On 25th January, Villa announced the appointment of Marcus Bignot as interim manager, with the current coaching team, including current manager Gemma Davies, remaining in their current roles.

Davies, who had taken Villa into the top flight of Women’s football for the first time in the club’s history, was widely regarded to have been extremely poorly treated in what was a clear demotion.

That Bignot’s recent experience had extended to four years as joint manager of Guiseley in National League North stretched credulity beyond belief.

Further confusion was caused when it was revealed that Bignot and Davies would be directly competing for the permanent managerial position.

It is a credit to the coaching staff and players involved that the season did not immediately implode into chaos and broken morale from this point forward.

Quite what Villa were thinking isn’t clear; however, the deeply divisive character that was Women’s Sporting Director Eniola Aluko was believed to be the driving force behind the bizarre move.

That both ‘managers’ and Alukpo would be relieved of their duties at the end of the season simply made Villa look very foolish and very lucky in equal measure.

Meanwhile, on the pitch, Villa lose for the eighth time in eleven WSL games.

2020-21 WSL Appearance & Goal Record
GK Lisa Weiß 🇩🇪 2020-21 WSL 🕒 10 | ✅ 10 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 1 | 🇺1 |
D Asmita Ale 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 7 | ✅ 5 | 🔁 2 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺4 |
CB Elisha N'Dow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 11 | ✅ 9 | 🔁 2 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CB Anita Asante 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 9 | ✅ 9 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺2 |
D Natalie Haigh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 10 | ✅ 10 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 1 | 🇺1 |
M Marisa Ewers 🇩🇪 2020-21 WSL 🕒 10 | ✅ 9 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺1 |
M Nadine Hanssen 🇳🇱 2020-21 WSL 🕒 8 | ✅ 5 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺3 |
F Sophie Haywood 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 7 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 4 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺3 |
F Mana Iwabuchi 🇯🇵 2020-21 WSL 🕒 3 | ✅ 2 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
F Shania Hayles 🇯🇲 2020-21 WSL 🕒 11 | ✅ 7 | 🔁 4 | ⚽ 2 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
F Stine Larsen 🇩🇰 2020-21 WSL 🕒 8 | ✅ 8 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
M Amy West 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 3 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺8 |
F Diana Silva 🇵🇹 2020-21 WSL 🕒 9 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 6 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺2 |
M Emma Follis 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 9 | ✅ 7 | 🔁 2 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 3 | 🇺2 |
FB Caroline Siems 🇩🇪 2020-21 WSL 🕒 10 | ✅ 9 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺1 |
GK Sian Rogers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 1 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺9 |
D Jodie Hutton 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 7 | ✅ 2 | 🔁 5 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺3 |
M Emily Syme 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 8 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 7 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺3 |
M Olivia McLoughlin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 1 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺2 |
M Ramona Petzelberger 🇩🇪 2020-21 WSL 🕒 9 | ✅ 9 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 3 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
M Chloë Arthur 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 7 | ✅ 6 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
FB Ella Franklin-Fraiture 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 6 | ✅ 6 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺1 |
GK Charlotte Clark 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 2020-21 WSL 🕒 0 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺1 |

“I am delighted to be able to help at such a progressive club in women’s football. It is also a great opportunity to mentor a talented young coaching group led by Gemma.”
**Marcus Bignot**

“Marcus is a very welcome addition to our club and has an enormous amount of experience in the game which we want to tap into.”
**Eniola Aluko**