2017 Yeovil Town L.F.C. season

The 2017 season was Yeovil Town Ladies Football Club's 27th season of competitive football and its first season in the FA WSL 1, at the top level of English women's football, after promotion from the FA WSL 2.[1]

Yeovil Town Ladies

2017 season
Chairman	Stephen Allison
Manager	Jamie Sherwood
Stadium	Huish Park
FA WSL 1	9th
FA Women's Cup	Fifth round
Top goalscorer	League: Lucy Quinn, Sarah Wiltshire (2) All: Lucy Quinn (3)
Highest home attendance	1,897 (23 April vs. Liverpool, WSL 1)
Lowest home attendance	312 (3 May vs. Bristol City, WSL 1)
Average home league attendance	744
Home colours Away colours

Following a reorganisation of top-level women's football in England, the 2017 season covered only half of a traditional season's length, while the FA WSL shifted its calendar to match the traditional autumn-to-spring axis of football in Europe.[2] For the same reason, there was no Champions League qualification nor relegation to be competed for.

Yeovil struggled in their first season in the top flight of English football losing seven of their eight league matches, only avoiding defeat in their final match of the season as the club finished bottom of the FA WSL 1 table. The club were knocked out in the fifth round of the FA Women's Cup by Notts County. Forward Lucy Quinn finished as the club's top goalscorer with three goals in all competitions, while Quinn and returning striker Sarah Wiltshire were joint top goalscorers in the league with two goals each.

Background

The 2016 season saw Yeovil compete in the second tier of English football. It was manager Jamie Sherwood's second full season in charge of the Glovers as the club won promotion from the FA WSL 2 as champions.[1]

Ahead of their first season in the top flight of English women's football, the club released a number of players including Samantha Quayle who joined Portsmouth,[3] young players Emily Donovan and Ellis Hillman,[4] while Welsh international Kayleigh Green moved to Italy to join Serie A club Chieti Calcio Femminile.[5] Finally, in February the club announced that defender Lauren Townsend and midfielder Danielle Carlton would both not be returning for the Spring Series.[6] The club also announced that due to pitch renovation works at Huish Park, Yeovil would only play the first of their Spring Series matches at Huish Park, with the rest of their matches taking place at the home grounds of Taunton Town and Bridgwater Town.[7]

Review

Pre-season

On 8 February, Yeovil announced their first signing of the season with Welsh international record goalscorer Helen Ward joining from Reading,[8] the club also announced the return of former captain Natalie Haigh for the Spring Series, after a year out of football due work and studying commitments.[9] At the start of March, Yeovil Ladies announced a series of new contracts including club captain Ellie Curson,[10] Welsh internationals Nicola Cousins,[11] and midfielder Helen Bleazard,[12] as well as experienced striker Ann-Marie Heatherson had all signed new deals for the Spring Series.[13] On 16 March, the club also confirmed that a further five players had signed new contracts for the Spring Series, including Welsh international forward Nadia Lawrence, England under-19 goalkeeper Charlotte Haynes, as well as young trio Jessie Jones, Kelly Snook and Leah Burridge.[14] On 17 March, Yeovil announced a further three contract renewals with midfielder Stephanie Williams, forward Lucy Quinn[15] and defender Hannah Short for the upcoming season.[16] The club also confirmed that former Reading player and Welsh dual-sport international Nia Jones had signed for the Spring Series.[17]

On 19 March, Yeovil traveled to Notts County in the fifth round of the FA Women's Cup but were knocked out 3–2 despite goals from Lucy Quinn and Kelly Snook.[18] After losing in the FA Cup, goalkeeper Charlotte Johnson left the club ahead of moving to study at the University of North Alabama.[19] On 24 March, Helen Ward announced that she was pregnant and expecting her second child and therefore would have to withdraw from her Yeovil contract.[20] The end of March, saw the club announce their fourth signing ahead of the Spring Series with England Beach Soccer player Molly Clark signing from Chichester City.[21]

