After back to back promotions, the saints find themselves finishing 6th out of 12th in their first season in the Barclays Women’s Championship, winning 9, losing 7 and drawing 6.
Since being formed in 2018, Saints had lost just one league match in their history, last season against title rivals Ipswich. To kick off their first ever season in the Championship, the Saints didn’t get their season off to a good start after losing 2-0 to Charlton in their first league game. However, it didn’t take long for the Saints to bounce back and a week later secured their first win after beating Palace 2-1 thanks to Lexi Lloyd Smith’s brace.
Top goalscorer, Katie Wilkinson, has carried on her good form since moving to the Saints and is no stranger to the league after winning the Championship Golden Boot with her previous club, Sheffield United. This season she scored 7 goals for the Saints and also picked up the most assists in the club.
A number of players that had also played a part in saints success came up from the academy, including Sophia Pharaoh, Georgie Freeland, Milly Mott and Phoebe Williams, along with keeper Kayla Rendell.
Rendell was voted Barclays Women’s Championship Goalkeeper of the season at this season awards. She played in all but one of Southampton’s matches and kept 10 clean sheets.
Milly Mott also picked up the Rising star award. The 19 year old Defender has played a crucial part in Marieanne Spacey-Cale’s side in recent seasons since making the jump from the academy. She has played in 20 league appearances this season.
Southampton have also reported a 63% increase in average game attendances. Being played at St Mary’s, there was a record breaking number of spectators, which drew in 4,523 fans.
Will Southampton be able to push further up the league next season and keep breaking records?
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