2015 FA WSL

FA WSL 2
Season	2015
Champions	Reading
Matches played	90
Goals scored	324 (3.6 per match)
Top goalscorer	Courtney Sweetman-Kirk (20 goals)
Biggest home win	Reading 8–0 London Bees; (22 August 2015)
Biggest away win	London Bees 0–7 Reading; (29 March 2015)
Highest scoring	Yeovil Town 7–1 Watford; (26 July 2015); Reading 8–0 London Bees; (22 August 2015); London Bees 1–7 Everton; (4 October 2015); Everton 5–3 Oxford United; (18 October 2015)
Longest winning run	6 matches; Doncaster Rovers Belles
Longest unbeaten run	14 matches; Reading
Longest winless run	12 matches; Watford
Longest losing run	11 matches; Watford
	← 2014 2016 → All statistics correct as of 19 October 2015.

FA WSL 1
Season	2015
Champions	Chelsea; (1st WSL title)
Relegated	Bristol Academy
Matches played	56
Goals scored	154 (2.75 per match)
Top goalscorer	Beth Mead (12 goals)
Biggest home win	Manchester City 6–1 Bristol Academy; (27 September 2015)
Biggest away win	Bristol Academy 0–4 Chelsea; (2 April 2015); Liverpool 0–4 Chelsea; (27 September 2015)
Highest scoring	Bristol Academy 2–5 Notts County; (25 April 2015); Manchester City 6–1 Bristol Academy; (27 September 2015)
Longest winning run	5 matches; Chelsea
Longest unbeaten run	10 matches; Manchester City
Longest winless run	9 matches; Bristol Academy
Longest losing run	4 matches; Bristol Academy; Liverpool
Highest attendance	3,180; Manchester City 2–1 Notts County; (4 October 2015)
Total attendance	57,253
Average attendance	1,022
	← 2014 2016 → All statistics correct as of 5 October 2015.

FA WSL
Season	2015
Champions	Chelsea
	← 2014 2016 →

The 2015 season of the Women's Super League was the fifth season of the FA WSL, the top-level women's football league of England. The season was played from 25 March to 4 October.^[1]

Liverpool were the defending champions from the 2014 FA WSL. Chelsea became the title winners and together with Manchester City (who finished as runners-up) qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League.

This was the second season since the WSL 2 was introduced. As part of a two-year expansion plan, the WSL 1 will increase to nine teams for the 2016 season. By the end of the 2015 season two teams (Reading and Doncaster Rovers Belles) were promoted from WSL 2 to WSL 1 and only one team (Bristol Academy) relegated to WSL 2, with one team being promoted from Premier League to WSL 2.

Background

In December 2014, the FA WSL announced a two-year plan to expand WSL 1 from an eight to 10-team league. Two teams will be promoted from WSL 2, while one team will be relegated to WSL 2.^[2]^[3] Also, for the first time, a team from the FA Women's Premier League earned promotion to WSL 2, effectively connecting the WSL to the rest of the English women's football pyramid.^[4]

This will leave WSL 1 with nine teams and WSL 2 with 10 teams for the 2016 season, and with the process repeated the following year, both WSL 1 and WSL 2 will have 10 teams each for the 2017 season.

Teams

WSL 1

Locations of the 2015 Super League teams

Team	Location	Ground	Capacity	2014 WSL 1 finish
Arsenal	Borehamwood	Meadow Park	4,502 (1,400 seated)	4th
Birmingham City	Solihull	Damson Park	3,050 (280 seated)	3rd
Bristol Academy	Filton	Stoke Gifford Stadium	1,500	7th
Chelsea	Staines	Wheatsheaf Park	3,009 (300 seated and 800 covered)	2nd
Manchester City	Manchester	Academy Stadium	7,000 (5,000 seated)	5th
Liverpool	Widnes	Halton Stadium	13,350	1st
Notts County	Nottingham	Meadow Lane	20,229	6th
Sunderland	Hetton-le-Hole	Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground	2,500	1st (WSL 2)

WSL 2

Aston Villa

Doncaster Rovers Belles

Locations of the 2015 WSL 2 teams

Team	Location	Ground	Capacity	2014 WSL 2 finish
Aston Villa	Sutton Coldfield	Central Ground, Coles Lane	2,000	4th
Doncaster Rovers Belles	Doncaster	Keepmoat Stadium	15,231	2nd
Durham	Durham	New Ferens Park	3,000	6th
Everton	Widnes	Halton Stadium	13,350	8th (WSL 1)
London Bees	Canons Park	The Hive Stadium	5,176 (3,434 seated)	10th
Millwall Lionesses	London	The Den	20,146	8th
Oxford United	Abingdon	The Armadillo Stadium	2,000	9th
Reading	Farnborough	The Rushmoor Community Stadium	7,000	3rd
Watford	Berkhamsted	Broadwater	2,000	7th
Yeovil Town	Sherborne	Raleigh Grove	1,500	5th

