Portsmouth F.C. Women

During the 2010/11 season, Pompey finished in fourth place in the league but reached the Semi-Finals of the League Cup where Pompey fell to a narrow 2–1 defeat against eventual winners Barnet. This cup run included a 2–1 victory over Premier League National Division side and league winners Sunderland.

In 2012, Pompey secured the Women's Premier League Southern Division title and promotion to the National Division for the first time in their history in their penultimate match of the season, a 2–1 win over Plymouth. At kick-off Portsmouth's promotion rivals Colchester and West Ham had played all their fixtures while Portsmouth had two games left of their season. Needing a win to guarantee the league title, Portsmouth fell behind to a Plymouth goal midway through the second half. However two goals in the last 20 minutes secured the league title for Portsmouth, who were presented with the trophy at their final match in London. Portsmouth brought the curtain down on their most successful season with a 4–1 win at Queens Park Rangers. QPR welcomed the champions with a guard of honour as the Blues ran onto the pitch prior to kick-off.

Pompey faced a tough Premiership National division debut with an away tie against the previous season's double winners Sunderland who also eventually ended up winning the 2012/2013 Premier League National Division title. Pompey's first win in the National Division came in a home tie against Aston Villa at Moneyfields, following a 3–0 win in their second game of the season. This was followed by a 3–2 win against Manchester City, with the winner coming in stoppage time.

In the cups, Pompey reached the Fourth Round of the FA Cup following a comprehensive 5–0 victory against QPR at Westleigh Park before falling to defeat away at Yeovil Town. In the League Cup, Pompey finished second in their group and faced Manchester City in the round of sixteen. Pompey won 2–1 at Westleigh Park in front of a large crowd. In the Quarter-Finals, Pompey defeated Barnet 2–1 but Pompey's league cup run came to an end at the Semi-Final stage once again, losing to eventual winners Aston Villa. Following Pompey's last home again against Leeds United, it was announced that manager Vanessa Raynbird would be stepping down as manager to take up a director of football role while Perry Northeast and Katie Poore would become joint managers. The 2012/13 seasons also saw Pompey taking part in the bidding process, alongside 29 other teams around the country, to join the expanded [Women's Super League].

The Women's team of Portsmouth FC have played 7 matches at Fratton Park:

The 2013/14 season saw live radio commentary for the first time provided by Express FM's Grassroots Football Show and later by South Coast Sports Radio.

The 2014/15 Women's Premier League Southern Division began with an inauspicious start for Portsmouth FC Ladies as the side fell to a 7–3 defeat at home to Cardiff City, after Lucy Quinn was sent off for handling the ball, a decision that was later overturned. However, blistering form in the league which saw the Hampshire side go undefeated for several months, meant Portsmouth Ladies were challenging for the title. By March this had turned into a four-horse race between Portsmouth, Brighton, Charlton and Cardiff City but by the end of the season, the title was between Portsmouth and Brighton. With just two games left of the season, Portsmouth needed four points to secure the title though Pompey won them both, sealing the Women's Premier League Southern Division title with a victory at home in front of a large crowd. This marked Portsmouth's second league title in four seasons. However, they lost the promotion play off against the Northern League Winners, Sheffield F.C. Ladies after a goal in the 90th minute separated the teams. It was played in neutral at The DCS Stadium, home of Southern Football League Premier Division side Stratford Town F.C.

Portsmouth also retained the Hampshire Cup with a 4–1 win against local rivals Southampton Saints. With this match being the first meeting between Portsmouth and Southampton in women's or men's football since 2011, a large crowd was present to watch Portsmouth Ladies secure their ninth Hampshire Cup.

The 2014/15 season was also significant for the Blues as Ini-Abasi Umotong became the first ever Portsmouth Ladies player to be capped at international senior level when she made her debut for Nigeria in a 2–2 draw against Mali. Ini Umotong was later called up for the Nigeria Women's World Cup squad but was an unused substitute in all three of the Super Falcons group games.

After the departure of Perry Northeast, Portsmouth Ladies appointed former Watford Development Coach Craig Taylor for the start of the 2016/17 season. After a mixed start of results, including an emphatic 8–2 cup victory over Lowestoft Town and disappointing defeats to Basildon & Swindon, Taylor decided to step down only 4 months into his new role. Former assistant manager Jay Sadler, brought to the club by Taylor, is currently in temporary charge. His reign began with a resounding 5–0 win at home to Swindon Town.

On 5 June 2023 Portsmouth FC announced that their Women's team would be turning semi-professional.[1] Portsmouth Women had made steady progress in recent seasons under the stewardship of Jay Sadler culminating in finishing only 7 points from clinching the Southern Premier Title in 2022/23. The announcement would see the Women's team moving under the same owners as the men's team, The Tornante Group. Jane Eisner became the side’s new chair, while outgoing chair Eric Coleborn will remain as a director.

