Celebrating our 2016 WSL title heroes | OneFootball

A look back at the players who sealed our first-ever Barclays Women’s Super League title.

On this day ten years ago, a 2-0 win over Chelsea at the Joie Stadium confirmed City as league champions for the first time in our professional history.

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We’d go on to finish the campaign without tasting defeat while also sealing a second League Cup title in three years.

Ella Toone and Marie Hourihan would both contribute to the latter of those titles, but the below list comprises those who featured in our historic 2016 WSL campaign…

#1 Karen Bardsley

A crucial figure between the sticks for City, Bardsley would keep 12 clean sheets across the campaign and concede just four times in the process.

She’d eventually call time on her illustrious playing career in 2022 having made over a century of appearances for the Blues.

Her 64 clean sheets in all competitions remains a record for City in our professional era.

2 Lucy Bronze

The full-back’s exploits would earn her a spot in the PFA WSL Team of the Year as well as being named WSL and PFA Players’ of the Year.

Bronze would leave City for OL Lyonnes in 2017, before returning for a second spell in Manchester ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.

Across her two spells with the Blues she’d win five major honours before a move to FC Barcelona in 2022 and Chelsea in 2025.

One of England’s greatest ever players, Bronze was a key figure in the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 and Euro 2025 triumphs.

#3 Demi Stokes

One of only four players in City’s history to reach 200 appearances, Stokes was a crucial figure in the Blues’ incredible defensive record.

She’d have the final say at the other end though, with her goal in our final day draw with Birmingham City preserving our unbeaten WSL season.

Eventually leaving City after winning seven major honours in nine years, Stokes moved back to her native north east to sign for Newcastle United.

She remains an important player for the WSL 2 side, having also been part of the England squad who claimed that historic Euro 2022 title.

#4 Tessel Middag

Joining midway through our 2016 title-winning campaign, midfielder Middag made seven WSL appearances to help City over the line.

She again impressed in the 2017 WSL Spring Series, but an anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2017 ruled her out for almost a year.

Middag returned in March 2018 to help the Blues reach the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-finals but would leave the Club on the expiry of her contract that summer.

A technically gifted and tactically astute midfielder, Tessel featured 23 times across her City career before spells at West Ham United, Fiorentina, Rangers and, most recently, Wellington Phoenix.

#5 Jen Beattie

Scotland international Beattie formed a formidable centre-back partnership with Steph Houghton to help City claim our first-ever WSL title.

It was the first of four major honours she’d claim across a four-year spell with the Blues, while she also figured in the PFA WSL Team of the Year for her performances.

A powerful and athletic defender, Beattie would feature 114 times for City before rejoining Arsenal in 2019, where she’d spend five more years before a final swansong at Bay FC in 2024/25.

Jen will always be remembered for her exploits on the pitch, but she also showed incredible courage and resilience off it when battling breast cancer in 2020, receiving and MBE in 2023 for services to association football and charity.

#6 Steph Houghton

City’s captain and leader, Houghton was the driving force behind the first decade of our professional era.

And despite being a model of consistency across that time, 2016 was perhaps one of her finest campaigns, earning a spot in the PFA Team of the Year.

Her 94th-minute free-kick winner on the opening day against Notts County set the tone for the campaign, while she was also pivotal in that remarkable defensive record at the other end.

Our record appearance holder, Houghton would eventually call time on her playing career in 2024 after 10 years and 242 matches for City, as well as eight major honours.

A mosaic was unveiled outside our new Women’s First Team facility in August 2026 in recognition of her remarkable service.

#7 Kosovare Asllani

Swedish international Asllani spent 18 months at City and, during that time, helped us to three major honours.

The first of those was the 2016 WSL title, where she featured ten times, often from the flank in a front three under Nick Cushing.

Asllani also showed her quality in a European setting, scoring a memorable goal in a Champions League semi-final against OL Lyonnes before rejoining childhood club Linkopings in August 2017.

Spells at Real Madrid and AC Milan followed before the Swede joined London City Lionesses ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

#8 Jill Scott

Another certified club legend, midfielder Scott’s energy and industry helped this City side achieve immortality in an unbeaten WSL season.

Alongside Bronze, Beattie, Houghton and Jane Ross, she was named in the PFA WSL Team of the Year and also scored the opening goal in the 2-0 victory over Chelsea which sealed the title.

She’d remain in Manchester until calling time on her career in the summer of 2022, weeks after helping England be crowned European Champions.

In eight years at City, Scott would turn out 194 times for the Blues – a tally bettered only by Houghton, Keira Walsh, Stokes and Lauren Hemp.

#9 Toni Duggan

A crucial figure in City’s early professional years, Duggan’s penalty against Chelsea helped seal the 2-0 victory that confirmed the title.

With 34 goals in 75 appearances, Toni’s goals helped the Blues to every available domestic honour before spells in Spain with FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

She ended her career back at Everton, confirming her retirement in 2024.