FA WSL 1 Transfers

As of 27 July 2015

Arrivals

Arsenal
Player	Position	From	Ref.
Lianne Sanderson	FW	Boston Breakers	^[5]
Natalia Pablos	FW	Bristol Academy	^[6]
Jemma Rose	DF	Bristol Academy	^[7]
Vicky Losada	MF	Barcelona	^[8]
Chioma Ubogagu	FW	Stanford University	^[9]
Marta Corredera	MF	Barcelona	^[10]
Dominique Janssen	DF	SGS Essen	^[11]
Sari van Veenendaal	GK	FC Twente	^[11]

Birmingham City
Player	Position	From	Ref.
Alex Windell	MF	Bristol Academy	^[12]
Freda Ayisi	FW	Arsenal	^[13]

Bristol Academy
Player	Position	From	Ref.
Isobel Dalton	MF	Brisbane Roar
Hayley Ladd	MF	Coventry United	^[14]
Nadia Lawrence	FW	ÍBV	^[14]
Sharla Passariello	FW	South Florida Bulls	^[14]
Lauren Townsend	DF	Cardiff City Ladies	^[15]
Christie Murray	MF	unattached	^[16]
Caroline Weir	MF	Arsenal	^[17]
Hannah Short	DF	East Tennessee State University	^[18]
Hannah Reid	GK	Hibernian	^[19]
Evdokiya Popadiynova	FW	NSA Sofia	^[19]
Jade Boho	FW	Rayo Vallecano	^[20]
Marije Brummel	DF	Apollon Limassol	^[21]
Tatiana Pinto	MF	SC Sand	^[22]

Chelsea
Player	Position	From	Ref.
Gemma Davison	MF	Liverpool	^[23]
Millie Bright	MF	Doncaster Rovers Belles	^[24]
Niamh Fahey	DF	Arsenal	^[25]
Hedvig Lindahl	GK	Kristianstads DFF	^[26]
Marija Banušić	FW	Kristianstads DFF	^[27]
Fran Kirby	FW	Reading	^[28]^[29]

Liverpool
Player	Position	From	Ref.
Satara Murray	DF	University of North Carolina	^[30]
Ingrid Ryland	DF	Arna-Bjørnar	^[30]
Line Krogedal Smørsgård	FW	Klepp IL	^[30]
Asisat Oshoala	FW	Rivers Angels	^[31]^[32]
Rosie White	FW	University of California LA	^[33]^[34]

Manchester City
Player	Position	From	Ref.
Lucy Bronze	DF	Liverpool	^[35]
Jen Beattie	DF	Montpellier	^[36]
Nikita Parris	FW	Everton (on loan)	^[37]
Demi Stokes	DF	University of South Florida	^[38]
Sarah Wiltshire	FW	Yeovil Town	^[39]
Natasha Harding*	FW	Bristol Academy	^[40]
Daphne Corboz	MF	Georgetown University	^[41]

Notts County
Player	Position	From	Ref.
Rachel Williams	FW	Chelsea	^[42]
Laura Bassett	DF	Chelsea	^[43]
Alex Greenwood	DF	Everton	^[43]
Jessica Sigsworth	FW	Doncaster Rovers Belles	^[43]
Fern Whelan	DF	Everton	^[44]
Danielle Buet	MF	Chelsea	^[45]
Leanne Crichton	MF	Glasgow City	^[46]
Siobhan Chamberlain	GK	Arsenal (on loan)	^[47]
Danielle Hill	GK	Doncaster Rovers Belles

Sunderland
Player	Position	From	Ref.
Alice Harkness	GK	Glentoran Belfast United
Victoria Williams	DF	Doncaster Rovers Belles	^[48]
Suzanne Mulvey	FW	Rangers	^[49]
Brooke Chaplen	MF	Everton	^[50]
Stephanie Roche	FW	unattached	^[51]
Hilde Gunn Olsen	GK	Arna-Bjørnar	^[52]

Departures

Arsenal
Player	Position	To	Ref.
Christie Murray	MF	end of contract	^[53]
Yukari Kinga	DF	INAC Kobe Leonessa	^[54]
Shinobu Ohno	FW	INAC Kobe Leonessa	^[54]
Freda Ayisi	FW	Birmingham City	^[55]
Lianne Sanderson	FW	unattached	^[56]
Niamh Fahey	DF	Chelsea	^[25]
Caroline Weir	MF	Bristol Academy	^[57]
Siobhan Chamberlain	GK	Notts County (on loan)	^[58]

Birmingham City
Player	Position	To	Ref.
Abbeyleigh Stringer	DF	Aston Villa	^[59]

