2017 Reading F.C. Women season

The 2017 season was Reading FC Women's second season in the FA WSL 1, after winning promotion from the FA WSL 2 in 2015.^[1]

Reading FC Women

2017 season
Manager	Kelly Chambers
Stadium	Adams Park, High Wycombe
FA WSL 1	6th
FA Cup	Fifth round vs Manchester City
Top goalscorer	League: Melissa Fletcher (3) All: Melissa Fletcher (3)
Highest home attendance	797 vs Chelsea (3 May 2017)
Lowest home attendance	536 vs Birmingham City (28 May 2017)
Average home league attendance	637 (28 May 2017)
← 2016 2017–18 →

Following a reorganisation of top-level women's football in England, the 2017 season will only cover half of a traditional season's length, while the FA WSL shifts its calendar to match the traditional autumn-to-spring axis of football in Europe.^[2] For the same reason, there is no Champions League qualification nor relegation to be competed for.

Season events

On 14 November 2016, Reading signed Mandy van den Berg from Liverpool.^[3]

On 9 January, Mary Earps signed an 18-month contract extension with Reading, keeping her at the club until June 2018.^[4]

On 12 January 2017, Reading signed Rachel Furness from Sunderland,^[5] with Brooke Chaplen making the same move at the end of January.^[6]

Lauren Bruton extended her contract with Reading on 19 January, until the summer of 2018.^[7]

On 23 January, Melissa Fletcher signed her first professional contract with the club, until June 2018,^[8] with Charlie Estcourt signing a similar deal on 25 January,^[9] and Becky Jane signed a new contract with Reading until June 2019 on 26 January.^[10]

On 24 January, New Zealand international defender Anna Green from Swedish club Mallbackens IF.^[11]

On 6 February, Reading signed a new contract with Kirsty McGee, until June 2018,^[12] with Harriet Scott also signing a new 18-month contract with Reading on 9 February.^[13]

On 8 February, Emma Follis was sold to Birmingham City for an undisclosed fee.^[14]

On 8 April, Anissa Lahmari joined Reading on a two-month loan deal from Paris Saint-Germain.^[15]

On 1 May, Reading signed Jo Potter, Jade Moore and Kirsty Linnett from recently folded Notts County.^[16]

Squad

As of match played 3 June 2017

No.	Name	Nationality	Position	Date of birth (Age[a])	Signed from	Signed in	Contract ends	Apps.	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	Mary Earps		GK	(1993-03-07)7 March 1993 (aged 24)	Bristol Academy	2016	2018[4]
21	Grace Moloney		GK	(1993-03-01)1 March 1993 (aged 24)	Academy	2009		110	0
Defenders
2	Becky Jane		DF	(1996-08-06)6 August 1996 (aged 20)	Chelsea	2011	2019[10]
3	Harriet Scott		DF	(1993-02-10)10 February 1993 (aged 24)	Academy	2009	2018[13]
5	Molly Bartrip		DF	(1996-06-01)1 June 1996 (aged 21)	Academy	2014
6	Kirsty McGee		DF	(1987-04-19)19 April 1987 (aged 30)	Portsmouth	2014	2018[12]
14	Mandy van den Berg		DF	(1990-08-26)26 August 1990 (aged 26)	Liverpool	2017[3]		5	1
15	Anna Green		DF	(1990-08-20)20 August 1990 (aged 26)	Mallbackens	2017[11]		7	0
22	Jo Potter		DF	(1984-11-13)13 November 1984 (aged 32)	Notts County Ladies	2017[16]		4	0
Midfielders
4	Kayleigh Hines		MF	(1991-02-27)27 February 1991 (aged 26)	Oxford United	2016
7	Rachel Furness		MF	(1988-06-19)19 June 1988 (aged 28)	Sunderland	2017[5]		8	1
8	Remi Allen		MF	(1990-10-15)15 October 1990 (aged 26)	Birmingham City	2016		18	0
10	Anissa Lahmari		MF	(1997-02-17)17 February 1997 (aged 20)	loan from Paris Saint-Germain	2017[15]	2017[15]	6	0
17	Charlie Estcourt		MF	(1998-05-27)27 May 1998 (aged 19)	Chelsea	2015	[9]
18	Jade Moore		MF	(1990-10-22)22 October 1990 (aged 26)	Notts County Ladies	2017[16]		6	1
23	Rachel Rowe		MF	(1992-09-13)13 September 1992 (aged 24)	Swansea City	2015		46	2
25	Tamsin de Bunsen		MF	(1999-07-30)30 July 1999 (aged 17)	Academy	2017		0	0
34	Sophie O'Rourke		MF	(1999-06-03)3 June 1999 (aged 18)	Academy	2017		0	0
Forwards
9	Lauren Bruton		FW	(1992-11-22)22 November 1992 (aged 24)	Arsenal	2013	2018[7]
16	Kirsty Linnett		FW	(1993-09-24)24 September 1993 (aged 23)	Notts County	2017[16]		6	0
19	Brooke Chaplen		FW	(1989-04-16)16 April 1989 (aged 28)	Sunderland	2017[6]		4	1
20	Melissa Fletcher		FW	(1992-01-28)28 January 1992 (aged 25)	Academy	2008	2018[8]
Out on loan
Left during the season

1. Age as of the end of the season

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
14 November 2016	DF		Mandy van den Berg	Liverpool	Undisclosed	[3]
12 January 2017	MF		Rachel Furness	Sunderland	Undisclosed	[5]
24 January 2017	DF		Anna Green	Mallbackens	Undisclosed	[11]
31 January 2017	FW		Brooke Chaplen	Sunderland	Undisclosed	[6]
1 May 2017	DF		Jo Potter	Notts County	Undisclosed	[16]
1 May 2017	MF		Jade Moore	Notts County	Undisclosed	[16]
1 May 2017	FW		Kirsty Linnett	Notts County	Undisclosed	[16]

Loans in

Start date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	End date	Ref.
8 April 2017	MF		Anissa Lahmari	Paris Saint-Germain	End of season	[15]

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
8 February 2017	MF		Emma Follis	Birmingham City	Undisclosed	[14]

Released

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	Joined	Date	Ref.
30 June 2017	MF		Kayleigh Hines	Oxford United	1 August 2017	[17]

Pre-season

Real Betis v Reading

29 March 2017	Real Betis	2–2	Reading	Seville, Spain
GMT (UTC)		Report	Bruton Furness	Stadium: Felipe del Valle Municipal Stadium

Competitions

Women's Super League

Main article: FA WSL Spring Series § WSL 1

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
8	2	2	4	10	15	−5	8	0	1	2	3	8	−5	2	1	2	7	7	0

Last updated: 3 June 2017.
Source: See Results

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Ground	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A
Result	W	L	L	L	W	D	L	D

Updated to match(es) played on 3 June 2017. Source: See Results
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Results

Bristol City v Reading

22 April 2017 1	Bristol City	1–3	Reading	Bristol
18:00 BST (UTC+1)	Hemp 73'	Report	Furness 49' Rowe 59' Fletcher 61'	Stadium: Ashton Gate Attendance: 1,127 Referee: Robert Massey-Ellis

Liverpool v Reading

28 April 2017 2	Liverpool	4–2	Reading	Widnes
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Harding 2', 25' Weir 34' Coombs 50'	Report	Chaplen 4' Fletcher 8' Furness  38'	Stadium: Halton Stadium Attendance: 466 Referee: Matt Donohue

Reading v Chelsea

3 May 2017 3	Reading	0–4	Chelsea	High Wycombe
19:35 BST (UTC+1)	Allen  19' Scott  24' Moore  90+2' Furness  90+3'	Report	Carney 33' Spence 65' Ji 69' Blundell 81' Chapman  90+1'	Stadium: Adams Park Attendance: 797 Referee: Christopher O’Donnell

Reading v Manchester City

7 May 2017 4	Reading	2–3	Manchester City	High Wycombe
14:00 BST (UTC+1)	Moore 59'  90+2' Allen  68' Bruton 74' (pen.) Pearce  82'	Report	Parris 6', 76' Scott 78' Walsh  80'	Stadium: Adams Park Attendance: 579 Referee: Paul Forrester

Yeovil United v Reading

17 May 2017 5	Yeovil United	0–1	Reading	Taunton
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Jones  9' Heatherson  33' Curson  37' James  86'	Report	van den Berg 8' Linnett  53' Furness  54' Allen  62' Lahmari  84'	Stadium: Cygnet Health Care Attendance: 356 Referee: Martin Underhay

Reading v Birmingham City

28 May 2017 6	Reading	1–1	Birmingham City	High Wycombe
14:00 BST (UTC+1)	van den Berg  48' Potter  49' Bruton 64' (pen.) Scott  87'	Report	Wellings 1' Carter  48' Mannion  50' P.Williams  88'	Stadium: Adams Park Attendance: 536 Referee: Stephen Bates