April

Ahead of the start of the Spring Series, Yeovil confirmed the return of striker Sarah Wiltshire having giving birth to her first child in February, after a loan spell proving her fitness scoring six times in seven appearances for Cambridge United.[22][23] Yeovil's first match of the season saw them host Liverpool at Huish Park, in front of a record crowd of 1,897 the Glovers lost 4–1 with Wiltshire grabbing a consolation goal from the penalty spot.[24] On 30 April, Yeovil traveled to Chelsea for their second WSL 1 fixture, despite holding on for 45 minutes without conceding the Glovers conceded twice in first half injury time and eventually fell to a 6–0 defeat.[25]

May

During the Chelsea defeat, Yeovil goalkeeper Charlotte Haynes suffered a broken hand which ruled her out for up to eight weeks.[26] Following the confirmation of Haynes' injury, Yeovil moved quickly to sign former Notts County goalkeeper Megan Walsh for the remainder of the Spring Series.[27] On 3 May, Yeovil faced Bristol City at the home of Taunton Town but fell to a third successive WSL defeat after a late Nicola Cousins own goal, despite goals from Ann-Marie Heatherson and Sarah Wiltshire.[28] Yeovil then hosted Arsenal at Taunton Town, on 7 May, and conceded four goals in just over half an hour despite the Glovers replying with a consolation goal from Lucy Quinn, Yeovil lost their fourth match of the Spring Series 5–1.[29] On 16 May, Yeovil completed the signing of Welsh international former Notts County midfielder Angharad James for the remainder of the Spring Series.[30] James made her debut for Yeovil the following day against Reading as the Glovers suffered a narrow 1–0 defeat.[31] Yeovil then traveled to defending WSL 1 champions Manchester City, and suffered another heavy defeat losing 5–1 with Quinn scoring her third goal of the season.[32] Before Yeovil's penultimate game of the Spring Series, the club confirmed that goalkeeper Bethany-May Howard had returned to the club after graduating from Rider University in the United States.[33] On 28 May, Yeovil's final home game of the Spring Series saw them fall to a narrow 2–1 defeat against Sunderland with Angharad James scoring the Glovers goal.[34] Yeovil's final Spring Series match saw them travel to Birmingham City as the Glovers ended the season with a goalless draw to gain the club's first FA WSL 1 point.[35]

Transfers

In

Date	Name	From	Fee	Ref
8 February 2017	Helen Ward	Reading	Free (released)	[8]
21 February 2017	Natalie Haigh	Unattached	Free (released)	[9]
19 March 2017	Nia Jones	Reading	Free (released)	[17]
29 March 2017	Molly Clark	Chichester City	Free	[21]
3 May 2017	Megan Walsh	Notts County	Free (released)	[27]
16 May 2017	Angharad James	Notts County	Free (released)	[30]
24 May 2017	Bethany-May Howard	Rider Broncs	Free	[33]

Out

Date	Name	To	Fee	Ref
20 March 2017	Charlotte Johnson	North Alabama Lions	Released	[19]
24 March 2017	Helen Ward	Watford	Contract terminated by mutual consent	[20]
11 July 2017	Sarah Wiltshire	Tottenham Hotspur	Released	[36][37]
24 July 2017	Angharad James	Everton	Released	[38]
13 August 2017	Molly Clark	Portsmouth	Released	[39]
15 August 2017	Natalie Haigh	Coventry United	Released	[40]
15 August 2017	Charlotte Haynes	Keynsham Town	Released	[40]
15 August 2017	Nia Jones	Unattached	Released	[40]
15 August 2017	Hannah Short	Oxford United	Released	[40]
15 August 2017	Stephanie Williams	Oxford United	Released	[40]

Loan out

Date	Name	To	End date	Ref
12 March 2017	Sarah Wiltshire	Cambridge United	23 April 2017	[22][23]

