2020–21 Aston Villa W.F.C. season

The 2020–21 Aston Villa W.F.C. season is the club's 25th season under their current Aston Villa affiliation and the organisation's 47th overall season in existence. It is their debut season in the FA Women's Super League following promotion from the Championship, and as a fully professional team.[1] Along with competing in the WSL, the club will also contest two domestic cup competitions: the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Aston Villa

2020–21 season
Owner	NSWE Group
Chairman	Nassef Sawiris
Manager	Marcus Bignot (interim)
Stadium	Bescot Stadium, Walsall
League Cup	Quarter-final
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Ahead of the campaign the team relocated from the Trevor Brown Memorial Ground to Bescot Stadium in Walsall.[2]

On 25 January 2021, it was announced Marcus Bignot had been appointed interim manager with the current coaching team, including head coach Gemma Davies, all retaining their positions parallel with the appointment.[3][4]

Current squad

As of 12 January 2021.[5]

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 Sian Rogers 3 DF  ENG Asmita Ale 4 DF  ENG Ella Franklin-Fraiture 5 DF  ENG Elisha N'Dow 6 DF  ENG Anita Asante 7 MF  ENG Emma Follis 8 MF  SCO Chloe Arthur 9 FW  DEN Stine Larsen 10 MF  GER Ramona Petzelberger 11 MF  ENG Amy West 12 FW  ENG Jodie Hutton 13 DF  GER Caroline Siems

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF  ENG Emily Syme 15 DF  ENG Natalie Haigh 16 DF  ENG Olivia McLoughlin 17 FW  ENG Sophie Haywood 19 FW  POR Diana Silva 20 FW  JPN Mana Iwabuchi 21 MF  GER Marisa Ewers (captain) 22 FW  ENG Shania Hayles 23 MF  NED Nadine Hanssen 27 GK  ENG Charlotte Clarke[lower-alpha 1] 29 GK  GER Lisa Weiß

1. Dual registration with Derby County, remains eligible for Aston Villa when called upon

Pre-season

2 August 2020 Friendly	Aston Villa	–	Arsenal	Aston
		Report		Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: Behind-closed-doors
Note: No official scoreline released

16 August 2020 Friendly	Aston Villa	–	Manchester City	Bodymoor Heath
		Report		Stadium: Bodymoor Heath Training Ground Attendance: Behind-closed-doors
Note: No official scoreline released

23 August 2020 Friendly	Manchester United	–	Aston Villa	Leigh
		Report		Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: Behind-closed-doors
Note: No official scoreline released

FA Women's Super League

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
12	3	1	8	11	30	−19	10	1	1	5	3	17	−14	2	0	3	8	13	−5

Last updated: 6 February 2021.
Source: FA WSL

Results by matchday

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	A
Result	L	L	L	W	L	L	W	L	L	D	L	W
Position	9	10	11	10	10	11	9	11	11	11	11

Source:
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

5 September 2020 1	Aston Villa	0–2	Manchester City	Aston
14:30		Report	Stanway  6', 21'	Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Abigail Byrne

13 September 2020 2	Reading	3–1	Aston Villa	Reading
14:00	Eikeland  24' Bruton  40',  85' Williams  45+3' (pen.) Harding  72'	Report	Siems  59' Larsen  79' (pen.),  90+6'	Stadium: Madejski Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Emily Heaslip

3 October 2020 3	Aston Villa	0–6	Everton	Walsall
12:30		Report	Raso  21', 24' Emslie  27', 53' Gauvin  40' Boye-Hlorkah  51'	Stadium: Bescot Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Kirsty Dowle

11 October 2020	Bristol City	P–P	Aston Villa	Bath
14:00				Stadium: Twerton Park
Note: Postponed following positive COVID-19 test by Aston Villa player[6]

17 October 2020	Aston Villa	P–P	Chelsea	Walsall
12:30				Stadium: Bescot Stadium
Note: Postponed following positive COVID-19 test by Aston Villa player[6]

8 November 2020 4	Brighton & Hove Albion	0–2	Aston Villa	Crawley
14:00	Simpkins  68' Kerkdijk  82' Bowman  84' Connolly  88'	Report	Asante  59' Hutton  71' Petzelberger  90+2'	Stadium: Broadfield Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Stacey Pearson

