2020–21 Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C. season

The 2020–21 Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C. season is the club's 30th season in existence and their third in the FA Women's Super League, the highest level of the football pyramid. Along with competing in the WSL, the club will also contest two domestic cup competitions: the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Brighton & Hove Albion

2020–21 season
Chairman	Tony Bloom
Manager	Hope Powell
Stadium	Broadfield Stadium, Crawley
WSL	8th
League Cup	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Inessa Kaagman (3) All: Inessa Kaagman (3)
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Summary

On 6 September, Brighton played Birmingham in their opening match of the season in what was their first league match in 6 months. The Seagulls won 2–0 at home with goals from Megan Connolly and Inessa Kaagman.[1] On 27 September, Brighton played Birmingham again, this time coming in the quarter final of the 2019–20 FA Cup in which they lost on penalties. The cup overlapped the new season due to the postponements as a result of Covid 19.[2] Brighton's first defeat of the campaign came on the 4 October in their third league game, a 3–0 away loss against Manchester United.[3] In the 2–2 away draw at Everton on 18 October, Kayleigh Green was seen to be shown two yellow cards by referee Lucy Oliver but was not sent off, baffling Toffees manager Willie Kirk.[4][5]

Squad

As of 5 February 2021.[6]

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 Megan Walsh 2 DF  ENG Bethan Roe 3 DF  ENG Felicity Gibbons 4 DF  ENG Danielle Bowman (captain) 5 DF  NED Danique Kerkdijk 6 DF  ENG Maya Le Tissier 7 FW  ENG Aileen Whelan 8 MF  IRL Megan Connolly 9 FW  KOR Lee Geum-min (on loan from Manchester City) 10 MF  NED Inessa Kaagman 11 MF  FIN Nora Heroum 12 DF  FIN Emma Koivisto

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 DF  NZL Rebekah Stott 15 FW  WAL Kayleigh Green 16 FW  ENG Ellie Brazil 19 MF  ENG Emily Simpkins 20 DF  ENG Victoria Williams 21 MF  ENG Jodie Brett 22 MF  ENG Katie Robinson 23 FW  IRL Rianna Jarrett 25 GK  NOR Cecilie Fiskerstrand 29 FW  ENG Faith Nokuthula 32 MF  ENG Libby Bance

Pre-season

7 August 2020 Friendly	Brighton & Hove Albion	2–2	Leicester City	Burton upon Trent
	Kaagman Gibbons	Report		Stadium: St George's Park Attendance: Behind-closed-doors

13 August 2020 Friendly	Arsenal	–	Brighton & Hove Albion	London Colney
		Report		Stadium: Arsenal Training Centre Attendance: Behind-closed-doors
Note: No official scoreline released

16 August 2020 Friendly	Liverpool	–	Brighton & Hove Albion	Birkenhead
				Stadium: Prenton Park Attendance: Behind-closed-doors
Note: No official scoreline released

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
14	3	3	8	10	30	−20	12	1	0	5	4	18	−14	2	3	3	6	12	−6

Last updated: 7 February 2021.
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	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H
Result	W	D	L	L	D	L	W	L	L	L	D	L	L	W
Position	3	5	7	7	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	8

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

Results

6 September 2020 1	Brighton & Hove Albion	2–0	Birmingham City	Crawley
14:00	Connolly  58' Kaagman  60'	Report	Holloway  66' Scott  71' Napier  81' Mayling  90+1'	Stadium: Broadfield Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Rob Whitton

13 September 2020 2	Manchester City	0–0	Brighton & Hove Albion	Manchester
14:00		Report	Bowman  38'	Stadium: Academy Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Helen Conley

4 October 2020 3	Manchester United	3–0	Brighton & Hove Albion	Leigh
12:00	Toone  9' (pen.) Russo  67' Press  78' Ross  90+2'	Report	Le Tissier  9' Green  45+5' Kerkdijk  90+1'	Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Elliot Swallow

11 October 2020 4	Brighton & Hove Albion	0–5	Arsenal	Crawley
12:30		Report	Miedema  10', 90+3' van de Donk  36' Beattie  48' Wubben-Moy  82'	Stadium: Broadfield Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Kirsty Dowle

