Durham Women Football Club is a

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

club based in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

. The team has competed in the

Women's Super League 2 The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

(WSL2), the second tier of

Women's football in England Women's association football, Women's football has been played in England for over a century, sharing a common history with the men's game in the country in which the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game were codified. Wome ...

, since 2014 having been awarded a licence in its inaugural season. They play their home games at

Maiden Castle Maiden Castle or the Maiden's Castle may refer to: Historical fortifications in England ''Maiden'' derives from the Celtic ''Mai Dun'' which means 'great hill'. *Maiden Castle, Cheshire, an Iron Age hill fort * Maiden Castle, Cumbria, a Roman for ...

, part of

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

History

Durham W.F.C. was founded in 2014 as a collaboration between South Durham & Cestria Girls and

. Prior to that, Cestria, founded in 2006 as a youth team by Lee Sanders, had become perennial achievers, winning the World Peace Cup in Oslo in 2010 and finishing runners-up at the 2011 Gothia World Youth Cup. In their only season as a senior side before the merger Cestria won the 2012–13

Northern Combination Women's Football League The Northern Combination Women's Football League, also known simply as the Northern Combination, was a women's football league in England from 1998 to 2014. Until the creation of the FA Women's Super League in 2011, they sat at the third level of ...

. Sanders, in conjunction with Quentin Sloper, head of sport at Durham University, then created Durham W.F.C in time for the

2014 FA WSL The 2014 FA WSL 1 was the fourth season of the FA WSL, the top-level women's football league of England. The season began on 30 March and ended on 12 October. Liverpool L.F.C. are the defending champions from the 2013 FA WSL. The top two tea ...

expansion. Durham's first competitive matches were in the

2013–14 FA Women's Cup The 2013–14 FA Women's Cup is the 44th season of the FA Women's Cup, the main domestic knockout Cup competition in English women's football. Arsenal are the defending champions and the final will be played at Stadium mk. Preliminary rou ...

where they reached the fifth round. The team's first league game was held on 17 April 2014, a 4–2 defeat against local rivals

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

at their New Ferens Park home. The Wildcats secured their first league victory away at

London Bees London Bees is an England, English women's football (soccer), women's football club affiliated with Barnet F.C. They play in the FA Women's National League Division One South East, the fourth tier of the Women's football in England#Pyramid, Engl ...

, with a 1–0 win at

The Hive Stadium The Hive London is a football centre near Edgware, London, offering football pitches for hire, conference and banqueting facilities, an on-site gym, cafe, bar and more. It was built on the former site of the municipal Prince Edward Playing Fiel ...

. Despite a difficult start to the 2014 season, the Wildcats finished 6th. They won five, drew three and lost ten of their eighteen games. 2015 saw a much improved season for the Wildcats, including a better points total, albeit achieving a lower league finish, 7th place a reward for an injury-ravaged season. However 2016, saw Durham really hit their stride, with the Wildcats competing for promotion up until the final weeks of the season. The signings of Sarah Robson, Becky Salicki and Emily Roberts among others proved a catalyst as the Wildcats excelled throughout 2016. A record-breaking season eventually ended in a 4th-place finish with a highest-ever points total. They were also awarded the 'FA WSL 2 Club of the Year' award at the 2017 FA Women's Football Awards. 2017–18 was the Wildcats best ever season, finishing 4th, gaining 35 points in the process and only two points off second place. Durham also enjoyed their best ever

FA Women's Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

run, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Everton. 2018–19 started well for the Wildcats, including a Continental Cup win over

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

side Everton and a 0–0 draw away at newly-formed

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. Durham won 3–1 in the Home League fixture, thus becoming the first team to beat the Red Devils. 2018–19 also saw the Wildcats reach their second successive

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

quarter-final before narrowly losing 1–0 to Chelsea in front of a record attendance of 1,629. Durham Hospitals Radio have broadcast all home matches since 2014 via their website to Durham Hospital (UHND) and around the world; with John Middleton providing the vast majority of the commentaries. In October 2020, Durham Women became one of 41 clubs to be founding signatories of the Football Association’s Football Leadership Diversity Code (including two others from the Women's Championship). The club transitioned from a hybrid training model to a full-time professional training model ahead of the

2023–24 Women's Championship The 2023–24 Women's Championship season (known Barclays Women's Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the rebranded Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England, and the ninth season since the crea ...

season. In 2025, Durham University sold the club to club director Lee Sanders, co-director Dawn Hepple, and investors and long-term club supporters Patrick and Frances Connolly.

Players

Current squad

Club staff

Records

:As of 8 May 2025 *Record attendance: 2,381 vs

Manchester City W.F.C. Manchester City Women's Football Club (formerly ''Manchester City Ladies F.C.'') is an English Women's association football, women's football club based in Manchester who play in the Women's Super League. It is affiliated with Manchester City F ...

, 14 January 2024 *Record appearance maker: Beth Hepple, 272 *Record goalscorer: Beth Hepple, 99

Season summary

Durham Cestria

Durham Cestria are an official partner club who compete in the

FA Women's National League The FA Women's National League is a group of six football divisions which sit at the third and fourth tiers of women's football in England. Founded in 1991 as the WFA National League, the league was run by the Women's Football Association, before ...

Division One North. The club won the 2016–17 North East Regional Northern Division, followed two years later by the 2018–19 North East Regional Premier Division.

Honours

League * Northern Combination Football League (level 3) **Champions: 2012–13

References

External links

Official site
{{coord, 54, 46, 3.4, N, 1, 33, 28.1, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Women's football clubs in England Football clubs in County Durham Women's Super League 2 teams 2014 establishments in England Association football clubs established in 2014