2019–20 London City Lionesses F.C. season

London City Lionesses
2019–20 season
Chairperson	Diane Culligan
Head coach	Chris Phillips; (until 15 October); John Bayer; (interim, from 15 October)
Stadium	Princes Park, Dartford
Championship	4th
League Cup	Group stage
FA Cup	Fourth round
Top goalscorer	League: Elizabeta Ejupi (4); All: Elizabeta Ejupi (4)
Home colours	Away colours
	2020–21 →

The 2019–20 London City Lionesses F.C. season was the club's first season in existence following a breakaway from Millwall Lionesses in May 2019.^[1]^[2] The team competed in the FA Women's Championship, the second level of the women's football pyramid, as well as two domestic cup competitions: the FA Cup and the League Cup.

On 13 March 2020, in line with the FA's response to the coronavirus pandemic, it was announced the season was temporarily suspended until at least 3 April 2020.^[3]^[4] After further postponements, the season was ultimately ended prematurely on 25 May 2020 with immediate effect.^[5] London City Lionesses sat in 4th at the time and retained their position on sporting merit after The FA Board's decision to award places on a points-per-game basis.^[6]^[7]

Squad[edit]

As of 2 February 2020.^[8]

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	Lucy Thomas
2	DF	ENG	Chantelle Mackie
3	DF	ENG	Leanne Cowan
4	MF	ENG	Poppy Wilson
5	DF	ENG	Hannah Short
6	DF	ENG	Ylenia Priest
7	MF	KOS	Elizabeta Ejupi
8	FW	ENG	Freda Ayisi
9	FW	ENG	Gabby Ravenscroft
10	FW	FIN	Juliette Kemppi
11	FW	ENG	Evie Clarke
12	DF	ENG	Grace Neville


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	FW	ENG	Kallie Balfour
15	DF	ENG	Vyan Sampson (on loan from West Ham United)
16	MF	ENG	Harley Bennett
17	MF	ENG	Lucy Fitzgerald
18	MF	ENG	Ellie Mason
19	FW	ENG	Lily Agg
20	MF	ENG	Annie Rossiter
21	MF	ENG	Flo Fyfe
22	FW	ENG	Eden Bailey
24	MF	ENG	Ellie Arnold
25	FW	ARU	Vanessa Susanna
26	MF	ENG	Charlotte Gurr

FA Women's Championship[edit]

Results summary[edit]


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
15	8	2	5	25	24	+1	26	3	1	4	13	17	−4	5	1	1	12	7	+5

Last updated: 23 February 2020.
Source: FA WSL

Matches[edit]

18 August 2019 1	London Bees	0–2	London City Lionesses	Canons Park
		Report	Neville 8' Fitzgerald 52'	Stadium: The Hive Stadium Attendance: 412 Referee: Aaron Farmer

25 August 2019 2	London City Lionesses	2–3	Aston Villa	Dartford
	Ejupi 29', 50'	Report	West 10' N'Dow 61' Haigh 65' Hayles 67'	Stadium: Princes Park

8 September 2019 3	London City Lionesses	3–1	Leicester City	Dartford
	Priest 19' Cowan 48' Clarke 85'	Report	Dugmore 77' Smith 90+2'	Stadium: Princes Park Attendance: 224 Referee: Isaac Searle

15 September 2019 4	Charlton Athletic	0–2	London City Lionesses	Crayford
	Maple 20' Clifford 56' Devlin 78' 90'	Report	Fyfe 57' Clarke 62' Wilson 65' Fitzgerald 90'	Stadium: The Oakwood Attendance: 274 Referee: Louise Saunders

29 September 2019 5	London City Lionesses	0–6	Durham	Dartford
	Ayisi 77' Bennett 89'	Report	Hepple 26' (pen.), 82' Holmes 50' Achterhof 58', 62' Sharpe 70' Robertson 89'	Stadium: Princes Park Attendance: 171 Referee: Ben Atkinson

13 October 2019 6	Coventry United	1–2	London City Lionesses	Coventry
	Dermody 4' Morgan 61' Merrick 66' Bartle 89'	Report	Priest 36' Clarke 86' 90' Balfour 88'	Stadium: Butts Park Arena Attendance: 469 Referee: Lauren Impey

27 October 2019 7	London City Lionesses	3–0	Lewes	Dartford
	Mason 38' Ejupi 72' Short 85'	Report	Savva 30' Hayes 42'	Stadium: Princes Park Attendance: 240 Referee: Melissa Burgin

