A General view of the stadium ahead of the match Tottenham Hotspur Women v West Ham United Women, WSL football match, The Hive Stadium, London, UK - 06 Sep 2020 Photo: Chloe Knott for The FA

REACTION: Spurs release eleven players following disappointing season

No less than 11 Tottenham Hotspur players will leave the club when their contracts expire next month.

Spurs have reported via their official club website that Rianna Dean, Alanna Kennedy, Gemma Davison, Anna Filbey, Hannah Godfrey, Lucia Leon, Aurora Mikalsen, Chloe Peplow, Lucy Quinn, Siri Worm and Elisha Sulola are all departing.

Those paying attention to the post-match comments made by Spurs head coach Rehanne Skinner following the final game of the season at Birmingham City will not be overly surprised by this announcement but for many fans, some players released will come as a shock.

Speaking after the Birmingham City game, Skinner said that it would have to be a busy summer from a transfer perspective and as we know in the women’s game, in order for players to come in, others have to leave.

After a difficult season where Spurs finished one place lower than in the previous campaign and a season which had already seen the departures of long term joint-head coaches Karen Hills and Juan Amoros, a shake up seemed inevitable.

Several players on the list have been out on loan since Skinner joined the club so won’t come as a surprise.

Defender Filbey has impressed whilst on loan at Celtic during the second half of this season. Having been a regular starter in Spurs’ first Barclays FA Women’s Super League season, the player found her chances limited following the arrivals of players such as Shelina Zadorsky and Kerys Harrop. Spaniard

Leon likewise, has been on loan at childhood club Madrid CFF after having numerous chances to impress at the beginning of this season. Her departure was anticipated after a long Spurs career which saw her play her part in winning promotion to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.

Youngster Sulola, who broke through into the Spurs senior squad from the development squad last season, is also on the exit list. She has been on loan at Charlton Athletic who are coached by former Spurs head coach Hills and she is likely to continue her career there where she has been a regular starter.

Goalkeeper Mikalsen departs after just one season at Spurs though she has spent much of the campaign on the sidelines with injuries and this may have played a role in her being released as first choice keeper Becky Spencer is also prone to injury.

The remaining players on the list may come as a greater surprise. Midfielder Davison was a high-profile signing ahead of Spurs’ first season in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League. Apart from a couple of moments of magic, she has failed to inspire the Spurs faithful in her two seasons at the club and may well now look to focus on her coaching career.

Godfrey, Peplow, Quinn and Worm all joined Spurs with Davison and have had varying degrees of success. Godfrey was voted Player of the Season after her first Barclays FA Women’s Super League campaign and many Spurs fans had high hopes for the young defender, even with the addition of more experienced players in her position. Having become a regular with the Scottish national team, it is hard to imagine that she won’t be quickly picked up by another team.

Peplow has struggled with injury during her two seasons at Spurs but when fit has shown great promise, the first half of last season and against Arsenal this season, she has looked like a player with a big future. Midfield teammate Quinn has scored some big goals in her two seasons at Spurs but has been unable to secure a place in the starting XI on a regular basis. She will be remembered by Spurs fans for her goal against West Ham United at the London Stadium and for helping the club secure a place in the Vitality Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals in her final game with another goal.

Dutch international Worm has not had an easy time at Spurs, losing her place in the starting XI last season to loan signing Emma Mitchell and this season having periods in and out of the team. A free-kick specialist, she has scored some impressive goals for Spurs, including a bullet away at Reading last season. Worm was also one of the players to see themselves larger than life on the outside of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as the club integrated the women’s team into it’s operations. The experienced full-back should have plenty of suitors.

The biggest surprises on the list are Dean and Kennedy. For Dean, the warning signs have been there as she has struggled for game time this season having been the leading goalscorer for the previous two seasons. A popular player amongst the fans, Dean joined the club ahead of of their promotion-winning campaign. She was a regular that season and again in her first top flight season, scoring a brilliant header against West Ham United at the London Stadium. Dean netted a goal in every encounter with The Hammers that season.

Kennedy joined Spurs at the beginning of this season, initially on loan from American side Orlando Pride. She signed permanently with Spurs halfway through the season and was an ever-present in the midfield until sustaining an injury in the final weeks of the campaign. Another free-kick specialist, Kennedy scored a couple of memorable goals including the Goal of the Season against Manchester United. Many Spurs fans will have been hoping to see a lot more of Kennedy and Dean but both will surely now be snapped up by other teams.

All 11 players leave Spurs with the club’s best wishes for the future.

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