Penalties are meant to be easier for the takers rather than the goalkeepers.
That wasn’t the case on Saturday for Charlton Athletic women’s ’keeper Sophie Whitehouse. The 29-year-old saved four out of five Leicester City spot kicks in a shootout to win the London side promotion to the English top tier for the first time since 2008.
It was a first-of-its-kind play-off in the Women’s Super League system, with the team who finished last in the WSL, Leicester, and the third-placed side in second-tier WSL 2, Charlton, meeting in a one-off match at the home ground of the latter, The Valley, for a spot in next season’s expanded 14-team WSL. As a consequence of losing, Leicester are relegated.
Charlton won 2-1 on penalties after the tie stayed goalless through the 90 minutes and another half-hour of extra time. It may not have been a classic, but it will live long in the memories of Charlton fans.
“That was like the best feeling ever to make those saves in that game and do what I needed for the team,” Whitehouse said after the match.
But the victory was not without drama.
In sweltering early-summer London heat, with temperatures reaching 27 degrees Celsius (80F), and in front of a record Charlton Women attendance of 3,979, both teams had moments where it looked as if they could break the deadlock. But the two goalkeepers were the best players on both sides, with Whitehouse saving a close-range effort by Shannon O’Brien with quick reflexes in the first half.
In a game short on attacking intent, spectators had to wait until added time in the second half of the 90 for a shot on target, with a header from Ashleigh Neville saved by Whitehouse.
In extra time, Charlton thought they had won it when Katie Lockwood cut in from outside the box and hit a shot towards the near top left corner. Goalkeeper Katie Keane did well to get a touch that diverted it onto the crossbar. The ball then bounced up off the goal line before Lucia Lobato headed in the rebound. Home fans, aided by drums, cheered, thinking it was the winning moment before finding out there was a marginal offside.
When the game went to penalties, Charlton had a clear advantage — earlier in the week, Whitehouse had collected the WSL2 Golden Glove after eight clean sheets in the 22 regular-season games. She was also the club’s Player of the Year.
She saved Leicester’s first two spot kicks. However, the referee booked her before their third attempt for delaying the take by checking the scouting notes on her water bottle as Olivia McLoughlin stepped up for her turn.
Charlton goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse reads penalty notes on a water bottle during Saturday’s WSL relegation play-off (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
In response, Keane, the opposing goalkeeper, threw Whitehouse’s bottle into the stands after she had saved McLoughlin’s kick. A Charlton staff member in the stands scurried over and threw it back to her.
“For some reason, my bottle disappeared. I don’t know where it went, but I guess you can guess,” Whitehouse said in the post-match news conference. “Luckily, there was someone behind the stands who scrambled to grab it and gave it back to me, and maybe I had some information that helped me in this moment.”
After a fourth save to secure promotion, Whitehouse dropped to her knees in disbelief while the Leicester players slumped to the ground in despair.
Charlton will make it seven London-based clubs in next season’s 14-team WSL.
A women’s football powerhouse in the mid-2000s, Charlton reached four FA Cup finals in five years (winning it in 2005) and lifted two League Cups.
But the same day that their women’s side lost the 2007 FA Cup final to Arsenal, the Charlton men’s team got relegated from the Premier League. As a result, for financial reasons, the women’s setup was disbanded, and despite being re-formed a few months later, the majority of the players left, and relegation followed the next season.
Charlton head coach Karen Hills was a player during those glory days and set out a five-year plan to get them back to the top division when she was appointed in March 2021.
Former Charlton player and current head coach Karen Hills built a five-year plan for the team (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
The progress had been clear, going from fifth in her first season to losing out on promotion to Crystal Palace by a point in 2024.
This year, promotion could have been secured sooner. With the top two automatically earning a place in the WSL, Charlton were leading the way after going unbeaten in the league until March. But after three losses in their last four WSL2 games, including a 2-0 defeat by Birmingham City on the final day, they dropped to third.
Hills’ team didn’t waste their second chance against Leicester, who had lost 11 consecutive league games to end their WSL campaign and not won away in the past two seasons.
It was a party for the home fans. (Charlton season-ticket holders were offered two free tickets to attend the biggest game in the recent history of the women’s team.) Promotion to the WSL will mean the chance to play against the biggest teams in the country, higher revenues and greater exposure from matches being shown live by the BBC and Sky Sports.
“It means everything to the fans, the club, and the owners. It’s just a remarkable moment in the club’s history,” said Hills, “and something that every single person involved in Charlton should be incredibly proud of.”