17 November 2019 8	Crystal Palace	1–2	London City Lionesses	Bromley
	Rutherford 38' Goddard 65'	Report	Bennett 38' Susanna 69', 75' Ejupi 86'	Stadium: Hayes Lane Attendance: 389 Referee: Magdalena Golba

1 December 2019 9	London City Lionesses	1–2	Sheffield United	Dartford
	Sampson 56' Bennett 65'	Report	Wilkinson 8' Fergusson 75'	Stadium: Princes Park Referee: Aji Ajibola

8 December 2020 10	Blackburn Rovers	1–2	London City Lionesses	Bamber Bridge
	Jordan 22', 87' Fenton 60'	Report	Ayisi 23' Fyfe 80'	Stadium: Irongate Referee: Emily Carney

15 December 2019 11	Aston Villa	3–1	London City Lionesses	Boldmere
	Follis 11' Syme 26' Ewers 75'	Report	Mason 6'	Stadium: Trevor Brown Memorial Ground Attendance: 343 Referee: Melissa Burgin

12 January 2020 12	London City Lionesses	0–2	London Bees	Dartford
	Mackie 74'	Report	Wilson 10' Hazard 19' Will 80'	Stadium: Princes Park Attendance: 189 Referee: Jade Wardle

19 January 2020 13	Durham	1–1	London City Lionesses	Durham
	Priest 22' (o.g.) Robson 70'	Report	Balfour 75'	Stadium: New Ferens Park Attendance: 376 Referee: Lucy Briggs

2 February 2020 14	London City Lionesses	3–2	Coventry United	Dartford
	Susanna 31', 90+2' Rossiter 55'	Report	Worts 5' O'Brien 13'	Stadium: Princes Park

9 February 2020	Lewes	P–P	London City Lionesses	Lewes
				Stadium: The Dripping Pan
Note: All Championship games postponed due to adverse weather conditions^[9]

23 February 2020 15	London City Lionesses	1–1	Crystal Palace	Dartford
	Rossiter 1', 85' Bennett 90'	Report	Hurley 17' Goddard 40' Johnson 58'	Stadium: Princes Park Attendance: 22 Referee: Lauren Impey

29 March 2020 16	Sheffield United	Cancelled	London City Lionesses	Sheffield
				Stadium: Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium
Note: Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

5 April 2020 17	London City Lionesses	Cancelled	Blackburn Rovers	Dartford
				Stadium: Princes Park
Note: Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

19 April 2020 18	Leicester City	Cancelled	London City Lionesses	Quorn
				Stadium: Farley Way Stadium
Note: Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

26 April 2020 19	London City Lionesses	Cancelled	Charlton Athletic	Dartford
				Stadium: Princes Park
Note: Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

TBD 20	Lewes	Cancelled	London City Lionesses	Lewes
				Stadium: The Dripping Pan
Note: Rescheduled from 9 February 2020. Cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

League table[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG
2	Sheffield United	14	11	1	2	46	16	+30	34	2.43
3	Durham	14	10	2	2	33	10	+23	32	2.29
4	London City Lionesses	15	8	2	5	25	24	+1	26	1.73
5	London Bees	12	4	3	5	16	19	−3	15	1.25
6	Leicester City	15	4	3	8	22	35	−13	15	1.00

Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

Women's FA Cup[edit]

As a member of the top two tiers, London City Lionesses entered the FA Cup in the fourth round, losing to FA WSL team Reading in their opening fixture.^[10]

26 January 2020 Fourth round	London City Lionesses	0–5	Reading	Dartford
	Mason 10' Ayisi 22'	Report	Williams 13', 78' (pen.) Potter 30' Pacheco 44' Utland 58'	Stadium: Princes Park

FA Women's League Cup[edit]

Group stage[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	WPEN	LPEN	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	ARS	BHA	BRI	LON	CHA	LCL
1	Arsenal	5	4	0	1	0	25	0	+25	13	Advance to Knock-out stage	—	—	7–0	9–0	4–0	—
2	Brighton & Hove Albion	5	3	1	0	1	13	4	+9	11	Advance to Knock-out stage	0–0	—	1–2	—	—	—
3	Bristol City	5	3	0	1	1	11	11	0	10		—	—	—	3–0	—	1–1
4	London Bees	5	1	1	0	3	3	17	−14	5		—	0–5	—	—	0–0	—
5	Charlton Athletic	5	1	0	1	3	3	12	−9	4		—	0–3	2–5	—	—	1–0
6	London City Lionesses	5	0	1	0	4	3	14	−11	2		0–5	2–4	—	0–3	—	—

