Women's Football

Bristol City’s start to life back in the Women’s Championship: The season so far

10 matches played, five wins and fifth in the Women’s Championship, Bristol City are starting to find the winning formula on their return to the England’s second tier.

Lauren Smith’s side are unbeaten in their last six matches in all competitions heading into the November international break- a sign of their development as a side.

But what have been the key games of the season far?

Crystal Palace 4–3 Bristol City: First game of the season

The start of the season couldn’t have been much more difficult for the Vixens, with defender Lia Cataldo giving away a penalty 20 seconds in to the first game of the season.

Highlights from the season opener

Despite conceding four goals there were positive signs from Smith’s side as they fought back from 4-1 down to finish 4-3 and could well have taken a point from the season opener.

The pedigree of new forwards Melissa Johnson and Sirman Jhamat also shone through as they marked competitive debuts with goals in a sign of things to come.

Bristol City 2-1 Lewes: First win at the Robins High Performance Centre

The 2021/22 season felt like a fresh start from top to bottom with the Vixens having a new home ground at the newly built “HPC”, the training ground for men’s, women’s and youth teams.

The first game in front of the new home crowd partnered the first home win of the season, with two second half goals, the difference between the sides.

Striker Abigail Harrison got off the mark for the campaign with a long-range strike looping its way over Tatiana Saunders in the Lewes net, before Jhamat struck from the spot to tie up all three points.

Abi Harrison’s goal against Lewes FC

Bristol City 5–1 Sheffield United: Five-star performance

After two weeks off for international duty the Vixens came back with a bang, putting five goals past Sheffield United in front of a bumper home crowd.

Having fallen behind inside ten minutes, City never looked back, with Harrison and captain Aimee Palmer scoring before the 20-minute mark to take a 2-1 lead into the break.

Three goals in the second half (a second for Palmer as well as one a piece for Chloe Bull and Johnson) began the momentum that the Vixens have carried through to the November international break.

Highlights from Bristol City’s 5 – 1 win over Sheffield United

Keep up to date on today’s live blog


Bristol City 3–0 Blackburn Rovers: Ashton Gate hosts Women’s Football Weekend

To mark Women’s Football Weekend, Ashton Gate played host to City’s demolition of struggling Blackburn Rovers in front of a record crowd for the Vixens as 3,053 flocked to BS3.

On the pitch it was 90 minutes of pure pressure from the Vixens’ who dominated possession and created numerous chances, with the deadlock being broken by an unfortunate own goal from Blackburn defender Helen Elizabeth Sleed minutes before half-time.

The second half saw two more goals, the first from the ever-reliable Harrison before Chelsea loanee Aggie Beever-Jones curled in to put the icing on the cake and ensure it was a Women’s Football Weekend to remember for City fans.


Fan’s View

Shahan Miah who is co-host of the Bristol City Vixencast discussed his feelings of the season so far.

“The season has gone surprisingly well”, he says.

“After a rocky start in the first game away to Crystal Palace, the mostly-new squad have gotten to gel with each other and this is showing in the results.

“The club have won most of their home games, which is something fans are not used to based on recent memory, and we are slowly climbing up the table, as is every other team that also gets a result due to the league being so competitive.”

He pointed out centre-back Satara Murray as one of the key players so far in this campaign.

“She’s a centre-back with plenty of experience in England and abroad, she has played in every minute of every league game, and is a key member in the team’s defence”, he says.


Bristol City’s next match sees them travel to Crystal Palace in the FA WSL Cup on December 15, a group they currently top.

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