Ava Rowbotham becomes latest Portsmouth Women player to pen new professional contract

Portsmouth are continuing to build their women's squad as it enters its professional era with Ava Rowbotham signing a new contract.

Pompey Women announced on X [10 July] that vice-captain Rowbotham had agreed a full-time deal with the club, becoming the 13th player this summer to stay on a professional basis.

Rowbotham has been a key player since her arrival in 2020, making over 100 appearances in the Portsmouth midfield and being made vice-skipper by head coach Jay Sadler last year.

Portsmouth Women preparing for Championship

The standard of the Women's Championship - the second tier of English women's football - is rapidly rising and Portsmouth are doing their utmost to keep pace, following a steep trajectory in recent years.

In going from amateur to semi-pro and finally professional all in the space of little over a year, Pompey are making the most of crucial investment from the Tornante Company to look to establish themselves in the division following the roaring promotion success of last term.

With the number of current players signing new pro deals now into the teens, the next phase has to be securing a clutch of new signings to bolster the squad.

This is being done by fellow promoted club Newcastle United, whose owners are unsurprisingly investing heavily into an exciting ascent to quick success and whose attendances when they play at St. James' Park often surpass 20,000.

Captain Hannah Haughton and prolific forward Emma Jones are crucially among those alongside Rowbotham to have agreed professional terms at Westleigh Park, so the Blues are so far doing everything right.

In other Portsmouth news, John Mousinho discusses how the new arrivals have impacted the men's team in pre-season.

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