Women's Academy | Season Review | 2025/26
It was another impressive season for our Women’s Academy sides.
Our Under-19s concluded their Professional Game Academy League Division Two campaign with a fifth-place finish alongside a strong run in the Capital Senior Cup, reaching the semi-final stage for a second consecutive year.
As for our Under-16s, they once again claimed silverware, this time winning the PGA Plate trophy for the first time in our Academy programme after beating Leicester City 1-0 in March, 2026.
We’ve seen a number of our youngsters step up to train with the first team throughout the season, with goalkeepers Sophie Jackson and Erin Radbourne being named in a Barclays Women’s Super League matchday squad on a number of occasions.
With the 2025/26 campaign now done and dusted, we take a look back at the term for our Academy sides and some standout stats…
Key player stats for the season…
32 – Grace Breen and Holly-Mae Elmes made the most appearances this season with 32 in all competitions, with Grace edging out her defensive partner with 26 starts – the highest in the squad.
2525 – Despite making two less appearances, Heidi Hills completed the campaign with the most minutes of 2525 – but only 22 more minutes than full-back Lucy Barraclough, who missed the final four games of the season with an injury.
15 – Grace Bellwood finished as the topscorer for the Under-19s after an impressive goalscoring run in the final few months of the season. For context, at the end of February, the young forward had found the back of the net on four occasions. Heidi finishes second with 11 goals.
7 – In terms of assist makers, midfielder Rania Oukriss has taken the crowd for this term with seven in all competitions – just one more than Jhanaie Pierre (six).
18 – Alongside three assists to her 15 goals this season, Grace Bellwood also completes her maiden year at Under-19s level with the most goal contributions (18) in the squad. Heidi (15), Rania (12) and Jhanaie (11) all following closely behind.
Season Round-Up…
As mentioned above, our Under-19s finished sixth in the second phase of the PGA League campaign, accumulating 30 points in 18 games.
We enjoyed some impressive wins in the competition, beating Liverpool at home, who ended up as runners-up, while an emphatic 7-1 victory over Newcastle United followed by a strong display against PGA Cup winners Birmingham City to run out 3-1 winners.
Away from league competition, Sabiha Jamal’s side put in excellent performances in two senior cup competitions. First in the FA Women’s National League Cup group phase, where we faced three sides competing in the Women’s pyramid – MK Dons, Luton Town and Oxford United - and finished third to progress to the knockout stages. Gwalia United, who are in the third tier, one below the WSL 2, and took the Welsh outfit all the way to extra-time before eventually losing 4-3.
In the Capital Senior Cup, we overcame experienced sides Dulwich Hamlet (first round) and London Bees (quarter-final) to reach the semi-final stage for a second successive year.
However, our fantastic cup run came to an end at Fulham, as the Cottagers defeated us 2-1 at Motspur Park, who eventually went on to win the competition after beating AFC Wimbledon in the final.
Under-16s cup success once again
Among our younger age groups, our Under-16s were Professional Game Academy Plate champions after a 1-0 victory over Leicester City in March!
Putting in a resolute performance at the back throughout the second period, a first-half strike proved to be enough to secure the trophy for our Academy for the first time – claiming silverware for a second time in as many seasons – on a special day for Stella Calderhead’s side.
Speaking after the game, Stella said: “It's a special group and I'm very proud of them,” coach Stella said. “I think with how far they have come and how challenging it was in the final, it was deserving that they have gone and lifted it.
“I think we started really well and that came from us preparing well tactically because we faced a side, or a tactical structure, that we have never faced or come across in any other games. We had adapt ourselves and there were moments where they dominated phases in the second half, which we did struggle with.
“But defensively, there was a big desire and, across the whole group, there was a desire to defend, if it was even players on the bench who came on and contributed to the success. I’m just so proud of every single player in this squad, even those that were injured and watching from the sidelines, to dig deep and come out as champions.”
International representation
Alongside the success stories for our youngsters in Lilywhite, there has also been plenty of highlights on the international stage this term.
Sophie earned her maiden call-up to the England Under-19s at the beginning of the season, where she has featured regularly for the Young Lionesses, before being named in the Under-20s squad. Jhanaie also received her first call-up to the Under-19s squad in April, having previously been part of the Under-17s last term.
Forward Eloise Summers-Mee was named in her first-ever Scotland Under-19 squad in February, 2024, where she featured in both of their friendlies against Belgium.
A number of our Under-16s players have also been part of their nation’s set-up this term, including captaining the England Under-16s squad and a first training camp with the Czech Republic.