Birmingham City return to WSL after promotion, with summer signings and ownership changes ahead of 2026-27 season
Birmingham City, managed by Amy Merricks, return to the Women’s Super League for the 2026-27 season after four seasons in the second tier, having finished 1st in WSL2 last season; this preview was published on 2026-08-23. Guardian writers’ average tip places them 12th.
A founding member of the WSL when it launched in 2011, Birmingham secured promotion as WSL2 champions on the final day of last season. After a summer transfer window described as decent, the club is viewed in the preview as the best-equipped of the three promoted sides to establish themselves in the top division.
The squad mixes youth and WSL experience: forwards Lily Crosthwaite and Wilma Leidhammar and defender Neve Herron are all 23 years old. Birmingham have also added players with WSL experience, notably former Brighton goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley and centre-back Millie Turner.
Consistency was an issue during the promotion campaign; Birmingham won the most games in WSL2 but also lost six times. Performances improved under pressure late in the season after Leidhammar’s club-record arrival in January, helping the club avoid repeating the previous year’s failure to secure promotion on the final day.
Birmingham recruited players with international and top-level experience, including Canada defender Marie Levasseur from Montpellier. Millie Turner and Lisa Naalsund arrived from Manchester United; both were starting members of United’s FA Cup-winning side of 2024 and featured in a Women’s Champions League quarter-final as recently as April, while Naalsund has won 39 caps and was part of Norway’s squad at last year’s Euros.
The team’s attacking profile in WSL2 was notable for leading Opta’s big chances metric despite not scoring the most goals or conceding the fewest. New signing Chancelle Effa Effa, 19, arrived from Le Havre for a fee understood to be about €120,000 (£100,000); she broke into Le Havre’s first team at 15 and scored 17 times in 28 games for France’s Under-17 and Under-19 teams, having helped France win the 2023 Under-17 Euros. “We know it’s going to be a massive challenge, but it’s a challenge that, as players, you thrive upon. As long as we can take that togetherness, that relentlessness, into the games, I’m sure we’re going to be just fine” – Chelsea Cornet.
Off the pitch, Birmingham’s women’s team was sold to the club’s ownership group in February, with Shelby Companies Limited, an affiliate of Knighthead Capital Management, holding 97% and the remaining 3% purchased by investors including Karen Carney and Kim Clijsters. The squad trains at the recently renovated Knighthead Performance Centre, on the site of the men’s former Wast Hills training base, which includes a new gym among other refurbishments. Amy Merricks has been in charge since April 2024, holds a Uefa Pro Licence and was 30 when appointed; her previous roles include coaching within the England youth setup and spells at Gillingham, Millwall and Brighton, where she stepped up to be interim manager three times. Birmingham play home fixtures at St Andrew’s, their ground since 2021, where they set a club record attendance for a women’s game of 8,749 on the final day of the 2024-25 season, and the club has announced plans for a new women’s stadium as part of the ‘Sports Quarter’, alongside a proposed 62,000-seater men’s Powerhouse Stadium, an indoor arena, training ground facilities and a new railway station.
Their opening programme includes two tough away trips — the first two away fixtures are against Manchester City and Chelsea — and relatively early home matches against fellow promoted sides Crystal Palace and Charlton.