Brighton & Hove Albion Women & Girls F.C.
Brighton & Hove Albion Women & Girls Football Club was technically founded in 1991 but can trace their history all the way back to 1967. It took a long road for the team to make it to the top-tier of the English women’s football and are currently in 9th place in the FA Women’s Super League. Affiliate of Brighton & Hove Albion men’s football team, the women’s team is fighting to avoid relegation in a tightly contested league.
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History
The origins of Brighton & Hove Albion women’s football team can be traced back to 1967 and a local post office. These ladies working on the post office’s telephone exchange formed the team Brighton GPO and two years later joined the Sussex Martlet League. After ten years in this league team had a name change to C&C Sports due to their new sponsors. After winning the Sussex Martlet League they got promoted to the Home Counties League Division 2. Placing second in 1983 allowed the team to gain another promotion into Division 1. They won the Jubilee Cup in 1985 for their first major trophy. In 1990 C&C Sports became affiliated to Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., and were rebranded again to their current name Brighton & Hove Albion Women & Girls F.C.
During the 1990’s many division changes took place till the team landed in the FA Premier League Southern Division in 1994. Shortly after in 1995, ladies won the inaugural Sussex Women’s Cup, for the first of their 17 titles in this tournament. Time at the top flight of the league was short lived as Albion was relegated to play in the second and third tiers.
Recent Accomplishments
In 2015, the club set a new record for attendance with 3,256 fans, and same year won the Premier League Southern Division and moved on to WSL 2. A play-off win over Sporting Club Albion assured the team its first WSL status. After an appearance in the Spring Series, Albion had to wait 15 months as the league was changed from its summer format to the currently soccer standard winter format. To prepare for the challenges of the upcoming WSL 2 level of competition the team hired a new manager to lead the team. Former England national team manager Hope Powell was appointed as manager to the club in 2017 and holds that position to this date.
After the 2017-18 season, Brighton & Hove Albion’s application to join the finest of teams in the top tier was accepted. They officially joined the FA WSL 1 in the 2018-2019 season and are competing currently in the league. When the announcement of the acceptance was made official, the team announced they would relocate to their new stadium and play their games in the Crawley Town’s Broadfield Stadium.
Current Squad & Staff
Brighton & Hove Albion Women & Girls F.C. has a senior roster of 22 players, one of which is out on loan at Crystal Palace. The team consists of mainly English players, while 5 of their international players come from 4 other countries. The captain of the squad is Danielle Buet a midfielder with a decade of experience. The team is led up top by Ini Umotong, the top scorer for the team last season with 10 goals in 19 games.
Manager Hope Powell is working hard to keep the team at the top level of English women football. The team is currently in 9th place and seems poised to remain at the FA WSL 1 for another year.
Stadium & Kits
Brighton & Hove Albion call Broadfield Stadium in Crawley their home field. This stadium has a capacity of 6,134.
The team wears the blue and white stripes for their home jerseys and the yellow with gray and black for their away games.