2019–20 Birmingham City W.F.C. season

The 2019–20 Birmingham City W.F.C. season was the club's 52nd season in existence and their ninth in the FA Women's Super League, the highest level of the football pyramid, having been founding members of the league in 2011. Along with competing in the WSL, the club also contested two domestic cup competitions: the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Birmingham City

2019–20 season
Chairman	Panos Pavlakis
Head Coach	Marta Tejedor (until 3 March)[1] Charlie Baxter (interim, from 3 March)
Stadium	Damson Park, Solihull
FA WSL	11th
FA Cup	Semi-final
League Cup	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Abbi Grant (2) All: Lucy Staniforth (5)
Highest home attendance	1,197 (vs. Manchester City, 19 January)
Lowest home attendance	League: 304 (vs. Tottenham Hotspur, 4 December)
Average home league attendance	875 as of 23 February 2020
Home colours Away colours

On 13 March 2020, in line with the FA's response to the coronavirus pandemic, it was announced the season was temporarily suspended until at least 3 April 2020.[2][3] After further postponements, the season was ultimately ended prematurely on 25 May 2020 with immediate effect.[4] Birmingham sat in 11th at the time and retained their position on sporting merit after The FA Board's decision to award places on a points-per-game basis.[5][6]

Squad

As of 10 January 2020.[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Hannah Hampton 2 MF  ENG Sarah Mayling 3 DF  IRL Harriet Scott 6 DF  ENG Kerys Harrop (captain) 7 MF  SCO Chloe Arthur 8 FW  ENG Rachel Williams 10 MF  USA Brianna Visalli 11 FW  SCO Abbi Grant 13 GK  ENG Alexandra Brooks 14 FW  ENG Emma Kelly 15 DF  USA Adrienne Jordan 16 DF  ENG Georgia Brougham (on loan from Everton) 17 MF  ENG Heidi Logan

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF  ENG Connie Scofield 19 FW  ENG Lucy Whipp 20 FW  ENG Claudia Walker 21 GK  ENG Imogen Maguire 22 MF  ENG Missy Goodwin 23 MF  ENG Freya Gregory 24 MF  ENG Olivia Rabjohn 25 MF  NIR Rebecca Holloway 26 DF  ENG Lily Simkin 27 MF  ENG Abbey Jones 28 MF  ENG Laura Brown 37 MF  ENG Lucy Staniforth

FA Women's Super League

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
13	2	1	10	5	23	−18	7	1	1	4	3	11	−8	1	0	6	2	12	−10

Last updated: 23 February 2020.
Source: FA WSL

Results by matchday

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Ground	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H
Result	L	L	L	W	L	L	D	W	L	L	L	L	L	C	C	C	C	C	C	C	C	C
Position	9	10	12	9	10	11	10	9	10	10	10	10	11

Source:
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

8 September 2019 1	Birmingham City	0–1	Everton	Solihull
14:00	Harrop  22' Grant  83'	Report	Morgan  39' Harrop  46' (o.g.)	Stadium: Damson Park Attendance: 873 Referee: Elliott Swallow

15 September 2019 2	West Ham United	1–0	Birmingham City	Romford
15:00	Longhurst  18' Leon  27'	Report	Harrop  19' Holloway  24'	Stadium: Rush Green Stadium Attendance: 1,297 Referee: Paul Howard

29 September 2019	Birmingham City	P–P	Reading	Solihull
14:00				Stadium: Damson Park
Note: Postponed due to waterlogged pitch

12 October 2019 3	Manchester City	3–0	Birmingham City	Manchester
14:00	Walsh  27' Wullaert  48' Bonner  74' Lee  80'	Report		Stadium: Academy Stadium Attendance: 1,834 Referee: Helen Conley

27 October 2019 4	Birmingham City	2–0	Liverpool	Solihull
14:00	Harrop  9' Arthur  68' Staniforth  83'	Report		Stadium: Damson Park Attendance: 1,056 Referee: Lisa Benn