18 October 2020 5	Everton	2–2	Brighton & Hove Albion	Liverpool
13:00	Christiansen  28' Gauvin  71'	Report	Sevecke  9' (o.g.) Le Tissier  45+1' Green  48' Whelan  78'	Stadium: Walton Hall Park Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Lucy Oliver

8 November 2020 6	Brighton & Hove Albion	0–2	Aston Villa	Crawley
14:00	Simpkins  68' Kerkdijk  82' Bowman  84' Connolly  88'	Report	Asante  59' Hutton  71' Petzelberger  90+2'	Stadium: Broadfield Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Stacey Pearson

15 November 2020 7	West Ham United	0–1	Brighton & Hove Albion	Dagenham
12:30		Report	Green  44' Jarrett  69'	Stadium: Victoria Road Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Abigail Byrne

6 December 2020 8	Tottenham Hotspur	3–1	Brighton & Hove Albion	Canons Park
14:00	Harrop  11' Kennedy  32' Addison  63' Morgan  84' (pen.) Percival  90+5'	Report	Williams  8' Kaagman  33' (pen.)	Stadium: The Hive

13 December 2020 9	Brighton & Hove Albion	0–1	Chelsea	Crawley
14:00		Report	Kerr  21'	Stadium: Broadfield Stadium Attendance: 457 Referee: Lisa Benn

20 December 2020 10	Brighton & Hove Albion	1–3	Reading	Crawley
14:00	Kaagman  21' (pen.) Bowman  55'	Report	Fishlock  17', 44' Leine  23' Bartrip  61' Carter  88' Rowe  90+1'	Stadium: Broadfield Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Abigail Byrne

10 January 2021	Bristol City	P–P	Brighton & Hove Albion	Bath
14:00				Stadium: Twerton Park
Note: Postponed due to positive COVID-19 cases in Brighton squad[7]

17 January 2021 11	Birmingham City	0–0	Brighton & Hove Albion	Solihull
14:00		Report	Kerkdijk  64'	Stadium: Damson Park Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Helen Conley

24 January 2021 12	Brighton & Hove Albion	1–7	Manchester City	Lancing
14:00	Jarrett  69'	Report	Weir  12', 16' Houghton  41', 61' White  58' Kelly  73' Beckie  77'	Stadium: AMEX Elite Football Performance Centre Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Lisa Benn

30 January 2021 13	Bristol City	3–0	Brighton & Hove Albion	Bath
14:00	Daniëls  3' Salmon  34', 59' (pen.)	Report	Green  68' Le Tissier  90+2'	Stadium: Twerton Park Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Lucy Oliver
Note: Rescheduled from 10 January 2021 following positive COVID-19 cases in Brighton squad.

7 February 2021 14	Chelsea	1–2	Brighton & Hove Albion	Kingston upon Thames
14:00	Kerr  5'	Report	Whelan  8' Connolly  78' Bance  90+3'	Stadium: Kingsmeadow Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Cristiana Hattersley

10 February 2021 15	Brighton & Hove Albion	v	West Ham United	Crawley
19:00				Stadium: Broadfield Stadium

7 March 021 16	Brighton & Hove Albion	v	Tottenham Hotspur	Crawley
14:00				Stadium: Broadfield Stadium

17 March 2021 17	Aston Villa	v	Brighton & Hove Albion	Walsall
19:00				Stadium: Bescot Stadium

28 March 2021 18	Brighton & Hove Albion	v	Everton	Crawley
14:00				Stadium: Broadfield Stadium

4 April 2021 19	Brighton & Hove Albion	v	Manchester United	Crawley
14:00				Stadium: Broadfield Stadium

25 April 2021 20	Arsenal	v	Brighton & Hove Albion	Borehamwood
14:00				Stadium: Meadow Park

2 May 2021 21	Reading	v	Brighton & Hove Albion	Reading
14:00				Stadium: Madejski Stadium

9 May 2021 22	Brighton & Hove Albion	v	Bristol City	Crawley
14:00				Stadium: Broadfield Stadium

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
6	Reading	14	4	6	4	18	23	−5	18
7	Tottenham Hotspur	12	3	3	6	13	23	−10	12
8	Brighton & Hove Albion	14	3	3	8	10	30	−20	12
9	Birmingham City	11	3	2	6	10	16	−6	11
10	Aston Villa	12	3	1	8	11	30	−19	10

Updated to match(es) played on 7 February 2021. Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.