Also serving on the board are Georgia Eisner, Stacey Eisner, Terena Eisner, Eric Eisner, Andy Redman, Clare Martin MBE and Val Cohen.

Former directors Helen Chivers and Bill Griffiths have both been appointed as honorary vice-presidents, while Jay Sadler was to remain as Head Coach.

Head coach Jay Sadler said: “The development of the female game has accelerated in such a short timeframe. In order to maintain growth and competitiveness, clubs must continue to strengthen and evolve.

“This level of commitment from Tornante is monumental in maintaining our reputation as a leading club in the women’s game.

“Our vision is to compete at the highest level possible and this support will provide a solid foundation to achieve that.”

On 24 June 2023 Portsmouth FC announced their women's Development side would transition to an Under 23 team.[2]

The Development team had shown a resurgence under Molly Small in the 22/23 season and claimed the FAWNL Reserve Section South West title.

It was announced that Molly would stay in charge of the side and that they would once again be competing in the FAWNL Reserve Section South West as well as the Reserve League Cup, PDFA Cup and Women's Midweek Combined Counties Cup.

The backroom staff of the Under 23 team would be Molly Small (Head Coach), Ben Evans (Assistant Coach), Luke Barron (Technical Coach) and Teagan-Christine Brown (Therapist).

Updated 21 October 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ENG Hannah Haughton (captain) 2 DF  ENG Nicole Barrett 3 DF  ENG Kelci Bowers 4 MF  ENG Leeta Rutherford 5 DF  WAL Evie Gane 6 DF  ENG Jazz Younger 8 MF  IRL Ava Rowbotham (vice-captain) 9 FW  WAL Emma Jones 10 MF  ENG Dani Lane 12 MF  ENG Sophie Quirk

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF  ENG Annie Rolf 15 MF  ENG Jess Smith 16 FW  WAL Ella Humphrey 17 FW  ENG Georgie Freeland 20 DF  ENG Ella Wild 21 FW  ENG Alison Hall 23 FW  ENG Emily Pitman 25 DF  ENG Izzy Collins 26 FW  ENG Beth Lumsden 27 DF  ENG Riva Casley

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 7 FW  ENG Tierney Scott (at Worthing until January 2023) 19 FW  ENG Mia Adaway (at Fulham until 31 December 2023)

Gemma Hillier is Portsmouth Women’s all time record goal scorer and appearance maker. She is also the only Portsmouth Women player currently inducted into Portsmouth FC’s Hall of Fame.[7]

Officially Gemma made 292 appearances scoring 92 goals during her 17 years at the club. She was Captain for eight of those seasons. However FA records only start in 2003 and Gemma had already been playing for the club since 2001 meaning she made over 300 appearances and is believe to have scored 99 goals.

Born in 1987, she started playing football at primary school in Gosport but had to represent the boys’ team. After joining Gosport Borough Ladies, at the age of 12 she was offered the choice to join either the Fulham centre of excellence or Southampton – she chose Fulham.

With Portsmouth Women she played at the highest level in women’s football, featuring in the FA Women’s Premier League and the Southern Premier League, while also claiming the Hampshire County Cup on multiple occasions.

During her time with Portsmouth Ladies, Hillier was offered the chance to join most of the top-league clubs in financially rewarding deals, but she remained loyal to Pompey, where she never received payment.

Gemma also has a very successful Beach Soccer career representing England and Team GB at many international tournaments.

Danielle Rowe played for Portsmouth Women between July 2018 and June 2023. During her 5 years at the club she made 129 appearances scoring 6 goals and Captaining the side 57 times. She won 3 Hampshire Cups and 5 PDFA Cups with the Blues.

Before joining Portsmouth Danielle spent seven years at Brighton and graduated from the under-14s right the way through to the first team.

After making 15 senior appearances for the Seagulls – 10 of which arrived during their title-winning campaign – she had a nine-month sabbatical to go travelling, prior to a brief spell with Lewes before joining Portsmouth.

In her early Portsmouth career she played as a central midfielder before moving to centre back where she formed a formidable partnership with Jazz Younger.

A firm fan favourite at Portsmouth, Danielle was widely regarded as one of the best players in Tier 3 of the women's game during her time on the south coast.

This is a list of former Portsmouth FC Women players who have or still play in the FA Women's Super League.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ENG Kirsty Pearce (Former Super League player) — MF  IRL Lucy Quinn (Former Super League player) — FW  NGA Iniabasi Umotong (Former Super League Player)