Sutton Coldfield Match Preview: Everything You Need to Know About the Royals
This Sunday, Worcester City Women travel to The Domino’s Arena to face Sutton Coldfield in the FA Women’s National League. Below, we have put together everything you need to know before the fixture.
A familiar side to City, having been promoted into the FA WNL from the West Midland’s Regional League in the 2022-23 season. The Royals gained promotion with one game to spare before we met them in the last game of the season, winning 1-0 against the league winners. Their promotion was a long time coming after missing out as runners-up twice in previous seasons.
Their season so far
Ahead of the 2024-25 season, Sutton Coldfield’s home ground shared between the men’s and women’s sides, was renamed The Domino’s Arena after the club secured a 2-year sponsorship with the American company and took over the naming rights.
After finishing seventh in their debut season last year, as proceedings stand, Sutton Coldfield sit two points above Solihull Moors in ninth with two wins under their belt. If City win this weekend, we could become level on points with the fellow West-Midlands side.
After a lot of new faces and a busy pre-season schedule, the Royals kicked off their season with a 1-0 win against neighbouring Solihull Moors, with summer signing and attacking midfielder Eva Rogers getting her debut goal against her former side. The scoreline reversed in Coldfield’s favour when they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat against Boldmere the following week.
As time progressed, they’ve suffered some frustrating losses, including that of Notts County, finishing 1-0 to the Magpies and a 3-2 defeat against Barnsley. Additionally, the Royals had a tough time against league-leaders Peterborough United, falling to a 5-2 loss on the road. They did, however, pull off a convincing 4-0 victory against Lincoln City with another summer signing, Abby Bevan, scoring a brace.
Progression in the FA WNL Cup
In the FA WNL League Cup, Sutton Coldfield progressed into the second round of the League Cup after a 2-1 victory against recently promoted Tier 3 side Sporting Khalsa. They failed to go any further, however, after yet another narrow loss against Tier 3 side Burnley.
New Signings
After heavily bolstering his squad over pre-season, manager Ryan Hamilton has already made extra additions to his outfit. In September, the club signed goalkeeper Maddie Elbro on loan from Wolves. This month though, the focus has switched to their front line with the additions of former Coventry United and Rugby Borough forward Eva Cassidy and former Coldfield striker Niamh Deasy, who signed from Sporting Khalsa.
During the summer, the side had a strong recruitment effort, with several players joining from Solihull Moors and Boldmere. They also signed young midfielder/defender Joella Bate from Lye Town, whom they beat 7-0 in pre-season, and Wales youth international and former West Brom defender Liv Owen.