Match details

WSL 1

Date	League position	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
23 April 2017	9th	Liverpool	H	L	1–4	Wiltshire (pen)	1,897	[24]
30 April 2017	9th	Chelsea	A	L	0–6		1,077	[25]
3 May 2017	9th	Bristol City	H^[A]	L	2–3	Heatherson, Wiltshire	312	[28]
7 May 2017	9th	Arsenal	H^[A]	L	1–5	Quinn	824	[29]
17 May 2017	9th	Reading	H^[A]	L	0–1		356	[31]
21 May 2017	9th	Manchester City	A	L	1–5	Quinn	1,153	[32]
28 May 2017	9th	Sunderland	H^[B]	L	1–2	James	331	[34]
31 May 2017	9th	Birmingham City	A	D	0–0		625	[35]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
5	Sunderland	8	2	3	3	4	14	−10	9
6	Reading	8	2	2	4	10	15	−5	8
7	Birmingham City	8	1	4	3	6	10	−4	7
8	Bristol City	8	1	1	6	5	21	−16	4
9	Yeovil Town	8	0	1	7	6	26	−20	1

Updated to match(es) played on 3 June 2017. Source: [41]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

FA Women's Cup

Round	Date	Opponents	Venue	Result	Score F–A	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
Fifth round	19 March 2017	Notts County	A	L	2–3	Quinn (pen), Snook	443	[18]

Squad statistics

Source:[42]

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
				League		FA Women's Cup		Total
1	GK	ENG	Charlotte Haynes	2	0	1	0	3	0
1	GK	ENG	Bethany-May Howard	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF	ENG	Natalie Haigh	5 (1)	0	1	0	6 (1)	0
3	DF	ENG	Leah Burridge	0 (1)	0	0	0	0 (1)	0
4	MF	WAL	Ellie Curson	8	0	1	0	9	0
5	DF	WAL	Nicola Cousins	8	0	0	0	8	0
6	MF	WAL	Stephanie Williams	0 (2)	0	1	0	1 (2)	0
7	FW	WAL	Sarah Wiltshire	3 (3)	2	0	0	3 (3)	2
8	MF	ENG	Jessie Jones	1 (5)	0	0	0	1 (5)	0
9	FW	ENG	Ann-Marie Heatherson	8	1	1	0	9	1
10	FW	WAL	Nia Jones	7 (1)	0	1	0	8 (1)	0
11	FW	WAL	Nadia Lawrence	8	0	1	0	9	0
13	GK	ENG	Charlotte Johnson	0	0	0 (1)	0	0 (1)	0
13	GK	ENG	Megan Walsh	6	0	0	0	6	0
15	DF	ENG	Kelly Snook	1 (3)	0	1	1	2 (3)	1
16	MF	ENG	Bow Jackson	2	0	0 (1)	0	2 (1)	0
20	MF	ENG	Molly Clark	2 (1)	0	0	0	2 (1)	0
21	FW	ENG	Lucy Quinn	7 (1)	2	1	1	8 (1)	3
23	MF	WAL	Helen Bleazard	8	0	1	0	9	0
25	MF	WAL	Angharad James	3 (1)	1	0	0	3 (1)	1
26	DF	ENG	Hannah Short	8	0	1	0	9	0
28	FW	ENG	Ella Pusey	0 (5)	0	0 (1)	0	0 (6)	0

