Birmingham City v West Ham United women’s team
Continental Tyres League Cup group stage, St Andrews, Wednesday 24 January 2024, 7pm GMT
West Ham United women’s team conclude the 2023/24 Continental Tyres League Cup group stages with a trip to face Birmingham City at St Andrews.
Rehanne Skinner’s side need a number of results to go their way, plus a decent goal swing in their favour if they are to progress to the latter stages.
Birmingham, meanwhile, cannot progress to the knockout rounds after losing their opening two matches, but are flying high in the Barclays Women’s Championship this season. They are only three points off top spot and are in the race for promotion to the Women's Super League.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the cup showdown in the Midlands.
Tickets
Tickets for Wednesday evening’s fixture are priced at just £1 for Adults, Seniors and 16-22 year-olds. Under 16s can attend for free, with a full paying ticket for another party. Click here to head to the Birmingham City website to purchase yours!
How to follow
The only way to follow the match will be to either be in the crowd at St Andrews or on social media!
The game will not be broadcast live, but live updates will be available across our social media channels and reaction and highlights will follow on whufc.com after the match.
West Ham United’s Conti Cup story so far
West Ham United were drawn in Group E alongside the Blues, Brighton & Hove Albion and Charlton Athletic.
It would be the Addicks who played the Hammers in the opening fixture at the group, with the contest taking place at Chigwell Construction Stadium on Wednesday 11 October.
Skinner’s side battled back from a goal down after Carla Humphrey hit them on the counter attack, but Emma Harries and Izzy Atkinson found the net in the second half to get the campaign off to a positive start in front of the Claret & Blue faithful.
In their second match, the Hammers fell to a 3-1 defeat to Brighton at Broadfield Stadium. Two penalties from Vicky Losada and Veatriki Sarri, plus a goal from Guro Bergsvand put the home side in command, before Hawa Cissoko scored a late consolation.
To progress to the knockout stages, the Hammers would need to beat Birmingham City by a significant scoreline, and then hope that Charlton narrowly get past Brighton in their final fixture, meaning that they would top the group on goal difference.
The Opposition
Birmingham City are on the hunt for promotion and have been going well under manager Darren Carter in recent times.
The Blues sit fifth in the league standings, winning seven of their twelve matches so far this term, drawing two and losing three. Heading into this fixture, they are unbeaten in their last six matches.
Carter has been able to keep things tight at the back and free-scoring in attack this season, with Birmingham having the second best defensive record and the third best goals for tally in the division.
The Blues boss played for the Club in the Premier League in the early 2000’s, and began his managerial career at his hometown team in 2021, initially as interim manager, before being appointed permanently in May 2022.
His side missed out on promotion by one point last term, finishing second behind Bristol City in a title race that went right down until the final day.
This season, Lucy Quinn has been their bright spark, registering six assists in the Championship so far this season, whilst Libby Smith tops their goalscoring charts with three goals.
Previous Meetings
West Ham United and Birmingham City have met in the Conti Cup in each of the last two seasons, winning both fixtures. The most recent of those came in November 2022, when Kate Longhurst and Dagný Brynjarsdóttir scored in a 2-0 victory at Chigwell Construction Stadium, which would eventually help the Hammers reach the latter stages.
The last meeting at St Andrews came the year previous, with Claudia Walker, Lucy Parker, Kateřina Svitková and an own goal from Louise Quinn securing a 4-0 win in the Midlands.
