Southampton Football Club Women is an English

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 affiliated with

Southampton FC Southampton Football Club is a professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, England. The club competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, befor ...

. Based in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, the club plays in the

Women's Super League 2 The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

in the 2024–25 season after winning promotion from 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 ...

in 2022.

History

Other clubs

In 1970, Southampton Women's F.C. was formed by female fans of the men's

, but the two clubs were unaffiliated. Southampton Women's F.C. went on to great success in England, winning the WFA Cup (now Women's FA Cup) eight times. Another team, Southampton Saints Girls & Ladies F.C. were formed in 1979 as Red Star FC, who were founder members of the WFA Women's National League in 1991. The club adopted the name Southampton Saints Girls & Ladies on affiliating to Southampton F.C. in 1995, and was absorbed by Southampton F.C. in 2001. The club had financial difficulties in 2005; the men's senior side were relegated from the Premier League after 27 years of top-flight football, and Southampton men's side withdrew support for the female side. Southampton Saints Girls & Ladies continued without major club support for another 14 years, before announcing their demise due to financial difficulties in July 2019.

Revival

By 2016

, under new ownership, saw the need for a competitive senior women's team as the profile of women's football in the UK grew. With the club's Regional Talent Centre, a Southampton Under-16 team was formed, and an Under-21 side in May 2017. The club formed an adult women's side for the 2017–18 season and were admitted to the Hampshire Women's League Division 1. In March 2018, Southampton unsuccessfully applied to enter the

FA Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

(Tier 2). In June 2018, after winning the Hampshire Women's League Division 1, the senior team was listed for the following season's

Southern Region Women's Football League The Southern Region Women's Football League is at the fifth and sixth levels of the English women's football pyramid, with the seven other Regional Leagues – Eastern, London & SE, South West, West Midlands, East Midlands, North East and ...

First Division South. In July 2018, the club appointed former England international Marieanne Spacey-Cale as head of Women's and Girls' Football. Spacey-Cale has 91 senior England caps. In the 2018–19 season, the club in fact played in the Southern Region Premier Division, and won the title with a perfect record of 18 wins, earning promotion to the

FA Women's National League The FA Women's National League is a group of six football divisions which sit at the third and fourth tiers of women's football in England. Founded in 1991 as the WFA National League, the league was run by the Women's Football Association, before ...

Division One. They also beat Oxford City Women in the League Cup, achieving a domestic

Double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

. In both the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons, the club were top of the FA Women's National League Division 1 South West at the point when the season was curtailed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The club applied for, and were granted, upward club movement in the summer of 2021, being placed in the FA Women's National League Southern Premier Division for the 2021–22 season. In the 2021–22 season, the club won the FA Women's National League Southern Premier Division to earn a chance to get promoted to the second-tier by beating the FA WNL Northern Premier Division champions in a play-off. On 21 May 2022, Southampton earned a first ever promotion to the

by defeating

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

1–0 in the play-off.

Women's Championship (WS2)

Following promotion to the FA Women's Championship, the club announced they would turn professional and play all of their home games at St Mary's. After a 0–1 defeat to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

in the final game of the season, the club finished in sixth place in the league. At the end of the 2023–24 season Marieanne Spacey-Cale stepped down from the manager's position and moved into the position of head of women's football within the club. On 12 July 2024,

Remi Allen Remi Lee Allen (born 15 October 1990) is an English professional football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of Women's Championship club Southampton. Club career On 30 June 2016, Reading signed Allen from Birmingham Ci ...

was appointed as head coach. Allen left the club by mutual agreement on 28 February 2025, and Spacey-Cale moved back into the role until the end of the season.

Squad

Out on loan

Coaching Staff

Youth Development

Southampton F.C. are well known for their youth development and scouting programmes. The club run a female-specific development programme, spanning talent clubs, summer camps, and the FA-approved Premier League Girls' Football Programme. In May 2017 the club announced the formation of a dedicated U-21 women's squad to complement their coaching programme and provide a feeder route into the women's first team.

Honours

;Hampshire Women's Football League Division 1 ;Champions (2018–19) ;Southern Region Women's Football League Cup ;Champions (2018–19) ;

Premier Division ;Champions (2018–19) ;<
Hampshire FA Women's Challenge Cup
/u> ;Runners up (2021) ;Withdrew from Final due to fixture congestion (2022) ;(Under 21's played in competition) Runners up (2023) ;(Under 21's played in competition) Runners up (2024) ;(Under 21's played in competition) winners (2025) ; ; ;

Southern Premier Division ;Champions (2021–22) ;

FA Women's National League Cup The FA Women's National League Cup is an annual English football cup competition, founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association (WFA). The first edition of the Cup included clubs from the 1991–92 WFA National League Premier Division a ...

;Champions (2021–22) ;

Playoff ;Champions (2021–22)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southampton FC Women Southampton F.C. Women Women's football clubs in England Football clubs in Hampshire FA Women's National League teams Southampton F.C. 2017 establishments in England