14 November 2020 5	Aston Villa	0–1	Birmingham City	Aston
14:30	Hutton  38'	Report	Walker  72' Scofield  76'	Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Rebecca Welch

5 December 2020 6	Aston Villa	0–2	Manchester United	Walsall
12:30	Arthur  90+3'	Report	Galton  25' Toone  89'	Stadium: Bescot Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Abigail Byrne

9 December 2020 7	Bristol City	0–4	Aston Villa	Bath
18:30	Bryson  75'	Report	Petzelberger  42', 67',  64' Hayles  57', 75'	Stadium: Twerton Park Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Amy Fearn
Note: Rescheduled from 11 October 2020 following positive COVID-19 test by Aston Villa player.

13 December 2020 8	Tottenham Hotspur	3–1	Aston Villa	Canons Park
14:00	Morgan  13' (pen.) Siems  36' (o.g.) Harrop  45+3' Neville  61' Ayane  63'	Report	Weiß  12' Hanssen  24'	Stadium: The Hive Attendance: Sarah Garratt

20 December 2020	West Ham United	P–P	Aston Villa	Dagenham
14:00				Stadium: Victoria Road
Note: Postponed following positive COVID-19 tests at the West Ham training ground[7]

10 January 2021	Aston Villa	P–P	Arsenal	Walsall
14:00				Stadium: Bescot Stadium
Note: Postponed due to positive COVID-19 case at Arsenal[8]

17 January 2021 9	Manchester City	7–0	Aston Villa	Manchester
12:30	Hemp  2', 38' Scott  17' Stanway  31' Haigh  40' (o.g.) White  45' Kelly  79'	Report		Stadium: Academy Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Amy Fearn

23 January 2021 10	Aston Villa	2–2	Reading	Walsall
12:30	N'Dow  30' Iwabuchi  55' Larsen  80' Silva  90+1'	Report	James  3' Rowe  57'	Stadium: Bescot Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Kirsty Downie

27 January 2021 11	Aston Villa	0–4	Chelsea	Walsall
19:00	Hanssen  45'	Report	Kerr  3' England  35' Harder  68' Eriksson  70' Bright  71'	Stadium: Bescot Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Helen Conley
Note: Rescheduled from 17 October 2020 following positive COVID-19 test by Aston Villa player

31 January 2021	Aston Villa	P–P	Arsenal	Walsall
14:00				Stadium: Bescot Stadium
Note: Rescheduled from 10 January 2021 following positive COVID-19 case at Arsenal. Postponed due to waterlogged pitch.[9]

6 February 2021 12	Aston Villa	1–0	Tottenham Hotspur	Walsall
12:30	Iwabuchi  12' N'Dow  90+11'	Report	Mikalsen  67' Kennedy  85'	Stadium: Bescot Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Elizabeth Simms

10 February 2021 13	Birmingham City	v	Aston Villa	Solihull
19:00				Stadium: Damson Park

14 February 2021 14	Aston Villa	v	Arsenal	Walsall
14:00				Stadium: Bescot Stadium
Note: Rescheduled from 31 January 2021 due to waterlogged pitch

7 March 2021 15	Manchester United	v	Aston Villa	Leigh
14:00				Stadium: Leigh Sports Village

17 March 2021 16	Aston Villa	v	Brighton & Hove Albion	Walsall
19:00				Stadium: Bescot Stadium

28 March 2021 17	Chelsea	v	Aston Villa	Kingston upon Thames
14:00				Stadium: Kingsmeadow

4 April 2021 18	Everton	v	Aston Villa	Liverpool
14:00				Stadium: Walton Hall Park

20 April 2021 19	West Ham United	v	Aston Villa	Dagenham
19:30				Stadium: Victoria Road
Note: Rescheduled from 20 December 2020 following positive COVID-19 tests at the West Ham training ground

25 April 2021 20	Aston Villa	v	Bristol City	Walsall
14:00				Stadium: Bescot Stadium

2 May 2021 21	Aston Villa	v	West Ham United	Walsall
14:00				Stadium: Bescot Stadium

9 May 2021 22	Arsenal	v	Aston Villa	Borehamwood
14:00				Stadium: Meadow Park

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
7	Tottenham Hotspur	12	3	3	6	13	23	−10	12
8	Birmingham City	10	3	1	6	9	15	−6	10
9	Aston Villa	12	3	1	8	11	30	−19	10
10	Brighton & Hove Albion	13	2	3	8	8	29	−21	9
11	West Ham United	11	2	1	8	13	28	−15	7

Updated to match(es) played on 7 February 2021 (1/5 matches finished). Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.

