Guardian writers’ predicted position: 13th (NB: this is not necessarily Sophie Downey’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips) Crystal Palace have been on arollercoaster over the past few seasons. An inaugural Women’s Super League campaign in 2024-25 brought relegation and the club secured top-flight football again a year later. They will hope their WSL experience gives them an advantage with important lessons learned.
The nature of their promotion push under Jo Potter was nothing short of remarkable. An indifferent start had them languishing near the bottom but 12 wins in their last 14 games enabled them to pip Charlton to the second automatic promotion spot on the final day. They have recruited intelligently over the summer.
The arrival of the prolific Bethany England was a statement, as was the loan signing of the France goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, and Molly Bartrip brings considerable defensive acumen. In Shannon O’Brien and Lexi Lloyd-Smith, Potter has brought in two young attacking players who have caught the eye and Teyah Goldie and Fuka Tsunoda arrive on loan with the hope of kickstarting their careers. Faith has also been put in the core of the side that got them back to the WSL, many of whom have been through all the ups and downs.
Abbie Larkin, Ashleigh Weerden, Shae Yanez and Molly-Mae Sharpe are a few of those who have stuck by the club and been rewarded. There was, however, a blow at the start pre-season when it was revealed My Cato had sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Palace’s start is a tricky one.
Everton, Arsenal and Tottenham make up their opening three games, a real chance to test themselves against seasoned WSL sides and see where they are at. The women’s team have been fully integrated into Crystal Palace FC since 2022, rather than being made into a separate entity like some of their WSL counterparts. Woody Johnson, David Blitzer, Josh Harris and Steve Parish continue to invest in and support the women’s side.
There is a little uncertainty around the whole club after reports in June that Johnson, Blitzer and Harris are keen to sell their combined stake of 79% but nothing has come to fruition. Potter is widely regarded as one of the brightest young managers. The 41-year-old arrived at Palace last summer, joining from Rangers, where she had hit the ground running in her managerial career, winning back-to-back cup doubles and narrowly missing out on the SWPL titles on two occasions.
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