Birmingham City and Crystal Palace seal promotion back to WSL | OneFootball

Birmingham City and Crystal Palace have sealed their promotions back to the Barclays Women’s Super League.

It was Charlton Athletic who led the Barclays WSL2 table going into the final day, however, a 2-0 defeat to Birmingham City sent The Addicks into the play-off and Blues up as champions. Elsewhere, Crystal Palace thumped Portsmouth 6-1 as they nipped in to claim the second automatic promotion place.

Birmingham City knew that only a victory over Charlton Athletic would make sure of their promotion back to the top flight. Wilma Leidhammar’s first half goal settled the nerves for Blues before the same player struck again in the second half to seal a 2-0 win and the Barclays WSL2 title.

Crystal Palace went into the day in third position but they knew that a win would take them back to the Barclays Women’s Super League at the first time of asking with the division’s top two going head-to-head. The Eagles’ promotion hopes were dealt a blow when Meg Hornby scored for Portsmouth after three minutes but Molly-Mae Sharpe quickly levelled matters. In the second half, Ashleigh Weerden netted a brace while Kirsty Howat, Annabel Blanchard and Elise Hughes all got on the scoresheet as Crystal Palace cruised to promotion with a 6-1 win.

The final promotion place will be determined by a play-off between third-placed Charlton Athletic and the Barclays Women’s Super League’s bottom club Leicester City.