Women's FA Cup

As a member of the top two tiers, Brighton will enter the FA Cup in the fourth round proper. Originally scheduled to take place on 31 January 2021, it was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions.[8][9]

TBD Fourth round

v

FA Women's League Cup

7 October 2020 Group stage	Brighton & Hove Albion	2–2 (2–4 p)	West Ham United	Crawley
19:30	Le Tissier  12' Connolly  42' Kerkdijk  48' Jarrett  61'	Report	Daly  31' Flaherty  82'	Stadium: Broadfield Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Steven Hughes
	Penalties
	Jarrett Heroum Williams Bowman		van Egmond Grant Daly Pacheco Lehmann

4 November 2020 Group stage	Charlton Athletic	C–C	Brighton & Hove Albion	Crayford
19:45				Stadium: The Oakwood
Note: Initially postponed following positive COVID-19 test on Brighton staff[10] Fixture was not fulfilled.

18 November 2020 Group stage	Brighton & Hove Albion	0–2	Reading	Crawley
19:30	Simpkins  58'	Report	Harding  28' Fishlock  41' Eikeland  73'	Stadium: Broadfield Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Ryan Atkin

Pos	Team	Pld	W	WPEN	LPEN	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		WHU	REA	BHA	CHA
1	West Ham United	3	2	1	0	0	9	2	+7	8	Advanced to knock-out stage		—	3–0	—	—
2	Reading	3	2	0	0	1	6	3	+3	6	Possible knockout stage based on ranking		—	—	—	4–0
3	Brighton & Hove Albion	2	0	0	1	1	2	4	−2	1			2–2	0–2	—	—
4	Charlton Athletic	2	0	0	0	2	0	8	−8	0			0–4	—	C–C[lower-greek 1]	—

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

1. Match originally postponed following positive COVID-19 test by Brighton staff.[11] An independent tribunal determined the fixture would not be rescheduled as it would have no effect on qualifying.[12]

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Ref.
6 July 2020	GK		Katie Startup	Charlton Athletic	[13]
13 July 2020	MF		Katie Robinson	Bristol City	[14]
15 July 2020	MF		Nora Heroum	A.C. Milan	[15]
17 July 2020	MF		Inessa Kaagman	Everton	[16]
2 September 2020	DF		Rebekah Stott	Melbourne City	[17]
5 February 2021	DF		Emma Koivisto	Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC	[18]

Loans in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Until	Ref.
24 July 2020	FW		Lee Geum-min	Manchester City	End of season	[19]
9 September 2020	FW		Denise O'Sullivan	North Carolina Courage	31 December 2020	[20]

Transfers out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Ref.
3 June 2020	MF		Léa Le Garrec	FC Fleury 91	[21][22]
	MF		Kate Natkiel	Crystal Palace	[21][23]
	MF		Amanda Nildén	Eskilstuna United	[21][24]
	GK		Sophie Harris	Watford	[21][25]
	DF		Fern Whelan	Retired	[21][26]
	FW		Ini Umotong	Växjö DFF	[21][27]
1 July 2020	DF		Matilde Lundorf	Juventus	[28][29]

Loans out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Until	Ref.
6 August 2020	GK		Laura Hartley	Lewes	End of season	[30]
7 August 2020	DF		Ellie Hack	Lewes	End of season	[31]
5 September 2020	DF		Laura Rafferty	Bristol City	End of season	[32]
6 September 2020	GK		Katie Startup	Charlton Athletic		[33]
13 September 2020	DF		Bethan Roe	Charlton Athletic	16 January 2021	[34]
8 January 2021	MF		Kirsty Barton	Crystal Palace	End of season	[35]

