Norwich City Women: 2025/26 season preview
As we head into the 2025/26 season, Norwich City kick off their season in Division One South East against Actonians at The Nest on Sunday. The start of an exciting season for an ambitious squad.
As a team, they set some clear goals ahead of the season: promotion being the main one. The club have taken a massive step to build a strong and passionate team, willing to fight for the top spot in the league.
Five new players joined the Canaries during the summer: including former Ipswich players Evie Williams and Eloise King, Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Holly Mears, Blackburn Rover’s Grace Riglar and Bournemouth’s Eloise Hall. Some players have also been offered professional contracts: Holly Kennard, Ellie Bishop and Ceri Flye to name a few.
Head of Women’s Football at Norwich City, Flo Allen, said: “It’s going to be all focus towards becoming champions and trying to achieve promotion to Tier 3.”
Summary of last season
Norwich City began the 2024/25 season with a new manager, Andy Cook. With his previous club, Newcastle United, he built a wealth of experience and helped them gain promotion to the Barclays Women’s Championship. His move to Norwich certainly gave the squad a confidence boost, ensuring they were able to show their full potential on the pitch.
Some younger players, including Lara Densley from Wroxham and Sienna Booty, an academy graduate, also made their way into the first team. Densley and Booty both had an incredible season for Norwich. Booty made her debut against Ipswich in the FA Women’s National League Cup.
Towards the end of the season, it was announced that the club’s captain, Megan Todd, would hang her boots up this summer. Todd spent six years at Norwich and led her team with pride and passion. She played her final game for the Canaries at Carrow Road in the County Cup Final, where she scored a penalty and had an emotional send-off. The Canaries were crowned champions for the third year in a row, making her final fixture perfect.
Norwich finished runners up in the league, behind Real Bedford after a tight run in the final games. After the league they turned their focus towards the County Cup Final against Mulbarton Belles, which ended in a 7-1win for the Canaries as they were crowned back-to-back champions for the third year.
Players to watch this season:
Evie Williams
Evie is one of the new signings this season and she is ready to shine at Norwich. She joined as a free agent after being released from Ipswich Town at the end of the 2024/25 season. Allen and Cook recognise her potential, hence offering her one of the first professional contracts at the club.
Williams played a massive part in Ipswich’s promotion last season and has already made an impact in her first preseason friendlies with the Canaries. When asked, she reflected upon her form during preseason:
“Preseason has gone really well! Having the chance to go away to Warwick gave us a good chance to build connections both on and off the pitch, it was also great to keep adding minutes into the tank! We’ve had some good challenges over preseason, but we’ve taken plenty of learning from them all and hope to take them into the season now.”
However, the young talent shares the club’s ambition as she looks upon promotion throughout her first season in Norwich:
“Obviously, our aim as a team is to push promotion, to be as consistent as possible and grow together as a team. We all have some of our individual goals, but all will be aiming to help push us towards our end goal. But between now and May we will aim to be consistent in all aspects and enjoy the journey as a group!”
Holly Kennard
Holly has been part of the Canaries for the past two seasons and is another player to receive a professional contract with the club. During this time, Kennard’s talent and skill have emerged through her performances and commitment to the team.
Last season she scored ten goals in total and had a huge impact in the last game of the season against QPR at Carrow Road. In just the first half she netted two goals, and then went on to assist the final goal, which was scored by her teammate Freya Symonds.
When questioned about her thoughts of the upcoming season, she spoke with confidence and anticipation:
“I think this season will be a good season for us, going into a fresh 2025/26 with new signings. Preseason has been a rocky start, but we have played good football throughout. Following last season placing second it has made us more determined to get that promotion this year. We are all gunning for it and it is all we want as a team.
Last season after Christmas we were undefeated, didn’t lose a game. If we go into the season playing how we did then we will be unstoppable and ruthless throughout all working hard as a team to get better as the games, go on. As long as we go into the season with the same mindset of wanting to win then we will achieve that.”
Olivia Cook
Cook showcased her ability throughout the 2024/25 season, marking this as the Young Player of the Year. She is an amazing team player and pushed all season for wins and goals to help her team progress in the league, Adobe Women’s FA Cup and County Cup.
However, her achievements did not stop there. Two months in a row she was named Player of the Month; this shows how her performance last season truly amazed the fans. Cook played a part in helping her team win the County Cup final against Mulbarton Belles by scoring her goal in the eighty-first minute to cement their victory. This goal came from an outstanding cross which managed to fine the back of the net.
Sarah Quantrill
Quantrill takes the role of Norwich City’s number one goalkeeper. With twelve clean sheets, she played a massive part in the Canaries’ success last season. Alongside that she was also awarded Golden Glove at the end of the 2024/25 season, after making some tremendous saves to maintain the team’s undefeated run in 2025.
The number one is looking forward to another season between the sticks, as she expressed:
“Preseason has flown by and we’re looking forward to the season starting. The first game of the season will be a chance for the fans to see the new signings for the first time which will be exciting for them.
The season itself should be an exciting one with some different teams coming into the league to make the league even stronger. Obviously, promotion is the aim, and we know that we’re going to have to perform to our best in every game in order to give ourselves the best chance of doing that.”
Upcoming games for the Canaries
The season begins on the seventeenth August. Norwich City face Actonians at The Nest for their long-anticipated opening fixture. Last season, they secured 2-0 victories home and away against this opposition, which gives them a confidence boost as they open their league campaign.
Another big step is securing the bigger stadium of Carrow Road, home of Norwich FC, for two league fixtures this season. On September 14th they will face Luton Town there. Luton Town are new to the league this season due to being promoted after winning their league title so will be a new challenge. The second fixture will be on of April 26th against Cambridge United. With a ninth place finish last season, the Canaries will be hoping a victory is on the horizon. However, the last time the two teams faced each other it ended in a 2-0 defeat for Norwich City.
Will this squad with fresh talent and high ambition secure their promotion at the end of the season? And can they rise to the big occasion of playing at Carrow Road, in front of many home fans?