Bristol City have signed the Wales midfielder Sophie Ingle on a free transfer in a move that takes her back to the club she first joined 11 years ago.
Ingle left Chelsea, the Women’s Super League champions, when her contract ended last season after a trophy-laden, seven-year spell in which she won five league titles, three Women’s FA Cups and two League Cups, and her move to the second tier will be one of the highest-profile WSL 2 signings of this window.
She had been an integral part of the Chelsea side that has dominated the WSL era, before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury last September. She returned to the pitch in time to go to Euro 2025 as part of Wales’s squad and played in their group-stage fixture against France in Switzerland, capping a hard-fought journey back to the pitch after 281 days on the sidelines.
A former Wales captain, she has 142 senior international caps for her country and also played for Team GB at the Olympics in Japan in 2021. She also awarded an OBE in 2023 for services to football.
The 33-year-old will return to play for the club she represented in the 2014/15 campaign – when the women’s leagues used a summer calendar and the club were known as Bristol Academy – before joining Liverpool, where she was twice the players’ player of the year.
Bristol City are understood to not have been the only club that attempted to sign Ingle this summer, but she was ultimately attracted to the club’s ambition as they seek to mount a promotion push. She has signed a two-year contract, with a further year’s option.
Her arrival will add to a busy summer at Bristol City, who appointed Charlotte Healy as their head coach in June. Healy moved to Ashton Gate after six years working at Manchester United, where she ultimately became the assistant coach to the manager, Marc Skinner. She has also coached at Liverpool and Manchester City. She replaced Steve Kirby, who left Bristol City in May after the team finished second in the Championship, which has since been renamed as WSL 2.
Ingle said: “After speaking to Charlotte and [hearing] everything that the club offers both on and off the pitch, it felt like a good fit. The club wants to get promoted and I love winning. It is going to be tough in this league, but I want to get back playing to the best I can and offer as much as I can for this team.”
Liverpool have named Gareth Taylor as their head coach on a long-term contract. Taylor was identified as the first choice earlier this summer but his appointment was delayed by the need to resolve a matter relating to his contract at his former club Manchester City, who sacked him in March.
Taylor replaces Matt Beard, who left in February. The interim head coach, Amber Whiteley, is among the staff working under Taylor, who won an FA Cup and League Cup at City. “Everyone in football knows about the history, size and potential of this club,” Taylor said, “and I am really looking forward to the task ahead.”
City have signed the goalkeeper Eartha Cumings from Rosengård on a three-year deal. The 26-year-old Scot’s previous clubs include Liverpool and Charlton.