Women's FA Cup

As a member of the top two tiers, Aston Villa will enter the FA Cup in the fourth round proper. Originally scheduled to take place on 31 January 2021, it was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions.[10][11]

TBD Fourth round

v

FA Women's League Cup

Group stage

7 October 2020 Group stage	Aston Villa	1–0	Sheffield United	Walsall
19:30	Hutton  38' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Bescot Stadium Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Elizabeth Simms

10 November 2020 Group stage	Coventry United	0–9	Aston Villa	Coventry
19:45	Hughes  61' Gauntlett  80'	Report	Hanssen  7', 11', 28' Syme  19' Follis  50' (pen.) Silva  56', 90+4' Hutton  65' Hayles  71', 75'	Stadium: Butts Park Arena Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Amy Fearn
Note: Rescheduled from 3 November following positive COVID-19 cases in Coventry squad[12]

19 November 2020 Group stage	Durham	1–1 (2–4 p)	Aston Villa	Durham
19:45	Roberts  4'	Report	Follis  73' Arthur  90'	Stadium: Maiden Castle Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Christiana Hattersley
	Penalties
	Wilson Hepple Lambert Briggs		Follis Hanssen Siems Larsen Haigh

Pos	Team	Pld	W	WPEN	LPEN	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AST	DUR	SHU	COV
1	Aston Villa	3	2	1	0	0	11	1	+10	8	Advanced to knock-out stage		—	—	1–0	—
2	Durham	3	2	0	1	0	12	3	+9	7	Possible knockout stage based on ranking		1–1	—	—	5–2
3	Sheffield United	3	1	0	0	2	4	7	−3	3			—	0–6	—	—
4	Coventry United	3	0	0	0	3	2	18	−16	0			0–9	—	0–4	—

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

Knockout stage

13 January 2021 Quarter-final	Bristol City	2–1	Aston Villa	Bath
19:30	Salmon  55', 58'	Report	Larsen  86'	Stadium: Twerton Park Attendance: Behind-closed-doors Referee: Robert Massey-Ellis

Squad statistics

Appearances

As of 6 February 2021

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

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		FA WSL		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Sian Rodgers	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
3	DF		Asmita Ale	12	0	6+2	0	0	0	4	0
4	DF		Ella Franklin-Fraiture	7	0	6	0	0	0	1	0
5	DF		Elisha N'Dow	16	0	10+2	0	0	0	3+1	0
6	DF		Anita Asante	14	1	10	1	0	0	3+1	0
7	MF		Emma Follis	14	2	7+3	0	0	0	2+2	2
8	MF		Chloe Arthur	9	0	6+1	0	0	0	1+1	0
9	FW		Stine Larsen	11	2	9	1	0	0	0+2	1
10	MF		Ramona Petzelberger	11	3	9	3	0	0	1+1	0
11	MF		Amy West	6	0	0+3	0	0	0	3	0
12	FW		Jodie Hutton	10	2	3+5	1	0	0	1+1	1
13	DF		Caroline Siems	13	0	9+1	0	0	0	3	0
14	MF		Emily Syme	12	1	1+7	0	0	0	4	1
15	DF		Natalie Haigh	14	0	11	0	0	0	2+1	0
16	DF		Olivia McLoughlin	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
17	FW		Sophie Haywood	10	0	3+5	0	0	0	1+1	0
18	MF		Freya Gregory	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
19	FW		Diana Silva	14	3	4+6	1	0	0	4	2
20	FW		Mana Iwabuchi	5	2	3+1	2	0	0	0+1	0
21	MF		Marisa Ewers	14	0	10+1	0	0	0	2+1	0
22	FW		Shania Hayles	14	4	7+4	2	0	0	2+1	2
23	MF		Nadine Hanssen	13	4	6+3	1	0	0	3+1	3
27	GK		Charlotte Clarke	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
29	GK		Lisa Weiß	13	0	11	0	0	0	2	0

