London City Lionesses have secured promotion to the Women’s Super League for the first time following a dramatic four-goal thriller with Birmingham.
The club, who were only founded in 2019, clinched the Women’s Championship title by drawing 2-2 against the Blues at St Andrew’s on Sunday.
London City pipped Birmingham to the Women’s Championship title on SundayGetty The Lionesses have been promoted to the WSL for the first time in their historyGettyIn doing so, they prevented their opponents from leapfrogging them into top spot on the final day.
Birmingham had needed to beat London City in order to snatch the title and a place in next season’s WSL.
Goals from Isobel Goodwin and Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah put the visitors 2-0 up, before the hosts fought back.
However, they could only salvage a point through Emily van Egmond and Cho So-hyun’s strikes.
It means London City ended the campaign two points clear of their title rivals to deny Birmingham a second promotion of the season.
The men’s team had already won League One with a record-breaking points tally to return to the Championship having been aided by the financial backing of Americans Tom Wagner and Tom Brady.
NFL legend Brady issued a rallying cry to Birmingham fans ahead of the clash, as he said on X: “One game, one win, and they’re promoted to the Women’s Super League.
“They’ve worked so hard all year long for this moment, and now it’s time for us to show up.”
Before adding: “Now let’s pack that place again and get behind our women.
“Let’s help them lift that trophy and bring home some hardware of their own.”
London City confirmed their promotion with a 2-2 draw on the final dayGetty The result has condemned Birmingham, who boast Brady as a minority shareholder, to another season in the ChampionshipGettyBut instead, it is London City’s billionaire owner Michele Kang celebrating after buying the club last summer.
She added the newly-promoted side to her existing portfolio of clubs, which includes Washington Spirit and Lyon.
London City will now be the only fully-independent club in next season’s WSL.
Following the match, Kang told talkSPORT: “Surreal. We were hoping, but always trying to be realistic and I’m just so beyond excited for our players, for our fans and for our staff.
“This is just a great day. What a game it was as well. Oh my goodness. It was not good for my heart, but I think it was good for overall fans to get excited about women’s football and how exciting the game could be.
“So the fact that it was also on Sky and BBC, just more than we can hope for.”
Billionaire Kang completed her takeover of the club last summerGettyThe match was the first Women’s Championship fixture ever to be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Kang added: “When I first came to England and bought London City, everyone, a lot of people were very concerned for me that how could she do this?
“There’s no men’s team in England. You need a men’s team to draw the brand power, the fan base and resources.
“An independent team could not do it. Well, we’re proof that with the proper investment and focus, anything is possible.”
All 12 clubs in this season’s WSL are affiliated to a current Premier League side.
London City, meanwhile, were formed in 2019 after breaking away from Millwall Lionesses.
Kang will be aiming to avoid repeating the outcomes for the last two clubs promoted to the WSL.
Bristol City and Crystal Palace have both failed to avoid immediate returns to the second tier since 2023.
She has backed former Paris Saint-Germain manager Jocelyn Precheur to steer London City to safety, though, explaining: “From day one, the fact that I brought Jocelyn as our head coach, we were actually building for sort of the mid-tier WSL team.
“Clearly, we still have a lot more to do in terms of roster and all that. But we were always building from day one at a minimum mid-tier WSL team so that we don’t follow that pattern that you get promoted and the next year you get demoted.
“In fact, our sporting director and recruiting directors are meeting actually nine o’clock in the morning tomorrow to plan for the next season. And we’ve got an exciting plan ahead.”
As well as appointing Precheur, Kang also invested heavily in the playing squad, including the signing of Swedish international Kosovare Asllani.
WSL winner Kosovare Asllani joined the club last summer from AC MilanGettyThe London City captain has hailed their owner, revealing: “Just remember the name, because I said it when I signed, when no one in the football world where I’m from, like in Europe, knew about London City Lionesses.
“I said in the press conference, remember the name, and I say the same now, because I think when you have the right investment, we have Michele that has the ambition of creating a winning team and giving us the best resources, then you want to go all the way, even in WSL, obviously.”
Asllani previously featured for the likes of PSG, Manchester City, Real Madrid and AC Milan before joining London City.
The WSL winner also has 196 caps for Sweden and has appeared at the last three Women’s World Cups.
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