FA WNL Southern Premier Division: Watford’s 2022/23 Opponents - Part Three

It would be Oxford’s only defeat in 2020/21 before the curtailment, with a potential fascinating title race between the two sides being thwarted by the pandemic.

Until last season, the recent trajectory of Watford and Oxford United had been very similar, both competing in the same league from 2014 to 2020/21, and usually finishing within a couple of places of each other.

They were awarded a licence for the newly formed FA WSL 2 and finished ninth in the inaugural 2014 season. The U’s improved to finish sixth the following campaign, but that was as good as it would get, with the team usually ending up between eighth and 10th.

Having not earned a licence after the restructuring of the women’s game ahead of 2018/19, Oxford would then play in the FA WNL Southern Division, where they’ve since excelled as one of the league’s strongest outfits, finishing no lower than fourth so far.

After looking particularly strong in the curtailed 2020/21 campaign, they followed that up last year with another second-place finish. Finishing ahead of Southampton FC Women was always likely to be difficult, but United certainly showed their qualities, taking points off the Saints in both encounters. Remarkably, the draw between the two was the only time the U’s dropped points at home all season.

Although there’s since been a key departure or two as we’ll touch upon next, they’ll certainly fancy their chances of competing towards the top end again, especially if they can improve their away form.

Last season’s top scorer Beth Lumsden has left the club this summer, making the move up to the Barclays Women’s Championship with Southampton.

United have retained the majority of the dozen players who featured in 25+ matches in the previous campaign though, with Emily Wallace being the only other departure – the full-back joining the Golden Girls.

Daisy McLachlan has shown her capabilities in front of goal at this level before, and it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to see her improve on her tally of 10 from last time around.