Duggan holds the distinction of scoring our first-ever professional goals, grabbing a brace in a 2-1 FA Cup win over Reading in April 2014.

#10 Daphne Corboz

A dynamic attacking talent, United States midfielder Corboz featured 13 times in 16 WSL matches to help the Blues seal the title in 2016.

The first American to turn out for City, her brief spell in Manchester would come to an end in November 2016 when she returned to the States with Gotham City (then known as Sky Blue FC).

She’s since plied her trade in France with Fleury, and is still an important figure for Paris FC, whom she returned to the Joie Stadium with back in September 2024 during a Champions League qualifier.

Corboz featured 31 times for City in a brief but fondly remembered spell.

#11 Izzy Christiansen

Another integral figure in our early years as a professional outfit, Christiansen’s return from injury midway through the season was crucial in helping gather momentum for our title push.

The midfielder had been named PFA Player of the Year for her stellar performances the year before, and she picked up where she left off with three goals in nine appearances across the 2016 campaign.

She’d eventually move to OL Lyonnes in 2018, before ending her career back at first club Everton.

Coincidentally, Christiansen’s last game before retirement came against City on the final day of the 2022/23 campaign, receiving a heartfelt farewell after 110 appearances and 32 goals in all competitions.

#12 Georgia Stanway

Just 17 at the time, Stanway really made a name for herself as an important figure in our title-winning campaign.

She’d grab four goals in ten WSL appearances, including a hat-trick against Sunderland in July 2017, and go on to win seven major honours for the Blues.

Stanway left City in the summer of 2022 as our record goalscorer, with only Bunny Shaw (122) and Lauren Hemp (76) bettering her 67 goals in 186 appearances.

The midfielder returned to the WSL after a four-year spell at Bayern Munich this summer when joining Arsenal.

#16 Jane Ross

City’s top scorer across the 2016 WSL campaign, only Chelsea’s Eni Aluko found the net more times than Ross’ eight in 15 appearances.

The Scotland international popped up with a crucial goal in City’s 1-0 win away to Arsenal in September 2016, which set up that title-winning victory against Chelsea two weeks later.

And it was her pass to Bronze which earned the penalty from which we scored our second goal of the afternoon in that 2-0 win over the Londoners.

Ross scored 25 times in 61 appearances for City, eventually moving to West Ham United in 2018, with spells at Manchester United and Rangers before calling time on a memorable career in 2025.

#17 Nikita Parris

Our title-winning campaign was exciting attacker Parris’ second at City after a successful loan spell from Everton was made permanent in January 2016.

A regular across the title-winning campaign, Parris blossomed into one of Europe’s leading forwards in Manchester, including an astonishing 19 WSL goals in as many matches in her final season at the Joie Stadium.

Spells at OL Lyonnes, Arsenal, Manchester United, Brighton and London City Lionesses have since followed for Parris, who was named FWA Footballer of the Year in 2019 while at City.

She was also the Club’s record goalscorer until Stanway surpassed her tally of 62 in 127 appearances back in 2022.

#20 Megan Campbell

Signed in February 2016, versatile defender Campbell spent five years at City and featured 42 times.

Perhaps her finest performance came in the 2017 FA Cup final, when she grabbed two assists in a 4-1 win over Birmingham City, helping us claim the trophy for the first time in our history.

A Republic of Ireland international famed for her long throw-ins, Campbell left City for Liverpool in June 2021 and, after a brief spell at Everton in 2023, would end her career helping London City Lionesses gain promotion to the WSL in 2025.

#23 Abbie McManus

A member of our original Ladies side from before the 2014 professional relaunch, defender McManus featured nine times in the WSL across our title-winning campaign.

She would likely have played more but for an injury sustained in August 2016 but recovered in time to help City reach that season’s Champions League semi-finals.

In 2019, McManus would move to cross-city rivals Manchester United before ending her career at Leicester in 2023, with a loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur sandwiched between in 2021.

#24 Keira Walsh

One of City’s finest servants, only Houghton has featured more times for the Club than Walsh’s 211 appearances between 2014 and 2022.

The midfielder was still a teenager in our title-winning campaign yet was a key figure when returning from an early season injury to help Cushing’s side over the line to the title.

In all, she’d win eight major honours with the Blues before a move to FC Barcelona in the summer of 2022 for a then-world record fee.

Walsh has since returned to the WSL with Chelsea, who she joined in 2025, and was central to England’s Euro 2022 and Euro 2025 triumphs.

#26 Ellie Roebuck

Goalkeeper Roebuck’s debut would come on the final day of the 2016 campaign as a substitute in our 1-1 draw with Birmingham City.

Having only just turned 17 at the time, she of course went on to become one of our greatest-ever stoppers, keeping 62 clean sheets in 136 appearances for the Blues.

She also claimed the WSL’s inaugural Golden Glove award in 2019/20, before joining FC Barcelona in the summer of 2024, helping the Spanish giants win the Treble in her single season in Catalonia.

Recovering from a stroke as a 24-year-old, she’s since returned to England with Aston Villa.