17 November 2019 5	Brighton & Hove Albion	3–0	Birmingham City	Falmer
14:00	Green  15' (pen.), 71' Le Garrec  44'	Report		Stadium: Amex Stadium Attendance: 4,130 Referee: Helen Conley

24 November 2019 6	Birmingham City	0–6	Chelsea	Solihull
14:45		Report	Ji  2' Bright  37' England  45+1', 63' Spence  48', 52'	Stadium: Damson Park Attendance: 1,159 Referee: Stacey Pearson

4 December 2019 7	Birmingham City	1–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Solihull
19:45	Grant  22' Scott  35' Staniforth  76'	Report	Neville  30' Graham  67',  73'	Stadium: Damson Park Attendance: 304 Referee: Jane Simms

8 December 2019 8	Bristol City	0–2	Birmingham City	Filton
15:00	Pattinson  36' Wilson  36'	Report	Whipp  5' Walker  26' Grant  65'	Stadium: Stoke Gifford Stadium Attendance: 404 Referee: Sam Allison

15 December 2019	Birmingham City	P–P	Manchester United	Solihull
14:00				Stadium: Damson Park
Note: Postponed due to waterlogged pitch

5 January 2020 9	Arsenal	2–0	Birmingham City	Borehamwood
14:00	Little  9' Nobbs  23'	Report		Stadium: Meadow Park Attendance: 2,106 Referee: Elizabeth Simms

12 January 2020 10	Reading	1–0	Birmingham City	High Wycombe
14:00	Eikeland  39' Moore  45+3'	Report	Williams  72'	Stadium: Adams Park Attendance: 733 Referee: Thomas Bisham

19 January 2020 11	Birmingham City	0–2	Manchester City	Solihull
14:00		Report	White  1' Walsh  65'	Stadium: Damson Park Attendance: 1,197 Referee: Helen Conley

2 February 2020	Liverpool	P–P	Birmingham City	Birkenhead
12:00				Stadium: Prenton Park
Note: Postponed due to waterlogged pitch

9 February 2020	Birmingham City	P–P	Brighton & Hove Albion	Solihull
14:00				Stadium: Damson Park
Note: All WSL games postponed due to adverse weather conditions[8]

12 February 2020 12	Chelsea	2–0	Birmingham City	Kingston upon Thames
19:00	Reiten  45' England  58'	Report		Stadium: Kingsmeadow Attendance: 1,928 Referee: Robert Whitton

23 February 2020 13	Birmingham City	0–1	Bristol City	Solihull
14:00		Report	Bryson  66' Salmon  75'	Stadium: Damson Park Attendance: 659 Referee: Stacey Pearson

22 March 2020 14	Tottenham Hotspur	Cancelled	Birmingham City	Canons Park
14:00				Stadium: The Hive Stadium
Note: Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

25 March 2020 15	Birmingham City	Cancelled	Manchester United	Solihull
19:30				Stadium: Damson Park
Note: Rescheduled from 15 December 2019.[9] Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

29 March 2020 16	Everton	Cancelled	Birmingham City	Liverpool
12:30				Stadium: Walton Hall Park
Note: Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

5 April 2020 17	Birmingham City	Cancelled	West Ham United	Solihull
14:00				Stadium: Damson Park
Note: Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

22 April 2020 21	Liverpool	Cancelled	Birmingham City
Note: Rescheduled from 2 February 2020. Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

26 April 2020 18	Birmingham City	Cancelled	Arsenal	Solihull
14:00				Stadium: Damson Park
Note: Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

6 May 2020 19	Birmingham City	Cancelled	Reading	Solihull
19:30				Stadium: Damson Park
Note: Rescheduled from 29 September 2019. Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

16 May 2020 20	Manchester United	Cancelled	Birmingham City	Leigh
15:00				Stadium: Leigh Sports Village
Note: Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

