Hopcroft praises the role of Palace Women’s crowds

The Eagles put six goals past London City Lionesses – including one for midfielder Hopcroft against her former club – to run out 6-1 winners in front of over 800 supporters in Sutton.

That result followed not long after a big win on the road at Blackburn Rovers (4-0) and a resounding 9-1 victory over Durham in Palace’s previous home outing, making the Eagles comfortably top scorers in the Women’s Championship with 23 goals in just six games.

They will be hoping to bring similar entertainment to SE25 next month when they return to Selhurst Park to host Southampton on Sunday, 19th November – with tickets now available for 50% off!

“It's amazing,” Hopcroft told cpfc.co.uk, speaking about the Eagles’ backing this season. “I can hear them singing so loudly and I love it.

“It’s a good vibe and it just makes you feel good out on the pitch. I'm happy out there and I hope that everyone keeps coming back.

“I love it when people come along and watch us, so to hear them that loud as well, it's definitely motivating. I'm sure it's the same for the rest of the team too.”

Crystal Palace Women's next fixture is against Charlton Athletic on Sunday, 22nd October at The Valley, before a home match against Lewes on Sunday, 12th November (14:00 GMT), with tickets for that game also now on sale.

Reflecting on an impressive goal against her former side, London City, Hopcroft admitted: “I’ve many emotions! It does feel good to score, but it feels even better that we won.

“It feels very good because it came in a three-game week, with a lot of minutes to manage. London City are a tough team to play. Every win is an important win. This one felt good obviously because I played for them before, but overall it felt really good to get an important win.

“We rode the wave in the first-half; it was really difficult to break them down, and they were very compact and together. But we kept going, kept trying, tried different things and listened to our coaches. That’s the most important thing; we were able to fight through it and then score some goals.”

Asked for the reason behind Palace’s free-scoring form this season, Hopcroft laughed: “I don’t know! We just keep trying new things, I suppose.

“I think it's the togetherness, to be honest, and just things that we practice in training help us to just keep scoring.

“Honestly, I think it's a lot down to the coaches and the girls; the coaches because they believe in us, but the girls because everyone has come together and I think it shows.

“I feel that and I'm able to relax and just be myself because the girls have allowed me to do that. I think that's the same for everyone else.”