Source: playmakerstats.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head record

22 September 2019 Group stage	London City Lionesses	0–5	Arsenal	Dartford
		Report	Mead 28', 57', 79' Roord 33' Mitchell 54'	Stadium: Princes Park Attendance: 577 Referee: Jacob Miles

20 October 2019 Group stage	London City Lionesses	0–3	London Bees	Dartford
	Priest 73'	Report	Horwood 26' Will 42' Pickett 66'	Stadium: Princes Park Attendance: 209 Referee: Jade Wardle

3 November 2019 Group stage	Bristol City	1–1 (3–4 p)	London City Lionesses	Filton
	Wellings 65'	Report	Cowan 17' Bennett 78'	Stadium: Stoke Gifford Stadium Attendance: 317 Referee: Rick Hulme
	Penalties
	Baggaley Wellings Chance Salmon Humphrey		Kemppi Susanna Fitzgerald Ejupi Wilson

20 November 2019 Group stage	Charlton Athletic	1–0	London City Lionesses	Crayford
	Clifford 78' Estcourt 80'	Report		Stadium: The Oakwood Attendance: 226 Referee: Chloe-Ann Anderson

11 December 2019 Group stage	London City Lionesses	2–4	Brighton & Hove Albion	Dartford
	Clarke 47' (pen.) Mason 89'	Report	Lundorf 18' Umotong 57' Bennett 68' (o.g.) Simpkins 79'	Stadium: Princes Park Attendance: 43 Referee: Abigail Byrne

Squad statistics[edit]

Appearances[edit]

Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances after the + symbol where applicable.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		League		FA Cup		League Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Lucy Thomas	21	0	15	0	1	0	5	0
2	DF	ENG	Chantelle Mackie	10	0	3+3	0	0+1	0	2+1	0
3	DF	ENG	Leanne Cowan	12	2	8+1	1	0	0	2+1	1
4	MF	ENG	Poppy Wilson	17	0	13	0	1	0	2+1	0
5	DF	ENG	Hannah Short	16	1	13	1	1	0	2	0
6	DF	ENG	Ylenia Priest	15	2	9	2	1	0	5	0
7	MF	KOS	Elizabeta Ejupi	15	4	6+4	4	1	0	3+1	0
8	FW	ENG	Freda Ayisi	15	1	5+5	1	1	0	3+1	0
9	FW	ENG	Gabby Ravenscroft	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
10	FW	FIN	Juliette Kemppi	19	0	13+2	0	0	0	2+2	0
11	FW	ENG	Evie Clarke	12	3	5+6	2	0	0	1	1
12	DF	ENG	Grace Neville	10	1	4+2	1	1	0	3	0
14	FW	ENG	Kallie Balfour	11	2	1+5	2	1	0	3+1	0
15	DF	ENG	Vyan Sampson	13	1	10	1	1	0	2	0
16	MF	ENG	Harley Bennett	17	0	11+1	0	0	0	5	0
17	MF	ENG	Lucy Fitzgerald	19	1	13+1	1	1	0	4	0
18	MF	ENG	Ellie Mason	20	3	15	2	1	0	2+2	1
19	FW	ENG	Lily Agg	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
20	MF	ENG	Annie Rossiter	11	2	3+4	2	0	0	3+1	0
21	MF	ENG	Flo Fyfe	17	2	9+3	2	0+1	0	2+2	0
22	FW	ENG	Eden Bailey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	MF	ENG	Ellie Arnold	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	FW	ARU	Vanessa Susanna	17	3	6+5	3	0+1	0	4+1	0
26	MF	ENG	Charlotte Gurr	2	0	1	0	0	0	0+1	0
Players who appeared for London City Lionesses but left during the season:
23	MF	ENG	Amber Gaylor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goalscorers[edit]

Rank	No.	Pos.	Name	Championship	League Cup	Total
1	7	MF	Elizabeta Ejupi	4	0	4
2	11	FW	Evie Clarke	2	1	3
	18	MF	Ellie Mason	2	1
	25	FW	Vanessa Susanna	3	0
5	3	DF	Leanne Cowan	1	1	2
	6	DF	Ylenia Priest	2	0
	14	FW	Kallie Balfour	2	0
	20	MF	Annie Rossiter	2	0
	21	MF	Flo Fyfe	2	0
10	5	DF	Hannah Short	1	0	1
	8	FW	Freda Ayisi	1	0
	12	DF	Grace Nevillie	1	0
	15	DF	Vyan Sampson	1	0
	17	MF	Lucy Fitzgerald	1	0
Total				25	3	28

