Crystal Palace F.C. Women go into the 2025/26 season as an ambitious, fully professional club pushing for promotion from the expanded Barclays Women’s Super League 2 (WSL2), with a new manager, a revamped squad and growing support on and off the pitch.
League, Manager and Season Context
Palace Women are competing in WSL2 in 2025/26, England’s second tier, which will promote two clubs to the top-flight WSL ahead of expansion to 14 teams in 2026/27. The club turned fully professional in 2023 and won the Women’s Championship title in 2023/24, earning promotion to the WSL for 2024/25 before coming back into WSL2 after a tough first year at the highest level.
For 2025/26, Palace Women are coached by Jo Potter, who replaced Laura Kaminski and leads the side through a 22‑game league campaign plus cup competitions. The club’s season guide and fixture release emphasise an aggressive, front‑foot style and a clear target: being one of the two teams that win promotion in the new WSL2 format.
Home Ground, Tickets and Broadcasts
Crystal Palace Women play home matches at the VBS Community Stadium in Sutton, where they moved in 2023 after previously using Bromley’s Hayes Lane. The stadium change was part of a broader “footballing restructure” as Palace made women’s football a more central part of the club, appointing a head of women’s football (Grace Williams) and investing in facilities.
Key matchday and access details:
- Home venue: VBS Community Stadium (Sutton).
- League matches: Mostly on Sunday afternoons, typically 12:00 or 14:00 kick-offs.
- Tickets: Season tickets and individual match tickets sold via cpfc.co.uk and the women’s section, with a dedicated 2025/26 WSL2 season ticket campaign.
- Broadcasts: A Reddit fan update and WSL coverage round‑ups note that all Palace Women WSL2 matches are streamed live on YouTube, with selected games also shown or highlighted on BBC platforms.
2025/26 WSL2 Fixtures
Palace’s 2025/26 WSL2 fixtures were released in July 2025 and cover 22 league games, home and away, against a national spread of opposition. The season starts with a South London derby and includes several key dates for supporters:
- Opening day:
- Early home games:
- Key winter fixtures:
- Run-in:
Cup involvement is planned in the Subway Women’s League Cup and Adobe Women’s FA Cup, with details and draws announced during the season.
Squad and Key Players
Palace Women’s 2025/26 squad combines promotion‑winning core players with experienced signings from the WSL and abroad. The Olympics.com feature on their rise highlighted a major 2023–24 rebuild: 13 players out, 13 in, including:
- Katrine Veje (defender) – Denmark international full-back/wing-back signed from Everton, bringing high‑level WSL experience and leadership to a young squad.
- Katie Stengel (forward) – Proven striker with WSL and NWSL experience, recruited to lead the line and provide goals in tight games.
The ESPN 2025–26 squad list shows Palace carrying a full professional roster with:
- A senior goalkeeper group;
- A back line built around Veje and other experienced defenders;
- Creative midfielders and wide players such as Molly Mae Hughes and Chloe Green, who were singled out in Palace promotional material around Euro 2025;
- A forward unit led by Stengel and emerging domestic talents.
Exact appearance and goal numbers for 2025/26 will evolve over the season and are tracked match‑by‑match on ESPN and Soccerway rather than fixed at the time of writing.
How Palace Women Got Here
Palace Women were founded in 1992, becoming a founding member of the semi‑pro FA Women’s Championship and spending much of the 2010s and early 2020s as a solid second‑tier club. The club’s internal shift in 2023 – going fully professional, appointing a dedicated head of women’s football, and moving to VBS Community Stadium – was specifically designed to push for WSL promotion.
That project came to fruition in 2023/24, when Palace Women won the FA Women’s Championship, finishing a point ahead of Charlton and ending the season as the league’s top scorers with 55 goals. Promotion brought a first taste of WSL football in 2024/25 and raised the profile of the women’s side within the broader Crystal Palace organisation and fanbase.
Even after dropping into WSL2 again, the 2025/26 campaign is framed as part of a longer journey: the league is expanding, two promotion spots are available, and Palace aim to establish themselves as a permanent top‑flight presence rather than a one‑season newcomer.
Crystal Palace Women 2025/26 Snapshot
| Area | Details | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Barclays Women’s Super League 2 (WSL2), 22-game season | Fixture release |
| Manager | Jo Potter | Confirmed in club’s 25/26 fixtures announcement. |
| Home ground | VBS Community Stadium, Sutton | New home since 2023 as part of women’s football restructure. |
| Status | Fully professional since 2023 | Explained in WSL newcomers feature. |
| Key signings (recent seasons) | Katrine Veje (Everton), Katie Stengel (forward), plus multiple experienced WSL players | Promotion-season squad revamp. |
| Broadcast | All WSL2 games streamed live on YouTube; some also on BBC platforms | Reported by fans and WSL coverage summaries. |
| Ambition | Promotion back to WSL, establishing Palace Women as long-term top-flight club | League expansion and club interviews. |
In 2025/26, Crystal Palace F.C. Women are no longer just a side project of the men’s club but a fully professional, promotion-chasing team with their own fanbase, stadium, broadcast presence and long-term plan to make South London a permanent fixture in the women’s top flight.
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