Bristol Academy
Player	Position	To	Ref.
Corinne Yorston	DF	Yeovil Town	^[60]
Natalia Pablos	FW	Arsenal	^[61]
Jemma Rose	DF	Arsenal	^[7]
Alex Windell	MF	Birmingham City	^[12]
Natasha Harding*	FW	Manchester City	^[62]
Laura del Río	FW	Washington Spirit	^[63]^[64]
Isobel Dalton	MF	Lindsey Wilson College (Kentucky, USA)	^[65]
Alexandra Hurst	MF	Swindon Town	^[65]
Alice Evans	GK	Yeovil Town	^[65]
Nicola Watts	FW	Reading	^[66]

Chelsea
Player	Position	To	Ref.
Yūki Ōgimi	FW	Wolfsburg	^[67]
Rachel Williams	FW	Notts County	^[42]
Laura Bassett	DF	Notts County	^[43]
Danielle Buet	MF	Notts County	^[68]
Rosella Ayane	FW	Millwall Lionesses (on loan)	^[69]
Jackie Groenen	MF	1. FFC Frankfurt	^[70]^[71]

Liverpool
Player	Position	To	Ref.
Amanda DaCosta	MF	Washington Spirit	^[72]
Nina Frausing Pedersen	DF	1. FFC Turbine Potsdam	^[73]
Megan Alexander	DF	Everton	^[74]
Ellie Stewart	DF	Everton	^[75]
Gemma Davison	MF	Chelsea	^[23]
Lucy Bronze	DF	Manchester City	^[35]
Nicole Rolser	MF	Bayern Munich	^[76]^[77]

Manchester City
Player	Position	To	Ref.
Danielle Young	FW	Everton	^[78]
Danielle Lea	DF	Everton	^[78]
Sarah Wiltshire	FW	Yeovil Town	^[79]

Notts County
Player	Position	To	Ref.
Danielle Brogan	DF	Adelaide United
Rachel Corsie	DF	Seattle Reign	^[80]
Emily Roberts	MF	Doncaster Rovers Belles (on loan)	^[81]
Katie Duncan-Hoyle	MF	FC Zürich	^[82]

Sunderland
Player	Position	To	Ref.
Helen Alderson	GK	Durham	^[83]
Natalie Gutteridge	FW	Durham	^[84]

* Natasha Harding was supposed to join American team Washington Spirit, as she was denied a visa, she joined Manchester City instead.

WSL 1

Sunderland earned promotion last season after they won WSL 2 and met off-field licensing requirements. Everton were relegated.

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Chelsea (C)	14	10	2	2	30	10	+20	32	Qualification to Champions League
2	Manchester City	14	9	3	2	25	11	+14	30	Qualification to Champions League
3	Arsenal	14	8	3	3	21	13	+8	27
4	Sunderland	14	6	2	6	24	24	0	20
5	Notts County	14	4	3	7	20	20	0	15
6	Birmingham City	14	3	4	7	7	14	−7	13
7	Liverpool	14	4	1	9	15	24	−9	13
8	Bristol Academy (R)	14	2	2	10	12	38	−26	8	Relegation to FA WSL 2

Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	BIR	BRI	CHE	LIV	MCI	NTC	SUN
Arsenal		1–0	2–0	0–2	1–3	2–3	2–1	4–1
Birmingham City	0–1		0–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–1
Bristol Academy	1–1	0–3		0–4	4–2	0–3	2–5	1–4
Chelsea	0–0	4–0	4–1		1–0	1–2	2–1	4–0
Liverpool	0–2	2–1	2–0	0–4		2–1	1–2	1–2
Manchester City	0–1	1–0	6–1	1–1	2–0		2–1	1–0
Notts County	1–1	0–1	0–1	1–2	1–0	2–2		4–2
Sunderland	1–3	3–0	2–1	4–0	2–2	0–1	2–1

Updated to match(es) played on 4 October 2015. Source: FA WSL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

As of 5 October 2015^[89]

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Beth Mead	Sunderland	12
2	Jess Clarke	Notts County	7
2	Natalia Pablos	Arsenal	7
4	Eniola Aluko	Chelsea	6
	Isobel Christiansen	Manchester City
	Gemma Davison	Chelsea
	Toni Duggan	Manchester City
	Chioma Ubogagu	Arsenal
	Rachel Williams	Notts County
10	Karen Carney	Birmingham City	5
10	Ji So-yun	Chelsea	5

WSL 2

Everton were relegated from WSL 1 last season.

