth of our own Pride movement. The first York Pride march in 2006 was small, a modest but powerful statement. Today, York Pride is North Yorkshire’s largest celebration of the LGBT+ community, with over 17,500 people joining us last year in a sea of rainbow flags and solidarity. History matters because it reminds us how far we’ve come, but also how much
further we have to go. The rights we enjoy today – whether it’s legal recognition of our relationships, protections in the workplace, or simply the ability to walk hand in hand without fear – were won through the bravery and persistence of those who came before us. And while we celebrate those victories, we know there are still challenges ahead. Hate crime remains a reality. LGBT+ rights are still debated as if they are up for discussion. And young people are still growing up in homes and schools where they don’t always feel safe to be themselves. That’s why visibility, education, and pride are more important than ever.
At York Pride, we believe that celebrating LGBT+ history isn’t just about looking back – it’s about inspiring the future. We want to make sure that the next generation doesn’t just hear our history but feels empowered by it. Pride isn’t just a party; it’s a statement. It’s a declaration that we are here, that we belong, and that our history – our community – matters. And speaking of Pride, I’d love to take this moment to invite you all to this year’s York Pride event on Saturday, 7th June. Expect a fantastic day filled with music, community, and of course, our Pride parade through the historic streets of York. It’s a day to celebrate, but also to reflect – to remember the history that brought us here and to continue writing the next chapter together.
Thank you for being part of this evening, for remembering our history, and for standing together as we keep making history.
Enjoy tonight’s game!
Will Bosanquet (He/Him) Festival Director
We have been astounded by the uptake for our design a poster competition that has been run in local schools, with over 200 entries, the judging process was very difficult and we received some amazing designs.
We chose the winner as we felt it best reflected the “Football for all” message, and to acknowledge the high standard of entries, we selected four runners up rather than the originally planned two.
Huge congratulations to our winner Lyndon from Knavesemire Primary School and also to our runners up, Bella, Evie, Jacob and Lylah from Park Grove, Pocklington Junior, Wigginton Primary and Westfield Primary Schools respectively. Well done and welcome to today’s game and we hope you enjoy seeing your designs in print.
Enjoy the game.
THE MINSTERBELLES
Becky Sidwell GK
Ocean Rolandson C
Kanisha Underdown
Charlie BRlythe
Dani Trickett
Emily Cattle VC
Milly Ash
Karli Smith
Faye Singleton
Grace Sykes
Nina Howell
Charlie Ramsden
Imogen Hayhurst
Lucy Lendhill
Imani Todman
Ruby Shaw
Emia Hendrickson-Eastwood
Grace Hemmings
Ruby Gore
Kerry Heslop
Jess Holder
Fliss Jones
Elisha Hardcastle
Summer Paley
Lenni Hodgson
Ruby Gibbs
Rosie Bell
OFFICIALS
REFEREE: Jessica Knapp
ASSISTANT REFEREES:
Nathan Alexander
Thomas Holloway
MATCHDAY EXPERIENCE
BALLGIRLS:
York City Ladies Talent Academy U16
FLAG BEARERS:
York City Ladies Talent Academy U14
PLAYER MASCOTS:
York City Ladies Talent Academy U12
MIDDLESBROUGH FC WOMEN
Laura Wareham GK
Ruby Cook GK
Jane Harland
Keira Skelton
Ellen Packham
Abby Towers
Emma Foster
Millie Bell
Grace Boyes
Darcie Sugden-Brook
Lauren Robson
Leanna Giles
Sharna Wilkinson
Fran Ward
Sarah Burn C
Chelsea Callander
Georgia Gibson
Ellen Turnbull
Jess Mett
Armani Maxwell
Becky Ferguson
Kacie Elson
Maddie Myers
MATCHDAY EXPERIENCE SPONSORED BY:
