Ashleigh Weerden on breaking a BWSL2 record and Palace’s promotion push
In an exclusive interview, Ashleigh Weerden discusses her standout season in the Barclays WSL2 and Crystal Palace’s push for automatic promotion.
The Surinamese winger is in the best form of her career at Crystal Palace and is taking the BWSL2 by storm. The 26-year-old has the most chances created (57) and most assists (9) in the league this season.
After setting up Kirsty Howat’s goal in the Eagles’ 1-0 victory over Ipswich, Weerden officially equalled Kosovare Asllani’s record for the most assists in a WSL2 season (9) and now has the opportunity to surpass it with two matches remaining this season.
Operating primarily from wide areas, Weerden has been central to Palace’s attack, frequently linking play in the final third and delivering consistently dangerous balls into the box. Her understanding with teammates in forward areas has been a key factor in the Eagles’ attacking improvement.
Reflecting on reaching the milestone, Weerden said: “I only heard about it today. I didn't know. I just want to be important for the team. I just want to make sure that I provide for the team. And to have these statistics, that's really nice.”
“I do feel really confident here in the team. The players give me a lot of confidence. My coach gives me a lot of confidence. They just let me do what I'm good at, and that's creating chances. And yeah, it pays off. So I'm really happy here.”
Weerden has started in all of the Eagles’ 20 WSL2 fixtures this season, making her imperative to Crystal Palace’s attack. “I just want to contribute to the team and play an important role, and these stats show that I’m doing my job. So I’m really happy with that,” Weerden said.
That impact has not gone unnoticed by Crystal Palace manager Jo Potter, who praised Weerden’s development, consistency, and overall impact across the season.
“She’s been super consistent, it’s just shown the work that she’s done this year, we’ve got her in a really good place. Being able to take a talent like that and utilise it and find the best way for Ashleigh (Weerden) to play, I think we’ve managed to do that.
“We’ve got a really good working relationship, I think she’s thriving. She’s all that and there’s more to come. She wants to score more goals and get more assists, she's an absolute winner. She’s been key for us this season and she keeps coming up trumps, so we want her to keep doing that especially in these last two games.”
The turnaround has been reflected in results, with Palace building momentum at a crucial stage of the season as they push for promotion.
With the Eagles’ unbeaten in 6 matches, Weerden praised the resilience of the team after a slow start to the season, “I think we started the season a bit sloppy, a lot of draws, a lot of losses, and I think we really worked from that. And after the winter break, I think we stepped up as a team, but also individually, everyone stepped up. And I think now we know our game plan and we executed it well, I think we're so much more confident on the pitch.”
Crystal Palace sit in third place, just three points behind Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City in the race for automatic promotion, the Eagles face Sunderland and Portsmouth in their final two fixtures. Meanwhile, Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City meet on the final day, leaving the door firmly open for a place in the BWSL.
“It's up to us now, we have to win every game. There are 2 games left now, we just need to win our games.” Weerden said.
With little margin for error, Palace’s promotion hopes now hinge on maintaining their current form while relying on results elsewhere. The final day meeting between Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City couldprove decisive, but only if the Eagles take maximum points from their remaining fixtures.
Word credit: Dylan Saunders
