Charlton goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse was the hero as she brilliantly saved four penalties in a 2-1 shootout victory over Leicester to earn promotion to the Women’s Super League.
Olivia McLoughlin scored Leicester’s third spot-kick at the Valley to give her side hope, but the 29-year-old Whitehouse capped a superb season between the sticks for Charlton by denying Leicester’s Heather Payne and Noemie Mouchon to win promotion for her side after a 0-0 draw following the first 120 minutes.
The WSL is expanding to 14 teams next season and by finishing third in WSL 2, Charlton earned a play-off against a Foxes side that finished bottom of the top flight, in a one-off game to decide who would grab the final spot.
The Addicks had looked to be cruising to automatic promotion from the second tier but picked up just one point from their final four matches to miss out on the final day of the regular season but picked themselves up to triumph in the play-off.
They will return to the top flight of women’s football for the first time since 2008, which came a year after the team was controversially temporarily disbanded despite having found success throughout the 2000s (including winning the FA Cup in 2005) because the men’s team had been relegated from the Premier League and the club were looking to cut costs.
It has been a long road back to the top for the Addicks and the tears from manager Karen Hills on the touchline after the game showed how much it meant.
Leicester were dismally out of form heading into the contest, having finished bottom of the WSL after a campaign that saw them lose every game since 14 December, and Rick Passmoor’s side are relegated after a five-year spell in the top flight. It compounds a dreadful season for the football club with the men’s side also relegated to League One.
Charlton were the better team for large spells at the Valley and almost won it in extra-time when substitute Katie Lockwood’s thunderous strike was tipped on to the underside of the crossbar by Leicester stopper Katie Keane and the follow-up headed goal was disallowed for offside.
Whitehouse, the WSL 2 Golden Glove winner, had been brilliant between the sticks for Charlton as well, pulling off a stunning save to deny Shannon O’Brien on the stroke of half-time and blocking Ashleigh Neville’s back-post header in the 93rd minute.
After 120 goalless minutes, the game went to penalties and Ireland international Whitehouse rose to the occasion, saving the first two spot-kicks from Emily van Egmond and O’Brien, before plunging to her left to also deny Payne and Mouchon later in the shootout.
That meant Amalie Thestrup and Ellie Mason scoring two of Charlton’s four spot-kicks was enough to seal promotion to the promised land.
