Southampton announce five-player exit list

Southampton have announced the news that five players will be leaving the club this summer. 

The Saints recorded a fourth-place finish in this season’s Barclays Women’s Championship, their highest ranking to date.

Following the conclusion of the season, Southampton have confirmed that five players will be moving on. It was revealed yesterday that club captain Rosie Parnell is departing after announcing her retirement from football. The Saints have now confirmed that Laura Rafferty, Lexi Lloyd-Smith, Megan Wynne and Beth Howard will also be leaving the club this summer when their contracts come to an end.

Defender Rafferty will end her three-year stay at Southampton having made 64 appearances for the club in all competitions in which she has scored four goals. She played a key role in the club’s FA Women’s National League promotion success in 2021/2022.

Teammates Lloyd-Smith, Wynne and Howard are all moving on after featuring for The Saints over the last two seasons. Attacker Lloyd-Smith made 41 appearances for Southampton in which she scored five goals while midfielder Wynne made 37 appearances. Goalkeeper Howard featured on eight occasions. She was the club’s third-choice goalkeeper during the second half of this season and enjoyed a short spell on-loan at Watford.

Southampton have no less than 15 players under contract for next season, those being Kayla Rendell, Milly Mott, Lucia Kendall, Chloe Peplow, Rianna Dean, Benedicte Haaland, Molly Pike, Emma Thompson, Emily Kraft, Isabel Milne, Alice Griffiths, Atlanta Primus, Jemma Purfield, Megan Collett and Paige Peake. 

In addition, the club are in contract negotiations with Ella Morris, Katie Wilkinson and Sophia Pharoah.

Further squad news will be announced by Southampton throughout the close season.