Tottenham Hotspur Football Club Women's Academy is the youth academy of Tottenham Hotspur Women. The academy operates for girls from school years 8 to 13 (ages 12 to 18) and starting from the 2025–26 season the most senior team is the Under-19s. This plays in the Professional Game Academy (PGA) League as well as in the FA Women's National League Cup and the FA Women's National League Plate competitions.
The academy teams currently play at the Tottenham Hotspur training ground at Hotspur Way, Enfield, North London and at Coles Park, the home of semi-professional club Haringey Borough in White Hart Lane, London N17. Tottenham Hotspur Women's Academy was granted planning permission in 2025 for the construction of its own ground in Whitewebbs Park in Enfield.
History Tottenham Hotspur Women Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Women was originally founded in 1985 as Broxbourne Ladies, and the club’s name changed to Tottenham Hotspur Ladies F.C. from the 1991–92 season. The reserve team started in 1992–93.
The top tier of women’s football is the Women's Super League (WSL). Founded in 2010, it began in the 2011 season as a summer league only, and therefore in only one calendar year, and replaced the FA Women’s Premier League National Division. The FA announced in July 2016 that the league would move from a summer league format to a winter league, in line with the traditional football calendar in England, with matches played from September to May the following year.
Tottenham Hotspur announced on 26 April 2019 that Tottenham Hotspur Ladies would be renamed to Tottenham Hotspur Women from the 2019–2020 season, which coincided with Tottenham Hotspur Ladies winning promotion to the WSL for that season.
Women's Academy The Football Association launched the FA WSL Academy programme in 2018 in conjunction with eleven clubs (which did not include Tottenham Hotspur) to introduce a dual-careers programme to balance a female player's football development with educational, vocational and work-based requirements. The senior academy teams were Under-21s, which played in the WSL Academy fixtures North and South and acted as a pathway to the first team for talented players.
In 2020, the FA initiated a four-year strategic plan called ‘Inspiring Positive Change’. This had eight objectives to be achieved by 2024 including, for girls' football: Early Participation – at primary school level, Development Participation – every girl to have equal access to participation for fun, competition and excellence, and Club player pathway – develop with clubs an inclusive and effective high-performance player-centred pathway. The strategy would see football embedded in schools as part of the Physical Education curriculum for girls, with schools becoming part of the FA Girls' Football School Partnerships network.
The Tottenham Hotspur Women's Academy was launched at the start of the 2020–21 season, as part of the club's formalised Female Talent Pathway enabling it to work with local grassroots clubs to identify talented female players and help them reach the highest level possible. It was established to provide a structured development route for girls aged 8 to 19, with a WSL Dual Career Academy for ages 16 to 21. The aim was to provide players from Tottenham and surrounding areas with an extensive programme which would support them in both their sporting and academic aspirations. In addition, players gained opportunities with the first team and could connect with other clubs across tiers 1 to 5 of the women's pathway.
Girls could begin at the Foundations and Grassroots stage or join one of the girls-only Player Development Programmes for ages 8 to 14 where they would gain by the help of the club's Global Football Development Coaches. The Women's Academy programme for girls in school years 4 to 10 (i.e. aged 8 to 15) would provide a full player development curriculum, incorporating technical and tactical coaching, games, medical access, sports science, strength and conditioning, analysis and lifestyle support whilst maintaining a dual-career approach and philosophy. There are also Tottenham Hotspur Women's Academy programmes for girls in school years 8 to 13 (i.e. aged 12 to 18). The senior academy pathway is the Under-19 Football Development College Programmes for girls aged 16 and above, organised in conjunction with Barnet and Southgate College and New City College, and aims to graduate players into the full-time Academy environment when appropriate. The club has multiple football development partners, both local and overseas, and among these works with girls at Culford School, a private and independent day and boarding school in Bury St Edmunds, and Hertford Regional College in Broxbourne.
On 9 April 2021, Esther Morgan became the first Tottenham Hotspur Women's Academy graduate to make her international debut, when she represented Wales in a 0–3 friendly loss against Canada.
Girls' Emerging Talent Centres were launched in 2022 and were designed to provide local, accessible and high-quality training environments. Ahead of the 2022–23 season, Tottenham Hotspur obtained an FA Emerging Talent Centre Licence so it could provide for talented female players from north London and the surrounding areas. The centre is pre-academy and works with selected players aged 8 to 13 and their schools to help develop future academy players. Those on the Player Development Programmes are encouraged to play locally for grassroots teams but also have the opportunity to represent Tottenham Hotspur Women’s Academy at appropriate age levels during school holidays.
In 2023, the FA replaced the WSL Academies, introducing Professional Game Academies (PGA's) for girls under-15 to under-21. PGA's allow players to be part of a professional club programme that combines football development with their education. Key programme features include playing against boys and girls teams; trips, tours and tournaments during school holidays; opportunities to gain coaching qualifications; Under-16s and Under-21s to compete in the FA Youth Cup and Under-21s to compete in the PGA League, while Under-16s would compete in their own cup and plate competitions. Ahead of the 2023–24 season, Tottenham Hotspur Women were one of 16 football clubs awarded a Category 1 Professional Game Academy License, while four others were awarded Category 2 Licenses.
