it’s matchday
Welcome back to the VBS Community Stadium in Sutton, where Crystal Palace Women take on Bristol City in the Barclays Women’s Super League 2!
Today is our Pride Match, where we will be celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month, an initiative that was started in 2005.
In our Fanzone, there will be a presence from Palace's official LGBTQ+ supporters’ group Proud and Palace and Queer Croydon, a community organisation that exists to amplify queerness in Croydon and the wider South London area.
As well as this, we will have our usual activations in the Fanzone – from face-painting to Arts and Crafts.
With the game starting at 14:00 GMT, why not visit our Fanzone to soak in the atmosphere in the buildup to kick-off?
Situated just beyond the Collingwood Road Stand at the far side of the stadium, the Fanzone will open at 12:30 GMT (90 minutes before kick-off).
As part of our ongoing ‘Alcohol in the Bowl’ trial, fans can also enjoy an alcoholic beverage in their seat and watch the match unfold.
As ever, show your support for the team and get behind the Eagles!
annabel blanchard abbie larkin
jopotter
Welcome back to everyone at the VBS Community Stadium. Today is our last home game for a while, and so we want to make it a day to remember.
welcome back to everyone at the VBS Community Stadium.
I’d like to extend a warm welcome to the staff, players, and supporters of Bristol City who have made the trip to Sutton today.
It feels like a significant afternoon for this football club, and looking at the league table, the importance of these ninety minutes cannot be overstated.
We find ourselves in a very competitive position in fourthplace. While we are pleased with our progression, we are a group that remains hungry for more.
Reflecting on the last fortnight, we have experienced both ends of the footballing spectrum.
Two weeks ago against Durham, I thought we were absolutely outstanding. To come away with a 4-0 win against a side that is notoriously difficult to break down showed exactly what we are capable of when we click.
Our movement off the ball was sharp, our press was disciplined, and we were ruthless in front of goal. It was a performance that filled the group with a lot of belief.
However, football has a way of keeping you grounded. Last weekend’s 3-1 result against Southampton was a difficult one to swallow.
We lacked a bit of our usual composure in key moments, and at this level, you get punished for every lapse in concentration. We allowed the game to become too transitional, which played into their hands rather than ours. We’ve had a very honest debrief since the final whistle, and the focus shifted immediately to today’s challenge.
The beauty of the WSL2 is how quickly you get a chance to put things right. Bristol City are a highquality side sitting just one place above us in third, and they arrive here with a lot of experience.
We know they will be direct, physical, and well-organised. This is a key promotion battle, a genuine six-pointer that could really shape the rest of the season. If we want to be where we plan to be come May, these are the games we have to relish rather than fear.
The team were superb last time we faced Bristol away at Ashton Gate, and we will need a similar performance today.
It’s about getting the basics right: tracking runners, communicating across the lines, and being brave enough to demand the ball in tight areas.
As ever, the support has been phenomenal. Whether it was at the VBS against Durham or at St Mary’s against Southampton, we hear you and we appreciate you.
Let’s make this place as loud as possible and push for a vital three points.
Enjoy the game.
aimee everett
Dear Palace fans, welcome back to the VBS Community Stadium –it's great to be back home.
there’s a different kind of energy when we play here and looking at how tight things are at the top of the table; we’re going to need every bit of that home advantage today. We’ve missed you over the last week, and the girls are desperate to put on a show for the South London faithful.
The last two weeks have definitely tested our character and shown us the highs and lows of this league. The 4-0 win over Durham was probably one of our most complete performances of the season. Everything we worked on in training - the transitions, the overlapping runs, and the sheer intent in the final third - just seemed to come together perfectly.
As a defender, walking off that pitch with a clean sheet is always the priority, but to see the girls score four high-quality goals felt like a real statement of intent to the rest of the league.
It felt like we had found our rhythm at the perfect time.
However, Sunday’s defeat to Southampton was a tough afternoon for all of us. It’s never easy to take
a 3-1 loss, especially when you feel like you’ve let your standards slip after such a high.
We were frustrated in the dressing room because we know we’re a better side than what we showed on the day. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and, despite trying to fight back, we just couldn't find that clinical edge we had the week before.
That being said, there is no sulking in this squad; there’s just a collective desire to get back on the pitch and prove that game was an outlier.
Today gives us the perfect stage to do exactly that. Bristol City are right there in the mix with us, and we know exactly what is at stake.
They are a disciplined, tough team with a lot of threats, but we’ve shown already this season that when we play our brand of football with high intensity, we can go toeto-toe with anyone.
