One of the more emotional farewells from last season came at the end of the Women’s Super League campaign, when Bethany England’s contract expired and Tottenham Hotspur Women opted not to offer her a new deal. It was a surprising decision, considering the enormous impact England had on Spurs over the past few seasons. England quickly became Spurs’ all time leading WSL goal scorer and was a massive addition to the club — at times Beth put the entire team on her back and willed them to results, and she
quickly became club captain. Losing her felt like a gut punch, not just to the club but to Spurs fans who have loved watching her play in lilywhite the past three seasons.
A free agent, England had her choice as to where to go next, and she has decided to sign with Crystal Palace Women, according to Pete O’Rourke.
Now good ol’ Sports Peeto is not a source we generally rely on here at Carty Free Towers, but he does occasionally have the odd scoop and this appears to be one of them. Palace spent the past season down a division in WSL2, but directly promoted along with Birmingham City Women, finishing second in the table. England’s decision to head to a newly promoted side might tell us something about the decision to let her go.
As important as England was to Spurs over the past three seasons, she was showing signs of slowing down in 2025-26, with Martin Ho often preferring Cathinka Tandberg in starting lineups and opting to bring England in as an impact sub. England is nearing the end of her football career — she’s 32, and while women tend to play on average a little longer than men do in football, she’s got a lot of miles on the tires.
Moving to Palace does feel a bit like (sob sob sob) confirmation that England is no longer the player she was. She’ll almost certainly be one of the best players (if not the best player) at Palace, and I have no doubt she’ll still be a load to mark when Spurs play them this season. But the fact that a lot of other, much better, clubs passed her up might signify that she’s no longer at the level that she was.
There’s another possibility too — England obviously has agency and she might have chosen Palace as the interested club where she could make the biggest impact. But that choice tells us something too.
All players eventually decline. It’s part of the process. It doesn’t minimize all of the incredible things Beth England did while at Spurs, and we can look back at the past three years with pride and with gratitude. But Spurs’ decision to let her go and her choice to join Palace does make it sound like she’s entering a new, less impactful phase in her football career.
