Women's Preview: Saints vs Charlton
Southampton FC Women make their debut in the Barclays Women’s Championship as they welcome Charlton Athletic to St Mary’s on Saturday.
Saints vs Charlton Athletic
Barclays Women’s Championship
St Mary’s Stadium
Saturday 20th August, 12:30pm BST
Saints kick off their Championship season by welcoming Charlton Athletic to St Mary’s Stadium.
Coming into the fixture off the back of a well-battled 1-0 pre-season loss to Women’s Super League side Leicester City, Marieanne Spacey-Cale’s players will take positives into what will be another tough fixture.
In their final pre-season test against the Foxes, Saints created plenty of opportunities in front of goal, with Beth Lumsden and Katie Wilkinson both going close in the first half.
A slow start to the second period saw Leicester take the lead from a ricochet off the crossbar, but Saints rallied to finish strongly in the scorching heat.
Charlton also come into the game off the back of a pre-season loss to a WSL side, falling 2-1 to West Ham, as Heidi Logan opened the scoring for the Addicks, only to see it cancelled out by a Yui Hasagawa brace.
Karen Hills will be hoping to build on her side’s fifth place finish from last season, and will provide a tough test for Saints in their opening game.
Be in that number to witness Saints make history in their debut Barclays Women’s Championship fixture.
General admission tickets are priced as follows, with Season Tickets also still available to purchase, as well as matchday hospitality in the Markus Leibherr Lounge.
Adults - £8
Juniors - £2
MANAGER’S NOTES
“We have to respect Charlton, like we’ll respect every team in the Championship.”
“It’s such a competitive league this year. Every game is a challenge.”
“Karen Hills will have her team prepared and will know that although we’re new kids on the block, we’re here, we’re established and we’re coming in wanting to win the game.”
“We have to be ready to perform at our best, but also to find our feet at the same time.”
“It might be a little bit cat and mouse to start but I think once the girls get over the first five or ten minutes, we can look to play that exciting football that we know we can.”
