Neve Herron won the WSL 2 Rising Star award on Monday after helping Birmingham City finish as champions and win promotion to the top tier. Lily Crosthwaite took the WSL 2 Player of the Season award on the same night, as both players were named in the Team of the Season.
Herron, who played in 21 of Birmingham City’s 22 league games, said the awards night showed the level of talent coming through in the game. Birmingham finished above Palace and sealed the title on the final day with a 2-0 win over Charlton Athletic, a result that confirmed their return to the top division after a season built on consistency.
The 24-year-old has been a key part of that push. She spent four years at Sunderland between 2019 and 2023 before moving to the Midlands, where she has now spent three seasons, and she said the change has helped her game. Herron said she had moved away, sacrificed a lot and taken on a new challenge because she wanted to see what she could achieve.
That move, she said, has been worth it. Herron said that since leaving Sunderland and finding a new experience, she has been able to excel, and now feels ready for another step. She said a place in the Women’s Super League has always been an ambition and that she is now ready for the next challenge.
Her comments also pointed back to where she came from. Herron said there is a lot of talent in the north east that goes unnoticed, and that there are not as many opportunities there as in other parts of the country. She added that things should improve with Newcastle and Sunderland being taken over by new owners Bay Collective, saying that development can only help the region grow.
Herron said she hopes that progress brings more money into women’s football and gives more players a chance to develop. She said the game should not grow in just one part of the country, arguing that investment needs to reach places like the north east as well.
For Birmingham, the season ended with silverware and promotion. For Herron, it ended with a personal prize, a place in the team of the season and a clear next target. The question now is whether the form that carried her through 21 of 22 games is enough to carry her into the WSL as well.