We know that in games like this, it often comes down to who wants the second ball more and who stays cool under pressure.
This game is a massive opportunity in terms of the
promotion race. We need to be solid at the back, brave in possession, and absolutely ruthless when those big chances fall our way.
We owe it to ourselves, and to all of you who follow us home and away, to put in a performance that reflects our ambitions for this season.
You’ve been incredible lately, and that noise makes a world of difference when the legs start to get heavy in the final ten minutes.
Stick with us, keep the volume up, and let’s get back to winning ways together.
Up the Palace!
last time out
Crystal Palace Women's win streak came to an end at St Mary's, as the Eagles lost 3-1 to Southampton in the Barclays Women's Super League 2.
The Saints managed to get the win on a rainy day in Hampshire, with an Ellie Brazil hattrick wrapping up the points for the hosts.
Palace started strongly and were agonisingly close to going ahead on 13 minutes.
Ashleigh Weerden whipped the ball into the centre of the box, and Elise Hughes saw her powerful header pawed away by goalkeeper Fran Stenson.
Brazil would then open the scoring on 18 minutes - tapping home from a cross, before doubling hers and Southampton's tally with another goal six minutes later.
Then, on the stroke of halftime, Weerden managed to halve the deficit.
The winger beat her defender and curled a high cross into the area.
The ball swerved in the air and managed to evade Stenson and find the bottom corner.
Annabel Blanchard was inches away from restoring parity on 69 minutes after a well-worked corner, but the midfielder was denied by the crossbar.
Southampton then had their chance to pull further ahead on 76 minutes with a quick counter-
attack, but Chloe Peplow's effort flashed wide.
Shae Yañez then pulled off a stunning save to deny Michaela McAlonie who was one-on-one with the 'keeper on 82 minutes.
Just minutes later, and Stenson did superbly to deny Abbie Larkin from point-blank range before Brazil spurned a golden opportunity to put the game to bed.
Brazil then grabbed her hattrick on the 91st minute, after a quick counter-attack.
In a tight contest on the south coast, the hosts managed to secure the points in an end-to-end clash.
This result left Palace in fourthplace in the WSL2, with the visit of Bristol City up next for the Eagles.
bristol city women f.c.
Champions League Competitors
Bristol City famously reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Women's Champions League in the 2014-15 season, a significant achievement for any English club. They managed to knock out Barcelona in the round of 16 but fell to eventual winners Frankfurt.
Bounce back ability
The Robins have a knack for bouncing back. They've won promotion to the WSL twice in recent history, first in 2016 and most recently by winning the Barclays Women's Championship title in the 2022/2023 season.
Record attendances
In the 2023-24 season, their average home league attendance of 6,974 was among the highest in the WSL, surpassed only by Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City.
Bristol’s Brilliant Academy
Bristol City have a reputation for bringing through young talent. Previous Bristol alumni include Jess Fishlock, Lauren Hemp and Lucy Staniforth. Palace’s Hayley Ladd and Chloe Arthur also had spells in the south west at the start of the career.
Lexi Lloyd-Smith – The England U23’s forward is certainly one to watch. Smith bagged ten goals in 19 league appearances for the Robins last year and has six in the current campaign. Her first professional goals actually came against Crystal Palace in 2022, in a 2-1 away win for Southampton.
“I thought we started the game fantastically well, and then I thought we had a lot of control. I thought we executed the game plan superbly.” Charlotte Healy
HOW THE EAGLES SOAR.
playerstats
Crystal palace f.c.
Eve ANNETS (GK)
Jamie-Lee NAPIER
Chloe ARTHUR
My CATO
Aimee EVERETT
Molly-Mae SHARPE
Elise HUGHES
Kirsty HOWAT
Ashleigh WEERDEN
Lola BROWN
Josie GREEN
Hayley NOLAN
Hayley LADD
Annabel BLANCHARD
Justine VANHAEVERMAET
Kelly BRADY
Indiah-Paige RILEY
Zara BAILEY
Ruesha LITTLEJOHN
Lucy NEWELL
Abbie LARKIN
Allyson SWABY Shae YAÑEZ (GK)
Fran BENTLEY (GK)
Ella POWELL
Gemma LAWLEY
Sille STRUCK
Sophie INGLE
Lia O'LEARY
Katie ROBINSON
Vicky LOSADA
Rio HARDY
Lexi LLOYD-SMITH
Emily MUTCH (GK)
Mari WARD
Emily SYME
Malaika MEENA Maria FARRUGIA
Esther MORGAN
Marine DAFEUR Vera JONES Camila SAÉZ Jessie GALE
BENNETT
HEBARD
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