Arsenal v Reading

31 May 2017 7	Arsenal	1–0	Reading	Canons Park
19:30 BST (UTC+1)	Carter 40'	Report	Pearce  37' Scott  60'	Stadium: The Hive Stadium Attendance: 870 Referee: Alan Dale

Sunderland v Reading

3 June 2017 8	Sunderland	1–1	Reading	Hetton-le-Hole
15:30 BST (UTC+1)	Staniforth  45' B.Leon 56' A.Holmes  64'	Report	Fletcher 29' Allen  45'	Stadium: Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground Attendance: 464 Referee: Paul Brown

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	8	6	1	1	32	3	+29	19
2	Manchester City	8	6	1	1	17	6	+11	19
3	Arsenal	8	5	3	0	22	9	+13	18
4	Liverpool	8	4	2	2	20	18	+2	14
5	Sunderland	8	2	3	3	4	14	−10	9
6	Reading	8	2	2	4	10	15	−5	8
7	Birmingham City	8	1	4	3	6	10	−4	7
8	Bristol City	8	1	1	6	5	21	−16	4
9	Yeovil Town	8	0	1	7	6	26	−20	1

Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

FA Cup

Main article: 2016–17 FA Women's Cup

Manchester City v Reading

18 March 2017 Fifth round	Manchester City	1–0	Reading	Manchester
14:00 GMT (UTC)	Bronze 83'	Report		Stadium: Academy Stadium

Squad statistics

As of match played 3 June 2017

Appearances

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		WSL		FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Mary Earps	9	0	8	0	1	0
2	DF	ENG	Becky Jane	8	0	7	0	1	0
3	DF	IRL	Harriet Scott	9	0	6+2	0	1	0
4	MF	ENG	Kayleigh Hines	3	0	0+3	0	0	0
5	DF	ENG	Molly Bartrip	3	0	2	0	0+1	0
6	DF	ENG	Kirsty McGee	9	0	8	0	1	0
7	MF	NIR	Rachel Furness	8	1	7	1	1	0
8	MF	ENG	Remi Allen	9	0	7+1	0	0+1	0
9	FW	ENG	Lauren Bruton	8	2	7	2	0+1	0
10	MF	FRA	Anissa Lahmari	6	0	1+5	0	0	0
14	DF	NED	Mandy van den Berg	5	1	3+1	1	1	0
15	DF	NZL	Anna Green	7	0	6	0	1	0
16	FW	ENG	Kirsty Linnett	6	0	4+2	0	0	0
17	MF	WAL	Charlie Estcourt	5	0	3+1	0	1	0
18	MF	ENG	Jade Moore	6	1	4+2	1	0	0
19	FW	ENG	Brooke Chaplen	4	1	3	1	1	0
20	FW	WAL	Melissa Fletcher	8	3	5+2	3	1	0
22	DF	ENG	Jo Potter	4	0	3+1	0	0	0
23	MF	WAL	Rachel Rowe	5	1	4	1	1	0
Players away from the club on loan:
Players who appeared for Reading but left during the season:

Goal scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Number	Name	WSL	FA Cup	Total
1	FW		20	Melissa Fletcher	3	0	3
2	FW		9	Lauren Bruton	2	0	2
3	MF		7	Rachel Furness	1	0	1
	MF		23	Rachel Rowe	1	0	1
	FW		19	Brooke Chaplen	1	0	1
	MF		18	Jade Moore	1	0	1
	DF		14	Mandy van den Berg	1	0	1
Total					10	0	10

Clean sheets

Place	Position	Nation	Number	Name	WSL	FA Cup	Total
1	GK		1	Mary Earps	1	0	1
Total					1	0	1

Disciplinary record

Number	Nation	Position	Name	WSL		FA Cup		Total
3		DF	Harriet Scott	3	0	0	0	3	0
6		DF	Kirsty McGee	2	0	0	0	2	0
7		MF	Rachel Furness	3	0	0	0	3	0
8		MF	Remi Allen	3	0	0	0	3	0
10		MF	Anissa Lahmari	1	0	0	0	1	0
14		DF	Mandy van den Berg	1	0	0	0	1	0
16		FW	Kirsty Linnett	1	0	0	0	1	0
18		MF	Jade Moore	1	0	0	0	1	0
22		DF	Jo Potter	0	1	0	0	0	1
Players away on loan:
Players who left Reading during the season:
Total				15	1	0	0	15	1

Honours

• 2016–17 PFA Team of the Year: Mary Earps^[18]