Haywards Heath Town F.C. Women (formerly Crawley Wasps Ladies FC) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

club, that currently plays in the FA Women's National League South East. Until 2023 the club played at The Camping World Community Stadium, home of Horsham FC. In 2023 Wasps merged with

Haywards Heath Town F.C. Haywards Heath Town Football Club is a football club based in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Hanbury Park. History The club was formed in 1888 as Haywards Heath Juniors.

and will play matches from 2023—24 at Haywards Heath's Hanbury Park. In May 2023 it was announced that Crawley Wasps would change their name to Haywards Heath Women.

History

Founded in 1991, Crawley Wasps have been instrumental in the successful development of girls' football in the

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

area. From the early days of playing seven-a-side in various Surrey leagues, the club have expanded to more than 100 playing members in teams at all levels from Under-11s to three Ladies sides. Wasps helped pioneer the development of ladies and girls' football in Sussex, becoming a founding member of the

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

County Women and Girls' Football League in 2002–03. Between May 2013 and May 2018, as they progressed from Under-11s to Under-16s, one Wasps team lost just three of 70 matches against girls teams – their dominance was such that they tested themselves in a boys' league in 2016–17. The club celebrated its 25th anniversary season, in 2016–17, in style on and off the pitch.

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; ; ) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic Philosophy, philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece, Seven Sages, founding figure ...

, one of Crawley's largest employers, became Wasps' first-ever main club sponsor, while the Ladies' first team reached the Sussex Cup final and also the League Cup final. In 2017–18, Wasps' first team earned a historic promotion to the

FA Women's National League South The FA Women's National League South is a league in the third level in the women's football pyramid in England, along with the Northern division. These two divisions are part of the FA Women's National League and below the Women's Super Leag ...

, going unbeaten as they won the London & South East Premier Division, while again reaching the Sussex Cup and League Cup finals. The 2018-19 was unquestionably the most successful in the club's history. The first team won the FA Women's National League Division 1 South East (securing back-to-back promotions), reached the League Cup final and played

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in front of 1,550 people in the fourth round of the

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

. The reserves and Under-18s also won their respective league titles. Wasps first team then led the

for much of the following season, which was curtailed due to the

Coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. They did win the Sussex Women's Challenge Cup for the first time, beating

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

on penalties. The club's reserves performed well in their debut season in the FA Women's National League Reserve Section, and the youth sectioned swelled to over 100 players. In the summer of 2020, Paul Walker, first-team manager since 2015 and chairman since 2017, parted company with the club. Jack Ayles took over as chairman and Dave Cole as manager.

Players

First-team squad

Out on loan

Reserves & Development squad

References

{{Women's football in England Football clubs in West Sussex Sport in Crawley Association football clubs established in 1991 Women's football clubs in England 1991 establishments in England FA Women's National League teams