In July 2023, English forward Lenna Gunning-Williams became the first Tottenham Hotspur Women's Academy graduate to sign a professional contract, although other players had come through the youth system to become professionals prior to the existence of the newer Women's Academy.
PGA teams were added to the FA Women's National League Plate from season 2024–25. The Plate had originally been launched in 2014 following reorganisations of the women's game and the resultant expansion of the number of divisions. It had now been decided to add academy teams, in a similar way to male academy teams taking part in the EFL Trophy.
In October 2024, the FA released its 2024–2028 strategic plan for women's and girls' football. This aimed to build upon the transformational progress achieved within women's and girls' football up to that time. There were four priorities: Build and protect the uniqueness of the women's game, Win a major tournament, Build robust, high-quality competition, and Deliver equal opportunities for women and girls to play. Mark Bullingham, CEO at the FA, indicated the desire to have as many women and girls playing football as men and boys, as well as building the quality of the competitions and developing appropriate facilities.
On 12 July 2024, Jessica Naz became the first Tottenham Hotspur youth system graduate to represent the full England Women's team, when she played in a 2–1 UEFA Women's Euro qualifying round victory over Republic of Ireland.
On 12 April 2025, the Under-16 team was victorious in the Professional Game Academy Champions Trophy final, with a 6-2 win over Blackburn Rovers Under-16s. This represented the first trophy won by the Academy since its formation in 2020.
Ahead of the 2025–26 season, it was announced that PGA teams would be competing in the FA Women's National League Cup for the first time. Along with this, there was the introduction of a group stage for the Cup.
Also ahead of the 2025–26 campaign, Tottenham Hotspur reclassified its Women's Under-21s as Under-19s, and a new coaching structure was put in place with Academy technical coaching manager Nick Hardy taking overall charge across the entire women's academy. Despite this reclassification, the team continued to play against other clubs' Under-21 sides in the PGA Under-21's League (U21 League South), the Under-21's Cup, Under-21's Plate and the Capital Women's Senior Cup, with an additional team in the Under-16's Cup and Under-16's Plate. The academy also has an Under-14 level.
In January 2026, the WSL announced it would be introducing academy contracts for young players at WSL and WSL2 clubs with effect from the 2026–27 season. Clubs will be able to offer 16-year-old players up to a two-year full-time contract, which WSL rules had until now prohibited for that age. The new arrangement is not mandatory and clubs can continue to offer scholarships if they choose. It is hoped the new contracts will stop the top WSL teams taking the best academy talent from clubs lower down the pyramid without the smaller clubs being adequately compensated. They will also allow young players to stay in schools more easily, allowing them full-time education and the ability to take exams alongside their football development.
In March 2026, Tottenham Hotspur announced a three-year partnership with Pymble Ladies' College, a girls' school based in Sydney, Australia. Tegan Burling, formerly the Barnet Southgate women’s head coach and now Tottenham Hotspur's lead international development coach, would deliver coaching clinics to students, looking to support, alongside the college, the development of girls' football in the region. This is the latest in the club's international development partnerships, under the control of head of global football development Danny Mitchell, which can be found in Australia, New Zealand, the Asia-Pacific region, and Spain.
Grounds The Tottenham Hotspur Women's academy teams currently play at the Tottenham Hotspur training ground at Hotspur Way, Enfield, and at Coles Park, the 2500 capacity home of semi-professional Spartan South Midlands Football League club Haringey Borough F.C., in White Hart Lane, London N17. When the Under-19 team reached the senior Capital Cup quarter-final in 2026, the fixture on 2 April was a debut performance in front of fans at the ground of Cheshunt F.C.. Tottenham Hotspur Women's Academy looked set to have a dedicated state-of-the-art facility built at Whitewebbs Park in Enfield, North London, following planning approval by City Hall in 2025. The proposal allowed for development adjacent to the existing men's training facility in Hotspur Way and the new site would feature 11 pitches and a clubhouse. In the face of on-going local opposition to the plan as it involves development of Green Belt land, on 27 July 2026, the High Court quashed the planning permission at a judicial review after Enfield Council withdrew its defence following a change in its political make-up. Tottenham Hotspur noted the decision related to the legal process followed by the council in making its original decision to grant planning permission, not the merits of the proposal itself.
Kit The kit provider for the women’s academy’s teams has been Nike, one of the world's leading brands, since the academy’s creation, while AIA Group Limited, one of the world's leading providers of insurance services, has been the main shirt sponsor. In September 2025, premium global outdoor brand Yeti became Tottenham Hotspur women’s front of training kit partner as well as the new luggage partner.
Development partnerships