Footnotes

A. ^ Yeovil Ladies played three of their home matches at The Viridor Stadium, home of Taunton Town.[7]

B. ^ Yeovil Ladies played Sunderland at Fairfax Park, home of Bridgwater Town.[7]

References

1. "WSL 2: Yeovil Town Ladies pip Bristol City Women to title". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
2. "Women's Super League to switch to winter season in 2017". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
3. "Quayle makes a permanent switch to Pompey". portsmouthfcladies.co.uk. Portsmouth FC Ladies. 20 December 2016. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
4. "Yeovil say farewell". yeoviltownladies.com. Yeovil Town Ladies F.C. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
5. "Serie A Spell for Yeovil's Kayleigh Green". Shekicks. Baltic Publications. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
6. D'Albiac, Stephen (2 February 2017). "Yeovil Town Ladies announce departures of two players ahead of FA WSL1 Spring Series". Somerset Live. Local World. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
7. "WSL Spring Series: Yeovil Town Ladies to play some games away from Huish Park". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
8. "Helen Ward: Yeovil Town Ladies sign Wales striker for 2017 WSL Spring Series". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
9. "Natalie Haigh: Yeovil Town Ladies re-sign former captain for 2017". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
10. "INTERVIEW: Yeovil Town Ladies FC Captain continues to lead the team in 2017". yeoviltownladies.com. Yeovil Town Ladies F.C. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
11. "Cousins continues commitments to Yeovil Town Ladies". yeoviltownladies.com. Yeovil Town Ladies F.C. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
12. "Helen Bleazard: Yeovil Town Ladies midfielder extends contract with WSL 1 club". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
13. "Annie Heatherson: Yeovil Town Ladies forward signs deal for 2017 Spring Series". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
14. "WSL 1 Spring Series: Yeovil Town Ladies quintet extend contracts". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
15. "Quinn & Williams catch up with each other ahead of Spring Series". yeoviltownladies.com. Yeovil Town Ladies F.C. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
16. "FA Cup preview: Short is ready to go". yeoviltownladies.com. Yeovil Town Ladies F.C. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
17. "Nia Jones is added to the squad". yeoviltownladies.com. Yeovil Town Ladies F.C. 19 March 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
18. "Notts County Ladies through to Women's FA Cup quarter-finals after five-goal Yeovil thriller". Nottingham Post. Local World. 19 March 2017. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
19. "Lions add eight soccer signees". roarlions.com. University of North Alabama. 2 January 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
20. "Helen Ward: Pregnant Wales striker to miss Yeovil Town Ladies' season". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
21. "Molly Clark puts pen to paper at Yeovil Town Ladies". yeoviltownladies.com. Yeovil Town Ladies F.C. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
22. "Wiltshire returns after giving birth to first child". yeoviltownladies.com. Yeovil Town Ladies F.C. 23 April 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
23. Garry, Tom (24 April 2017). "Sarah Wiltshire: Yeovil Town Ladies top scorer's return for Spring Series 'amazing'". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
24. "Yeovil Town Ladies 1–4 Liverpool Ladies". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 23 April 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
25. "Chelsea Ladies 6–0 Yeovil Town Ladies". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
26. "Charlotte Haynes: Yeovil Town Ladies goalkeeper out for up to eight weeks". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
27. "Megan Walsh: Yeovil Town Ladies sign ex-Notts County goalkeeper for Spring Series". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
28. "Yeovil Town Ladies 2–3 Bristol City Women". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
29. "Yeovil Town Ladies 1–5 Arsenal Ladies". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 7 May 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
30. "Angharad James: Yeovil Town Ladies sign Wales international midfielder". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
31. "Yeovil Town Ladies 0–1 Reading Women". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
32. "Manchester City Women 5–1 Yeovil Town Ladies". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
33. "Beth Howard: Yeovil Town Ladies re-sign goalkeeper after graduation". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
34. "Yeovil Town Ladies 1–2 Sunderland Ladies". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
35. "Birmingham City Ladies 0–0 Yeovil Town Ladies". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
36. "Sarah Wiltshire: Yeovil Town Ladies striker leaves Women's Super League One club". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
37. "Sarah Wiltshire: Tottenham Ladies sign former Yeovil Town striker". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
38. "Angharad James: Everton Ladies sign Wales midfielder". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
39. "SIGNING: England Beach Soccer Champions Duo sign for Pompey". Portsmouth FC Ladies. Pitchero Football Network. 13 August 2017. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
40. "Departures ahead of new season". yeoviltownladies.com. Yeovil Town Ladies F.C. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
41. "Women's Super League 1 Table". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 7 June 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
42. "Player stats". yeoviltownladies.com. Yeovil Town Ladies F.C. Retrieved 31 May 2017.