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Reading (C)	18	14	3	1	61	15	+46	45	Promotion to FA WSL 1
2	Doncaster Rovers Belles	18	14	3	1	57	15	+42	45	Promotion to FA WSL 1
3	Everton	18	8	7	3	43	24	+19	31
4	Yeovil Town	18	9	4	5	36	23	+13	31
5	Aston Villa	18	7	4	7	29	28	+1	25
6	Oxford United	18	7	3	8	26	40	−14	24
7	Durham	18	6	2	10	24	32	−8	20
8	London Bees	18	3	4	11	19	53	−34	13
9	Millwall Lionesses	18	2	6	10	17	39	−22	12
10	Watford	18	1	2	15	12	55	−43	5

Updated to match(es) played on 18 October 2015. Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions

Results

Home \ Away	AST	DON	DUR	EVE	LON	MIL	OXF	REA	WAT	YEO
Aston Villa		0–5	0–1	1–2	2–1	2–1	2–2	2–3	0–1	2–1
Doncaster Rovers Belles	2–1		3–0	3–3	5–1	4–0	3–0	0–3	5–0	2–1
Durham	1–4	0–2		1–6	4–1	2–3	3–0	0–5	4–0	0–1
Everton	1–1	1–1	1–1		2–2	4–1	5–3	0–2	3–0	0–1
London Bees	2–1	1–2	0–4	1–7		2–1	1–2	0–7	4–0	2–2
Millwall Lionesses	1–2	0–5	0–0	1–1	0–0		2–3	0–4	3–2	2–2
Oxford United	0–2	2–5	1–0	2–3	2–1	2–2		0–4	1–0	0–3
Reading	1–1	2–2	3–0	2–1	8–0	3–0	2–2		3–0	2–4
Watford	1–4	0–5	1–3	1–3	0–0	0–0	2–3	1–3		2–4
Yeovil Town	2–2	0–3	1–0	0–0	4–0	1–0	0–1	2–4	7–1

Updated to match(es) played on 18 October 2015. Source: FA WSL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

As of 19 October 2015^[90]

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Courtney Sweetman-Kirk	Doncaster Rovers Belles	20
2	Bethany England	Doncaster Rovers Belles	13
3	Emma Follis	Reading	12
4	Fran Kirby	Reading	11
4	Sue Smith	Doncaster Rovers Belles	11
6	Helen Ward	Reading	8
7	Lauren Bruton	Reading	7
	Kayleigh Hines	Oxford United
	Danielle Turner	Everton
	Katie Wilkinson	Aston Villa
	Corinne Yorston	Yeovil Town

WSL Cup

All WSL 1 and WSL 2 teams take part. In addition to last season a quarter-final stage was added to the knock-out stage. The first match was played on 21 July 2015, after the WSL break for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.^[91]

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	ARS	CHE	REA	MIL	WAT	LON
1	Arsenal	5	5	0	14	2	+12	15	Advance to Knockout stage	—	—	2–1	—	3–0	—
2	Chelsea	5	4	1	20	4	+16	12		0–2	—	—	6–0	—	8–0
3	Reading	5	3	2	12	7	+5	9		—	2–3	—	—	—	3–0
4	Millwall Lionesses	5	2	3	10	18	−8	6		0–4	—	1–3	—	—	5–3
5	Watford	5	1	4	6	15	−9	3		—	0–3	1–3	2–4	—	—
6	London Bees	5	0	5	6	22	−16	0		1–3	—	—	—	2–3	—

Source: playermakerstats.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

22 July 2015

19:00

Millwall Lionesses	5–3	London Bees
Gibbons 41', 44', 68' Watling 64' Babajide 84'	Report	Goddard 35' Whitter 45', 45+2'

Eden Park Avenue, Beckenham

Attendance: 189

Referee: AJ Attbold

22 July 2015

19:00

Reading	2–3	Chelsea
Jane 45' Bruton 57'	Report	Flaherty 43' Bright 66' So-yun 89'

Cherrywood Road, Farnborough

Attendance: 809

Referee: Samuel Ogles

23 July 2015

19:00

Arsenal	3–0	Watford
Williamson 16' Kelly 22' Yankey 30'

Meadow Park, Borehamwood

Attendance: 922

29 July 2015

19:00

London Bees	1–3	Arsenal
Gaylor 21'	Report	Humphrey 62' Pablos 65', 71'

The Hive Stadium, Canons Park

Attendance: 445

29 July 2015

19:00

Millwall Lionesses	1–3	Reading
Cole 5' (pen.)	Report	Ward 19', 37' Bruton 82'

Eden Park Avenue, Beckenham

12 August 2015

19:00

Watford	2–4	Millwall Lionesses
Nuttall 56' Donnelly 80'	Report	Hincks 33' Gibbons 45+2' Lennon 59' Babajide 90'

Broadwater, Berkhamsted

Attendance: 272

Referee: Lisa Benn

15 August 2015

15:00

Reading	3–0	London Bees
Roche 10' Ward 36' Bragg 81'	Report

Cherrywood Road, Farnborough

16 August 2015