Tottenham Hotspur Ladies are top of the league, and having a laugh

While Tottenham Hotspur’s senior men’s team appear to be struggling through an injury-hobbled end of 2016, there’s another Tottenham football club that is enjoying one of its best seasons in recent memory. Spurs Ladies dominated an away match against Swindon Town this past Sunday, winning 4-0 and putting them at the top of the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division table.

We don’t write much about Tottenham Hotspur Ladies Football Club. It isn’t really an excuse, but it is in some ways understandable. Spurs Ladies – and speaking more broadly, women’s football in England – has mostly been considered an afterthought in the consciousness of fans and the media. In contrast to the men’s team, who have been fixtures in the Premier League since its inception, Spurs Ladies play in the third division of the English women’s soccer pyramid, behind the two divisions of the FA Women’s Super League.

But what a season they’re having! Spurs Ladies are undefeated in all competitions thus far with a league record of 8-1-0, making them one of the early favorites to promote. Striker Wendy Martin has 11 league goals in 13 appearances to lead Spurs, and midfielder Bianca Baptiste is second with nine goals in eleven.

This follows up an impressive season in 2015-16 where Spurs finished sixth in the league but played in three cup finals, taking home two pieces of silverware: the FA Women’s Premier League Cup and the Ryman Cup. This season they’ve already made the Capital Cup semifinals after losing in the championship match last season.

Under manager Karen Hills they’re scoring at will, and behind club captain Jenna Schillaci have one of the stingiest defenses in the league, only conceding seven goals thus far and resulting in a staggeringly positive goal differential. (Note that this tweet, from last week, doesn’t include the 4-0 thrashing of Swindon)

It’s hard to find a lot of information about Spurs Ladies. The matches aren’t televised, nor do they get a lot of media attention. Usable photos are virtually non-existent and statistics are basic at best: there aren’t a lot of Michael Caleys scraping data and making expected goals maps for the English women’s third division.

That shouldn’t deter us from following the club’s progress. Spurs are enjoying their best season yet and with promotion would find themselves in the highest division in their history. They’re worth your attention, and this blog’s. We’ll be working harder to pay more attention to the Ladies as they make their way through what is shaping up to be a historic season. Their next match is a Women’s FA Cup match against Cheshunt this Sunday at 1:00 p.m. London time.