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Ref.
2 July 2020	MF		Chloe Arthur	Birmingham City	[13]
4 July 2020	DF		Freya Gregory	Birmingham City	[14]
6 July 2020	DF		Anita Asante	Chelsea	[15]
15 July 2020	FW		Diana Silva	Sporting CP	[16]
23 July 2020	GK		Lisa Weiß	Olympique Lyon	[17]
29 July 2020	DF		Caroline Siems	Turbine Potsdam	[18]
	MF		Ramona Petzelberger	SGS Essen	[19]
30 July 2020	FW		Stine Larsen	FC Fleury 91	[20]
5 October 2020	GK		Charlotte Clarke[lower-alpha 1]	Derby County	[21]
21 December 2020	FW		Mana Iwabuchi	INAC Kobe Leonessa	[22]

1. Dual registration with Derby County

Transfers out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Ref.
11 June 2020	DF		Jade Richards	Blackburn Rovers	[23][24]
	FW		Kerri Welsh		[23]
	MF		Alice Hassall	Coventry United	[23][25]
	MF		Phoebe Warner	Coventry United	[23][26]
	FW		Melissa Johnson	Sheffield United	[23][27]
	DF		Charlotte Greengrass	Nottingham Forest	[23][28]
	MF		Sophie Maierhofer	MSV Duisburg	[23][29]
	GK		Daniela Kosinska	Stoke City	[23]

References

1. Association, The Football. "Chelsea Women awarded Barclays FA WSL title and Aston Villa win Women's Championship". www.thefa.com.
2. "Aston Villa Women to play home games at Walsall's Banks's Stadium". BBC Sport. 12 June 2020.
3. "Marcus Bignot joins Aston Villa Women as Interim Manager". Aston Villa Football Club.
4. "Aston Villa Women appoint Marcus Bignot as interim manager; Gemma Davies remains as head coach". Sky Sports.
5. "Women's Team". www.avfc.co.uk.
6. "Two Villa games off after Covid-19 test". BBC Sport.
7. "West Ham United postpones U18s, U23s and women's fixtures". www.whufc.com.
8. "Saturday's WSL games off over Covid cases". BBC Sport.
9. "Arsenal fixture postponed for a second time". Aston Villa Football Club.
10. "The Women's FA Cup Season 2020–21 List of Exemptions" (PDF). thefa.com. The Football Association. 10 August 2020.
11. "Women's FA Cup to remain suspended during coronavirus lockdown". Sky Sports.
12. "Aston Villa and Coventry United clash is off". www.newschain.uk.
13. "Chloë Arthur signs for Villa Women". www.avfc.co.uk.
14. "Freya Gregory joins Aston Villa". Freya Gregory. 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
15. "Anita Asante signs for Villa Women". www.avfc.co.uk.
16. "Diana Silva signs for Villa Women". www.avfc.co.uk.
17. "Lisa Weiß signs for Villa Women". www.avfc.co.uk.
18. "Caro Siems signs for Villa Women". www.avfc.co.uk.
19. "Ramona Petzelberger signs for Villa Women". www.avfc.co.uk.
20. "Stine Larsen signs for Villa Women". www.avfc.co.uk.
21. "England Under-21 international goalkeeper signs dual registration terms with Aston Villa". FAWSL Full-Time. 5 October 2020.
22. "Villa sign Japan captain Iwabuchi". BBC Sport.
23. "Villa Women announce player departures". www.avfc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
24. "Rovers complete Richards deal". www.rovers.co.uk.
25. "Alice Hassall joins Coventry United". Coventry United LFC. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
26. "Phoebe Warner joins Coventry United". Coventry United LFC. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
27. "Mel Johnson signs". www.sufc.co.uk.
28. "Greengrass becomes newest arrival". www.nottinghamforest.co.uk.
29. Presseabteilung, MSV Duisburg. ""Werden uns weiterhelfen": Neuzugänge für die ZebraFrauen". MSV Duisburg.

External links

• AVFC Women official website