22	Birmingham City	Cancelled	Brighton & Hove Albion	Solihull
				Stadium: Damson Park
Note: Rescheduled from 9 February 2020. Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Qualification
8	West Ham United	14	5	1	8	19	34	−15	16	1.14
9	Brighton & Hove Albion	16	3	4	9	11	30	−19	13	0.81
10	Bristol City	14	2	3	9	9	38	−29	9	0.64
11	Birmingham City	13	2	1	10	5	23	−18	7	0.54
12	Liverpool (R)	14	1	3	10	8	20	−12	6	0.43	Relegation to the Championship

Source: FA WSL, BBC
Rules for classification: Initially: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored. After abandonment of season: 1) Points per game
(R) Relegated.

Women's FA Cup

As a member of the top two tiers, Birmingham entered the FA Cup in the fourth round. The round was played on 26 January 2020 with Birmingham beating Championship side Sheffield United.[10] Former Sunderland player Lucy Staniforth scored the only goal against the third-tier team before being sent off against her old club in a fifth round victory, setting up an all-WSL tie against Brighton & Hove Albion in the quarter-finals.[11] However, the match was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic before the season was ultimately curtailed. On 24 July 2020 it was announced the 2019–20 FA Cup would resume play during the 2020–21 season starting with the quarter-final ties rescheduled for the weekend of 26/27 September 2020.[12]

26 January 2020 Fourth round	Sheffield United	0–3	Birmingham City	Chesterfield
		Report	Scott  55', 90+2' Staniforth  59'	Stadium: Proact Stadium Attendance: 335 Referee: Adam Williamson

16 February 2020 Fifth round	Sunderland	0–1	Birmingham City	Hetton-le-Hole
	Ramshaw  84'	Report	Scott  55' Staniforth  85',  86'	Stadium: Eppleton CW Referee: Elizabeth Simms

15 March 2020 Quarter-final	Brighton & Hove Albion	P–P	Birmingham City	Crawley
				Stadium: Broadfield Stadium
Note: Postponed due to coronavirus pandemic

27 September 2020 Quarter-final	Brighton & Hove Albion	2–2 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p)	Birmingham City	Crawley
14:00	Simpkins  21' Bowman  25' (pen.) A. Whelan  58' O'Sullivan  89' K. Green  90+4'	Report	Mayling  5',  37' M. Green  52' (pen.) Brougham  90+4'	Stadium: Broadfield Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Rebecca Welch
	Penalties
	K. Green Le Tissier Jarrett Connolly		M. Green Walker Murray Mayling Brougham
Note: Rescheduled from 15 March 2020

30 September 2020 Semi-final	Birmingham City	0–3	Everton	Solihull
19:15	Scott  29' Murray  68'	Report	Magill  44' Sørensen  60' Gauvin  87'	Stadium: Damson Park Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Amy Fearns

FA Women's League Cup

Group Stage

22 September 2019 Group stage	Birmingham City	1–0	Everton	Solihull
14:00	Williams  73'	Report	Kelly  45+2' van Es  56'	Stadium: Damson Park Attendance: 511 Referee: Lucy Oliver

20 October 2019 Group stage	Leicester City	1–5	Birmingham City	Quorn
14:00	Field  13' Paul  63' Brown  68'	Report	Williams  15', 57' Staniforth  33', 80' Jordan  59' Scott  62'	Stadium: Farley Way Stadium Attendance: 368 Referee: Scott Simpson

3 November 2019 Group stage	Manchester City	2–1	Birmingham City	Manchester
14:00	White  50' Weir  68'	Report	Williams  64'	Stadium: Academy Stadium Attendance: 1,178 Referee: Elizabeth Simms

11 December 2019 Group stage	Birmingham City	1–3	Manchester United	Solihull
19:30	Grant  35'	Report	Arnot  1' Ross  27' A. Turner  84' Toone  90+3'	Stadium: Damson Park Attendance: 442 Referee: Helen Conley

