Arsenal W.F.C. Academy

This article is about the Arsenal Women's Academy. For the men's team, see, see Arsenal F.C. Under-21s and Academy.

Arsenal Women Football Club Academy (Arsenal W.F.C. Academy) is the youth academy of Arsenal Women Football Club. The academy operates for girls from 9 to 21 years old.^[1][2]

Arsenal W.F.C. Academy

Full name	Arsenal Women Football Club Academy
Nickname(s)	Hale End
Ground	Vauxhall Road
Capacity	3,152 (300 seated)
Academy Manager	James Honeyman
Home colours Away colours Third colours

History

Arsenal Women's Academy started as a community programme in the late 1980's, when the club decided to develop a youth training scheme for 16- to 18-year-old girls who were interested in playing football. This scheme meant girls could play football full-time for two years, fully funded by a government training scheme.^[3]

Arsenal's Head of Community, Freddie Hudson MBE, is still involved with the Academy setup and has helped to develop the pathway for girls in the North London communities into the current setup as it currently stands.

The academy has won three FA Girls Youth Cups in addition to other trophies lifted altogether.^[2][4][5]

Ahead of the 2023-24 season, Arsenal were one of 16 football clubs awarded a Category 1 Professional Game Academy License (PGAs). The PGAs replaced what were then known as FA WSL Academies.^[6]

Ahead of the 2025-26 season, it was announced that PGA sides would be competing in the Women's National League Cup for the first time, after the addition of those sides in the Women's National League Plate competition during the 2024-25 season. Along with this, there was the introduction of a group stage for the Cup:^[7] Arsenal were drawn in group K alongside Loughborough Lightning, Northampton Town and Rugby Borough.^[8]

Players

Under-21s

As of 8 July 2025

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 42 DF  ENG Lucy Lyon 43 DF  ENG Niamh Peacock 44 DF  ENG Sophie Harwood 47 DF  IRL Sophia Leonard 49 DF  WAL Teagan Scarlett 51 MF  ENG Marcie O'Meara 52 MF  ENG Gaby Dimmock 53 GK  ENG Amy Liddiard 54 DF  ENG Eva Gray

No. Pos. Nation Player 63 GK  ENG Hope McSheffrey 64 MF  AUS Milly Boughton 68 MF  IRL Lauren Bowe — DF  ENG Helen "Nelly" Duncan — DF  ENG Isabella Cowley — MF  ENG Bryony Brodie — MF  ENG Maya Hindson — FW  ENG Kyri Teer-Hutchins — FW  ENG Leyla O'Brien

Notable players

This is a list of former Arsenal W.F.C. Academy players who have gone on to represent their country at full international level. Players who are still at Arsenal, or play at another club on loan from Arsenal, are highlighted in bold.

Updated 24 July 2025

• Lily Agg
• Michelle Agyemang
• Anita Asante
• Jade Bailey
• Paige Bailey-Gayle
• Vaila Barsley
• Lauren Bruton
• Laura Coombs
• Gemma Davison
• Araya Dennis
• Anna Filbey
• Gilly Flaherty
• Silvana Flores
• Angharad James
• Lauren James
• Cherelle Khassal
• Chloe Kelly
• Freya Godfrey
• Teyah Goldie
• Hayley Ladd
• Ruby Mace
• Katie Reid
• Taryn Rockall
• Vyan Sampson
• Lianne Sanderson
• Alex Scott
• Renée Slegers
• Drew Spence
• Rebecca Spencer
• Casey Stoney
• Naomi Williams
• Leah Williamson
• Sarah Wiltshire
• Ellen White
• Lotte Wubben-Moy

Honours

• FA Girls Youth Cup: 2015 & 2016^[4][5]
• FA Girls League Cup: 2016^[4]
• Blue Stars/Fifa Youth Cup: 2024^[9]
• PGA Southern League: 2024^[10]
• PGA League Division One: 2024–25^[11]
• Capital Women's Senior Cup: 2024-25^[12]