Transfers[edit]

Transfers in[edit]

Date	Position	Name	From	Ref.
18 August 2019	GK	Lucy Thomas	Oxford United	^[11]
	DF	Chantelle Mackie	Millwall Lionesses
	DF	Leanne Cowan	Millwall Lionesses
	MF	Poppy Wilson	Bristol City
	DF	Hannah Short	Yeovil Town
	DF	Ylenia Priest	Millwall Lionesses
	MF	Elizabeta Ejupi	Charlton Athletic
	FW	Freda Ayisi	Leicester City
	FW	Gabby Ravenscroft	Millwall Lionesses
	FW	Juliette Kemppi	Bristol City
	FW	Evie Clarke	Millwall Lionesses
	DF	Grace Neville	Millwall Lionesses
	FW	Kallie Balfour	Crystal Palace
	MF	Harley Bennett	Charlton Athletic
	MF	Lucy Fitzgerald	Millwall Lionesses
	MF	Ellie Mason	Yeovil Town
	FW	Lily Agg	Charlton Athletic
	MF	Annie Rossiter	Millwall Lionesses
	MF	Flo Fyfe	Oxford United
	FW	Eden Bailey	Millwall Lionesses
	MF	Amber Gaylor	Yeovil Town
	MF	Ellie Arnold	Chelsea
	FW	Vanessa Susanna	Anderlecht
	MF	Charlotte Gurr	Charlton Athletic

Loans in[edit]

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Until	Ref.
28 August 2019	DF		Vyan Sampson	West Ham United	End of season	^[12]

Transfers out[edit]

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Ref.
17 January 2020	MF		Amber Gaylor	Crystal Palace	^[13]

Notes[edit]

^ "London City Lionesses". womenscompetitions.thefa.com.
^ "London City Lionesses: Millwall Supporters Club "saddened" by women's team breakaway". BBC News. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
^ Association, The Football. "Decision made to postpone professional football until Friday 3 April at the earliest". www.thefa.com.
^ Flood, George (13 March 2020). "Women's Super League and Championship suspended due to coronavirus". Evening Standard.
^ "Statement: FA Barclays WSL and Women's Championship season ended". womenscompetitions.thefa.com.
^ "Chelsea named Women's Super League champions, Liverpool relegated". BBC Sport. 5 June 2020.
^ Association, The Football. "Chelsea Women awarded Barclays FA WSL title and Aston Villa win Women's Championship". www.thefa.com.
^ "London City Lionesses squad announcement". London City Lionesses Twitter. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
^ "Storm Ciara forces postponements". BBC.
^ Association, The Football. "Women's FA Cup dates". www.thefa.com.
^ "London City Lionesses squad announcement". London City Lionesses Twitter. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
^ "Vyan Sampson joins London City Lionesses on loan | West Ham United". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
^ "Crystal Palace Women confirm double signing". www.cpfc.co.uk.

External links[edit]

London City Lionesses official website

[1] "London City Lionesses". womenscompetitions.thefa.com.

[2] "London City Lionesses: Millwall Supporters Club "saddened" by women's team breakaway". BBC News. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.

[3] Association, The Football. "Decision made to postpone professional football until Friday 3 April at the earliest". www.thefa.com.

[4] Flood, George (13 March 2020). "Women's Super League and Championship suspended due to coronavirus". Evening Standard.

[5] "Statement: FA Barclays WSL and Women's Championship season ended". womenscompetitions.thefa.com.

[6] "Chelsea named Women's Super League champions, Liverpool relegated". BBC Sport. 5 June 2020.

[7] Association, The Football. "Chelsea Women awarded Barclays FA WSL title and Aston Villa win Women's Championship". www.thefa.com.

[8] "London City Lionesses squad announcement". London City Lionesses Twitter. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.

[9] "Storm Ciara forces postponements". BBC.

[10] Association, The Football. "Women's FA Cup dates". www.thefa.com.

[11] "London City Lionesses squad announcement". London City Lionesses Twitter. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2020.

[12] "Vyan Sampson joins London City Lionesses on loan | West Ham United". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 2019-10-16.

[13] "Crystal Palace Women confirm double signing". www.cpfc.co.uk.

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