Squad statistics

Appearances

As of 7 February 2021

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
Goalkeepers
1	GK		Megan Walsh	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0
25	GK		Cecilie Fiskerstrand	8	0	6	0	0	0	2	0
Defenders
2	DF		Bethan Roe	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
3	DF		Felicity Gibbons	11	0	9	0	0	0	2	0
4	DF		Danielle Bowman	15	0	12+1	0	0	0	2	0
5	DF		Danique Kerkdijk	15	0	10+3	0	0	0	2	0
6	DF		Maya Le Tissier	16	0	14	0	0	0	2	0
12	DF		Emma Koivisto	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
13	DF		Rebekah Stott	7	0	5+2	0	0	0	0	0
20	DF		Victoria Williams	10	0	8+1	0	0	0	1	0
Midfielders
8	MF		Megan Connolly	11	3	9+1	2	0	0	1	1
10	MF		Inessa Kaagman	16	3	14	3	0	0	0+2	0
11	MF		Nora Heroum	9	0	2+5	0	0	0	2	0
19	MF		Emily Simpkins	10	0	2+7	0	0	0	1	0
21	MF		Jodie Brett	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF		Katie Robinson	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
32	MF		Libby Bance	4	0	0+3	0	0	0	0+1	0
Forwards
7	FW		Aileen Whelan	16	2	14	2	0	0	1+1	0
9	FW		Lee Geum-min	12	0	6+4	0	0	0	2	0
15	FW		Kayleigh Green	12	0	9+1	0	0	0	1+1	0
16	FW		Ellie Brazil	7	0	6+1	0	0	0	0	0
23	FW		Rianna Jarrett	14	3	7+5	2	0	0	0+2	1
29	FW		Faith Nokuthula	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players away from the club on loan:
18	MF		Kirsty Barton	5	0	1+2	0	0	0	2	0
Players who appeared for the club but left during the season:
12	FW		Denise O'Sullivan	11	0	8+1	0	0	0	1+1	0

References

1. "Women's Super League: Brighton & Hove Albion 2–0 Birmingham City – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
2. "Women's FA Cup: Brighton & Hove Albion 2–2 Birmingham City (2–4) – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
3. "Manchester United 3–0 Brighton & Hove Albion: Alessia Russo on target in routine victory – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
4. "Women's Super League: Everton 2–2 Brighton & Hove Albion – Willie Kirk baffled by card 'mix–up' – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
5. "WSL Trending: Two yellow cards = no red? Watch bizarre card mix–up in WSL – BBC Sport". BBC Sport. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
6. "Brighton & Hove Albion - Women's Team". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
7. "Bristol City-Brighton off because of Covid". BBC Sport.
8. "The Women's FA Cup Season 2020–21 List of Exemptions" (PDF). thefa.com. The Football Association. 10 August 2020.
9. "Women's FA Cup to remain suspended during coronavirus lockdown". Sky Sports.
10. "Continental Cup tie postponed". www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
11. "Continental Cup tie postponed". www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
12. "FA Women's League Cup quarter-final draw date". womenscompetitions.thefa.com.
13. "Startup signs up for Albion". www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
14. "Powell adds second new signing". www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
15. "Heroum joins from AC Milan". www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
16. "Albion go Dutch with latest signing". www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
17. "Albion sign New Zealand international". www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
18. "Brighton Women sign defender Koivisto". BBC Sport.
19. "Albion sign World Cup star". www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
20. Birkedal, Morgan (9 September 2020). "Denise O'Sullivan to Finish 2020 on Loan with Brighton & Hove Albion". North Carolina Courage.
21. "Hope Powell pays tribute as Le Garrec returns to France". www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
22. "Léa Le Garrec s'engage !". FC Fleury 91 (in French).
23. "Palace Women secure Natkiel from Brighton & Hove Albion". www.cpfc.co.uk.
24. Alhag, Stefan (11 July 2020). "Eskilstuna United värvar Amanda Nildén". eskilstunaunited (in Swedish).
25. "Official: Harris Signs For Golden Girls". www.watfordfc.com.
26. "Whelan retires with immediate effect". www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
27. "Umotong till Växjö DFF". OBOS Damallsvenskan (in Swedish).
28. "Lundorf to leave Albion". www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
29. "Matilde Lundorf è bianconera!". Juventus.com (in Italian).
30. "Brighton keeper joins the Rooks". www.lewesfc.com.
31. "England youth international added to Rooks' defensive line-up". www.lewesfc.com.
32. "Rafferty is a Robin". Bristol City.
33. "Startup returns to Charlton on loan". Chalrton Athletic twitter.
34. "Bethan Roe signs from Brighton". cafcwomen.co.uk.
35. "Kirsty Barton joins Palace Women from Brighton & Hove Albion". www.cpfc.co.uk.