Pos	Team	Pld	W	WPEN	LPEN	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		MNU	MCI	BIR	EVE	LEI
1	Manchester United	4	4	0	0	0	19	2	+17	12	Advance to knock-out stage		—	2–0	—	—	11–1
2	Manchester City	4	3	0	0	1	11	4	+7	9			—	—	2–1	—	5–0
3	Birmingham City	4	2	0	0	2	8	6	+2	6			1–3	—	—	1–0	—
4	Everton	4	1	0	0	3	5	8	−3	3			0–3	1–4	—	—	—
5	Leicester City	4	0	0	0	4	2	25	−23	0			—	—	1–5	0–4	—

Updated to match(es) played on 11 December 2019. Source: thefa.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record

Squad statistics

Appearances

Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances after the + symbol where applicable.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		FA WSL		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Hannah Hampton	18	0	13	0	3	0	2	0
2	MF		Sarah Mayling	16	1	8+1	0	3+1	1	3	0
3	DF		Harriet Scott	19	2	9+2	0	4	2	4	0
6	DF		Kerys Harrop	11	1	6+1	1	2	0	2	0
7	MF		Chloe Arthur	17	0	12	0	1	0	3+1	0
8	FW		Rachel Williams	16	4	9+1	0	1+1	0	3+1	4
10	MF		Brianna Visalli	13	0	8+1	0	2	0	1+1	0
11	FW		Abbi Grant	21	3	13	2	2+2	0	4	1
13	GK		Alexandra Brooks	3	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
14	FW		Emma Kelly	6	0	1+2	0	3	0	0	0
15	DF		Adrienne Jordan	18	1	13	0	1	0	4	1
16	DF		Georgia Brougham	5	0	2	0	2+1	0	0	0
17	MF		Heidi Logan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	MF		Connie Scofield	14	0	3+6	0	1+1	0	1+2	0
19	MF		Lucy Whipp	21	1	11+2	1	3+1	0	3+1	0
20	FW		Claudia Walker	21	0	10+3	0	3+1	0	2+2	0
21	GK		Imogen Maguire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF		Missy Goodwin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	DF		Freya Gregory	4	0	1+2	0	0	0	0+1	0
24	MF		Olivia Rabjohn	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	MF		Rebecca Holloway	18	0	11	0	3	0	4	0
26	DF		Lily Simkin	6	0	5+1	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF		Abbey Jones	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF		Laura Brown	2	0	0+1	0	0	0	0+1	0
29	MF		Ella Powell	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
37	MF		Lucy Staniforth	15	5	10	1	2	2	3	2
Joined during 2020–21 season but competed in the postponed 2019–20 FA Cup:
4	DF		Rachel Corsie	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
8	MF		Mollie Green	2	1	0	0	2	1	0	0
10	MF		Christie Murray	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
20	DF		Jamie-Lee Napier	1	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
30	DF		Gemma Lawley	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

Goalscorers

Rank	No.	Pos.	Name	FA WSL	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1	37	MF	Lucy Staniforth	1	2	2	5
2	8	FW	Rachel Williams	0	0	4	4
3	11	FW	Abbi Grant	2	0	1	3
4	3	DF	Harriet Scott	0	2	0	2
5	2	MF	Sarah Mayling	0	1	0	1
	6	DF	Kerys Harrop	1	0	0
	8	MF	Mollie Green[lower-alpha 1]	0	1	0
	15	DF	Adrienne Jordan	0	0	1
	19	FW	Lucy Whipp	1	0	0
Total				5	6	8	19

1. Joined during 2020–21 season but scored in the postponed 2019–20 FA Cup

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Ref.
3 June 2019	FW		Claudia Walker	Everton	[13]
2 July 2019	FW		Abbi Grant	Anderlecht	[14]
18 July 2019	MF		Brianna Visalli	West Ham United	[15]
24 July 2019	MF		Rebecca Holloway	Cumberland Phoenix	[16]
2 August 2019	FW		Lucy Whipp	St. John's Red Storm	[17]
7 August 2019	DF		Adrienne Jordan	Atalanta	[18]
3 January 2020	FW		Emma Kelly	ÍBV	[19]

