Gareth Taylor’s side were pipped to top spot by Chelsea on the final day, with only goal difference denying us what would’ve been our second-ever WSL title.
But it was a season to remember, with City equalling our highest-ever points tally in the top flight and matching the record for the longest winning run in the competition’s history in the process.
Our incredible progress this season was down to a collective effort, but there’s also opportunity to celebrate the individual success of the team by looking at some of the end-of-season statistics.
Indeed, Khiara Keating and Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw ended the season with both the Golden Glove and Golden Boot respectively, while Lauren Hemp also topped the assist charts for 2023/24.
Below is a quick rundown of their impressive individual campaigns…
Golden Glove: Khiara Keating
The young stopper enjoyed a remarkable season, cementing herself as a regular between the sticks and breaking into the England senior squad in the process.
In total, Keating grabbed nine clean sheets across the campaign, becoming the first City player to win the Golden Glove since Ellie Roebuck in 2019/20.
City ended the season with the best defensive record in the WSL, conceding just 15 goals across the entire campaign.
And Keating was crucial to that, producing a string of remarkable saves in key moments, such as in the dying seconds against Chelsea as Gareth Taylor’s side held on for a 1-0 win.
Indeed, according to the post-shot expected goals metric, which calculates how likely a goalkeeper is to save a shot, City should’ve finished the campaign having shipped six more than we actually did.
Golden Boot: Bunny Shaw
Another season of superlatives for Shaw ended with her becoming the first City player to claim the WSL’s Golden Boot.
The Jamaican’s 21 strikes in just 18 league appearances saw her comfortably finish top of the chart, eight clear of her nearest rivals.
She averaged a goal every 66 minutes in the WSL, claiming hat-tricks against Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Liverpool over the space of four league games between November and January.
Shaw reached that tally with just 61 shots, meaning she averaged finding the net once every three times she tried her luck.
Becoming the first player to score three WSL hat-tricks in a calendar year, breaking the Club’s scoring record and also being named FWA Footballer of the Year and WSL Player of the Year are further accolades to add to Shaw’s incredible campaign.
Most Assists: Lauren Hemp
To complete the set, Lauren Hemp also led the way in the assists chart, setting up a team-mate eight times in her 21 WSL appearances.
It means she averaged an assist just over every 2.5 appearances, creating 37 chances in total across the league season.
That means she sparked a scoring opportunity, on average, 1.76 times every 90 minutes.
She registered five of those assists in the final seven WSL matches of the campaign, with the winger grabbing nine goal involvements in total during that period.
Incredibly, Hemp’s team-mate Mary Fowler was her closest rival with six assists across 21 appearances, with Chloe Kelly and Jess Park also figuring in the top ten with five apiece.
