London City Lionesses: WSL newcomers are dreaming big after huge win over Tottenham

The only top-tier WSL team not to have an affiliated professional men’s team, London City were promoted as winners of last season’s championship.

Currently, the team is in sixth place with 12 points, nine points behind leaders Manchester City and eight points behind defending champion Chelsea after eight rounds of matches.

Manchester United ranks third with 17 points, while the capital’s teams, Arsenal and Tottenham, are only three points behind London City at this stage.

The win over Tottenham was their third successive home win, with all four of their wins coming against teams that finished in the bottom half of the table last season.

All four of their defeats came against the top four teams last season: Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City.

It would be hard for them to go anywhere mid-table if they tried, but London City have higher aspirations.

Promoted teams have dropped directly to the second tier in the past two seasons, with Bristol City and Crystal Palace occupying last place in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons respectively.

Not only are London City on course to avoid following suit, their tally of 12 points at this stage of the season is bettered by only another promoted side in WSL history.

That was Sunderland who collected 15 points after eight matches during the eight-team 2015 season, thanks to youngster Beth Mead scoring for the fun. They finished fourth – collecting just five more points in their remaining six matches.

Only three other promoted teams have collected 12 points at this stage: Manchester United and Tottenham in 2019-20 and Manchester City – who secured a place in the top flight after leagues were shuffled – in 2014.

“We have shown that we are not another team that will go up and down next year,” Godfrey said of the ambitious Lionesses.

“The direction this club is looking to go is up. We want to show that this club will be a mainstay of English football for the foreseeable future.”