Loans in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Until	Ref.
10 January 2020	DF		Georgia Brougham	Everton	End of season	[20]

Transfers out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Ref.
16 May 2019	FW		Ellen White	Manchester City	[21]
28 May 2019	DF		Meaghan Sargeant	Bristol City	[22]
	FW		Charlie Wellings	Bristol City	[23]
5 June 2019	DF		Hayley Ladd	Manchester United	[24]
4 July 2019	DF		Marisa Ewers	Aston Villa	[25]
5 July 2019	FW		Lucy Quinn	Tottenham Hotspur	[26]
8 July 2019	MF		Sophie Bramford	Wolverhampton Wanderers	[27]
9 July 2019	DF		Aoife Mannion	Manchester City	[28]
19 July 2019	FW		Shania Hayles	Aston Villa	[29]
	DF		Paige Williams	Retired	[29][30]
1 August 2019	MF		Emma Follis	Aston Villa	[31]

References

1. "Club Statement - Marta Tejedor". Birmingham City Football Club.
2. Association, The Football. "Decision made to postpone professional football until Friday 3 April at the earliest". www.thefa.com.
3. Flood, George (13 March 2020). "Women's Super League and Championship suspended due to coronavirus". Evening Standard.
4. "Statement: FA Barclays WSL and Women's Championship season ended". womenscompetitions.thefa.com.
5. "Chelsea named Women's Super League champions, Liverpool relegated". BBC Sport. 5 June 2020.
6. Association, The Football. "Chelsea Women awarded Barclays FA WSL title and Aston Villa win Women's Championship". www.thefa.com.
7. "Women's Team". Birmingham City Football Club. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
8. "Storm Ciara forces postponements". BBC.
9. "Manchester United match rescheduled". Birmingham City Football Club.
10. Association, The Football. "Women's FA Cup dates". www.thefa.com.
11. "England and ex-Sunderland ace Lucy Staniforth sent off following altercation with fan after scoring Birmingham winner in FA Cup clash". www.sunderlandecho.com.
12. "Women's FA Cup: Wembley final on 31 October as resumption gets go-ahead". BBC Sport. 24 July 2020.
13. "CLAUDIA WALKER SIGNS PERMANENT CONTRACT". Birmingham City. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
14. "Abbi Grant signs for Blues Women". Birmingham City Football Club. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
15. "Brianna Visalli joins Blues". Birmingham City Football Club. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
16. "Rebecca Holloway joins Blues Women". Birmingham City Football Club.
17. "Blues Women sign Lucy Whipp". Birmingham City Football Club.
18. "Adrienne Jordan on board at Blues Women". Birmingham City Football Club.
19. "Blues Women have made their first signing of the transfer window, snapping up Emma Kelly". Birmingham City Football Club.
20. "Blues Women have bolstered their ranks with the signing of Georgia Brougham from Everton". www.bcfc.com.
21. "#WelcomeEllen | City sign Ellen White". MCFC. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
22. "SARGEANT BECOMES FIRST SUMMER SIGNING". bcfc.co.uk. Bristol City FC. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
23. "Meaghan Sargeant & Charlie Wellings: Bristol City Women sign Birmingham City pair". BBC. 28 May 2019.
24. "United Women reach agreement with Ladd". www.manutd.com. 5 June 2019.
25. "Aston Villa Women: Three major signings announced". www.avfc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
26. "Introducing our Tottenham Hotspur Women players". Tottenham Hotspur. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
27. "McNamara delighted with Bramford capture". www.wolves.co.uk.
28. "City sign Aoife Mannion". MCFC. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
29. "Paige Williams and Shania Hayles". Birmingham City Football Club. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
30. "Paige Williams: Serie A winner swaps WSL for career as firefighter". BBC Sport. 4 May 2020.
31. "Emma Follis moves on". Birmingham City Football Club.