Portsmouth ‘cult hero’ leaves to join Bournemouth for undisclosed fee
Portsmouth Women are going through a massive upheaval during this summer.
Manager Jay Sadler has been forced to rebuild his team, having released six players and lost another six loan signings back to their parent clubs.
He’s also recently parted ways with Riva Carsley, who made the decision to rejoin Oxford United.
Now, the team is having to deal with losing one of their most important and popular players.
Sophie Quirk says goodbye to Portsmouth Women
Sophie Quirk has made the decision to pursue a full-time career alongside part-time football.
For this reason, she asked to leave Portsmouth Women, and she has now signed for AFC Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee.
Since joining Portsmouth in 2022, she made 88 appearances, scoring 44 goals. Not bad for a winger.
She was an important part of Sadler’s team last season, scoring five goals. That included two in the inal-day win against Blackburn Rovers that sealed Portsmouth’s place in the Women’s Championship.
Speaking after her departure, Sadler called Quirk a “cult hero”.
He admitted that he was expecting to have her in his team this season and was disappointed with her decision.
“It’s extremely disappointing to lose a player of Sophie’s ability. She’s been a cornerstone of our recent success, and we’d have hoped she’d be with us going into the new WSL 2 campaign,” he said.
#Pompey Women can confirm that Sophie Quirk has opted to leave the club in order to pursue a full-time career alongside part-time football.
— Portsmouth Women (@PompeyWomen) July 16, 2025
She has therefore completed a permanent transfer to AFC Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee.
Thank you for everything, Quirky. 💙
Portsmouth Women will be underdogs in the upcoming season
Portsmouth did fantastically well to avoid relegation last season. It was their first season in the Women’s Championship and their first as full-time professionals.
They looked doomed in the first half of the campaign, but with the help of some inspired signings by Sadler, they managed to turn things around to secure safety on the final game of the season.
| Appearances | Minutes Played | Goals | Assists |
| 24 | 1935 | 5 | 1 |
This achievement was so momentous that Salder earned the WSL2 Manager of the Season award.
Now, it’s his job to build a team capable of staying in the division again. It won’t be easy considering he’s so many players, but if there’s one person who’s up to the job, it’s him.
His rebuild has started well. Jazz Bull and Lucy Johnson have signed, but several more recruits are needed and the loss of ‘cult hero’ Quirk will count as a significant setback.
Sign up for the Pompey News WhatsApp channel and turn on notifications to have all the latest, breaking Portsmouth news sent straight to your phone.