Albion Women will look to put the wrongs right from their FAWNL Northern Premier opener when they take on Middlesbrough on Sunday (ko 2pm).
Charlie Fripp’s side were beaten by Stoke City in their campaign curtain-raiser at the bet365 Stadium last weekend.
And they’ll look to produce a more positive performance when they make the trek north to face the Teessiders at Stockton Town FC on Sunday.
It’s the start of a three-game week for the Baggies, with them due to play Birmingham City PGA in the FAWNL Cup on Wednesday, and Peterborough United up next in the league (Sunday, August 30 - ko 2pm) after the Middlesbrough match.
Last time out
Stoke City inflicted opening-day defeat on the Baggies last weekend. Fripp’s outfit were two goals down by halfway after Roisin Kivel and Delphi Cole converted their opportunities in the first period, and the visitors couldn’t find a way back into the tie.
The opposition
Like Albion, hosts Middlesbrough also suffered season-opening heartbreak, as they were beaten by Boldmere St Michaels at The Amber Arena.
And Boro will be all too familiar with the type of scalp the Mikes inflicted on them last week, having produced plenty of similar results during an impressive FAWNL Northern Premier campaign in 2025/26.
Joe Lillie was made permanent head coach of the Teesside club in January 2026, and he steered them to a fifth-placed finish last term, guiding them to one position higher than the Baggies, despite being level on points.
They’ve been busy in the transfer market in order to improve on the promise shown last season, using their North-Eastern connections to sign the likes of Sarah Robson, Ava Chapman, Niamh Boothroyd, Bridget Galloway and Ellie Christon, who have all played for at least one of Newcastle United, Durham or Sunderland during their careers and will now feature for Middlesbrough.
Those signings, propelled by Lillie’s first full campaign in charge, should lead to an exciting season for Boro.
Previous meetings
Middlesbrough 0-0 Albion Women - April 2026
The final game of the 2025/26 season ended goalless between the two sides, in a surprisingly entertaining affair at Stockton Town.
Albion Women 1-1 Middlesbrough - November 2025
Hannah George stepped up to rescue a late point for Siobhan Hodgetts-Still’s side in November 2025 after Armani Maxwell had put Boro ahead. The two sides were forced to settle for a point at the Alexander Stadium.
Middlesbrough 1-0 Albion Women - October 2024
The Baggies bowed out of the FAWNL Cup at the hands of Sunday’s opponents in 2024. Lauren Robson’s effort was enough to ensure the visitors didn’t progress past the last-16 stage in Stockton.
Pre-match thoughts
Though Taylor Reynolds and the rest of the Albion Women squad look back at their trip to the bet365 Stadium with disappointment, they all know there are still 21 FAWNL Northern Premier matches to put things right.
The 22-year-old played all 90 minutes in Staffordshire, where the Baggies suffered a dent to their early-season ambitions - but despite the result - there are still reasons to be positive.
Now into her fourth season in navy-blue-and-white, the full-back is extremely pleased to see the club heading in the right direction, especially after seeing the 10 summer incomings ahead of the new season.
And with the Middlesbrough test on her mind, Reynolds is ready to ‘move past’ their opening defeat at the hands of the Potters and focus on the positives as they get set for a trip to Teesside.
She said: “We’re disappointed with the Stoke game, we wanted to win that game, and every game this season. For us to lose and put in the performance we did, it felt like we’d let each other down.
“Though we were disappointed, the performance wasn’t as bad as we initially thought when we looked back at it. We had more possession, we had better statistics in terms of shots and final-third entires, but we’re so much better than we showed last Sunday.
“We’ve seen our quality and the improvement throughout pre-season, and it’s something we can learn from and make right ahead of this Sunday. Stoke are likely to be in and around the top of the division so we never wanted to give them a head-start on us - it’s still something we can catch up with.
“We can’t afford to dwell on it, and we’ve moved past it now. We can’t take that into our next performance and we need to learn from the mistakes we’ve made in training - otherwise we won’t be able to perform as we want to.
“I’m into my fourth year here, but this has been the best group of girls I’ve been involved with, everyone’s so brilliant and we all get on really well. There are no bad eggs in the group and we’re here for the same reason - we want to do well and finish as high as possible.
“The new signings have brought some additional quality, and it’s testament to Shev and where the club wants to go. It’s very positive as an existing player to see the quality we’ve brought in, we welcome that competition and we’ve got a great culture here.
“The thing in most people’s heads is to come back from Sunday and put in a performance we know we can. We’re very excited to try and get our first win in the league, and are hopeful this weekend could bring that for us, it would certainly make the long trip worth it.
“We feel Middlesbrough are fairly similar to us in the way they like to play football, and it’ll be a great test.”
How to follow
Tickets are only available for purchase at the Stockton Town FC turnstiles on Sunday (from 1pm).
They are priced at £5 for general admission, while U16s are go free. These can be purchased by card payment only.
The stadium is dog-friendly, while refreshments are also available in the food cabin to the right of the main stand during the game.
For those unable to attend, coverage will be provided across Albion Women’s social media channels, as always.
Reaction, the match report and match highlights will be available on the club website over the coming days.
