Birmingham City begin their first season in the Barclays Women’s Championship with an opening day fixture against Lewes at St Andrew’s on Sunday afternoon.
The fixture sees the battle of new and former Birmingham City bosses with Lewes manager Scott Booth making his return to St Andrew’s for the first time since the Blues sacked him less than a year ago after just five months in charge.
Having been founder members of the FA Women’s Super League in 2011, Birmingham City’s 11-year existence at the highest level of the women’s footballing pyramid came to an end in May as they failed to reproduce the heroics of the 2020/2021 season and were relegated from the top flight.
Darren Carter has been appointed Birmingham City head coach on a permanent basis over the summer after previously being in interim charge of the first team since November 2021. Jo Potter has become Carter’s assistant, making a return to the club where she had three separate spells as a player.
Carter and Potter have done an excellent job on recruitment, making several impressive new signings and extending a number of contracts. Lucy Thomas, Mollie Green, Martha Harris and Siobhan Wilson have all joined the club on a permanent basis while Charlie Devlin, Ashley Hodson, Tara Bourne and Fran Stenson have come in on season-long loans. There have also been new deals agreed with Christie Murray, Jamie Finn and Eleanor Ryan Doyle along with a first professional contract for 18-year-old Abi Cowie. Birmingham City triggered a one-year extension in Jade Pennock’s contract at the end of last season.
The Blues go into Sunday’s game full of confidence coming off the back of an undefeated pre-season campaign in which they have recorded some promising results. The general feeling is that the Blues have a real chance of bouncing straight back up to the top flight of women’s football.
Lewes will be looking to build on last season’s eighth-place finish in the Barclays Women’s Championship. Their highlight of the 2021/2022 campaign was a memorable 2-1 victory in the final game of the season against already-crowned league champions Liverpool in front of a record crowd of 2,347 at The Dripping Pan.
The Rookettes appointed former Glasgow City and Birmingham City boss Booth as their new manager in the close season while Nat Haigh recently arrived at The Dripping Pan as his assistant.
It has been a busy transfer window for Lewes with Josie Longhurst, Emily Kraft, Sophie Whitehouse, Amber-Keegan Stobbs, Nat Johnson and Libby Copus-Brown all joining the club along with exciting young striker Emma Thompson who has sealed a loan move from Chelsea.
The Barclays Women’s Championship clash between Birmingham City and Lewes kicks-off at 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets for the match remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
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