Chambers captures three | Burns, Wade & Wellings

Chambers "It's a sign of our intent!" 

Reading FC Women are pleased to announce the signing of three new players who will link up with Kelly Chambers’ squad for the upcoming season.

Northern Ireland duo Jacqueline Burns and Lauren Wade plus former England Youth International Charlie Wellings have joined up with the squad in pre-season after putting pen to paper on deals with the Royals.

Goalkeeper, Jacqueline Burns, joins Reading off the back of her successful UEFA EURO 2022 campaign with Northern Ireland where she featured in all three of their Group A matches against Norway, Austria and England.

The 25-year-old started her career at Mid-Ulster in Cookstown, Northern Ireland before moving to the USA in 2015 to play for Carson-Newman Eagles where she featured 66 times across her three years with the club. Following on from her stint in the USA, Burns signed for ÍBV (Iceland) in 2019 before returning to Northern Ireland for a two-year stint with Glentoran then joining Swedish side Bollklubben Häcken Fotbollförening.

Over a period of 9 years since her debut for the Northern Ireland senior team, Burns has amassed 39 caps which has included the qualifying campaign for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Kelly Chambers highlighted the importance of bringing in a player of Jaqueline’s calibre to bolster the squad ahead of the new season.

“I want it to be a challenging environment, and that goes for outfielders and goalkeepers and I want to make sure that we're pushing each other every day and that obviously Jackie showed what she's about the Euros this year.”

“I think she she's got a good future ahead of her and I'm excited to work with her and really try and better in at the club here and really push her and make sure that she's a part of this challenging environment.”

Winger, Lauren Wade, signs for the Royals from Northern Ireland side Glentoran, linking up with International teammate Burns again, having played with each other at two previous clubs.

28-year-old Wade started her senior career with Coleraine Ladies FC before joining Glentoran Women in 2014. Following her two-year spell at Glentoran, Wade went to the USA linking up with Burns at Carson-Newman Eagles in 2016. She made 23 appearances and scored 18 times across 2016 and 2017 before leaving America to go to Sweden where she signed for Umeå IK. Wade featured five times and scored twice for Umeå IK before moving to Scotland where she signed for Glasgow City in the Scottish Women’s Premier League. Wade then linked up with Burns again signing on for a second stint at Glentoran in 2021.

Wade made her debut for the Northern Ireland senior team in 2015 and has since earned 41 caps and scored 7 goals featuring in the qualifying campaign for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Wade was also selected in the Northern Ireland squad for their UEFA EURO 2022 campaign and featured in all three group games.

Kelly Chambers explains how much of an exciting signing Lauren is to the team and how she can bring something new to the table.

“We've been watching Lauren for a little bit and obviously I think the euros I think she really stood out for Northern Ireland and for what for what this club is about and what we are about as a team.”

“I can see her fitting in really well, what she gives us is something different to what I have in my front line right now and so I've got a good variety across the board.”

“I'm excited to bring her in and again to bolster the squad and make sure I've got a good depth for my squad this season to for me to have in a challenging environment.”

Striker, Charlie Wellings, pens a deal for Reading bringing more WSL experience into Kelly Chamber’s side.

Wellings came through the youth set-up at Birmingham City where she then went on to make her debut in 2014 in the WSL Cup in a tie against Oxford United where she featured off the bench. She signed her first senior contract with Birmingham City in 2015 where she would spend the next four years. During her time in the Midlands, she featured 59 times scoring 10 times, including a goal at Wembley in the 2017 FA Women’s Cup Final during Birmigham’s 4-1 defeat to Manchester City.

In 2019, Wellings joined Bristol City on a pre-contract agreement to continue her time in the WSL. She made 33 appearances scoring three times during her two-years for The Robins. In 2021 Charlie left the WSL for SWPL side Celtic where she scored 40 goals in 34 appearances helping them to a 3^rd place finish in the league and featured as a part of their UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifying campaign.

The 24-year-old featured for England at U20 and U21 level winning 10 caps and scoring four goals.  

Wellings is an exciting signing for the club and Kelly Chambers reflects on what she’s proven that she can do but also looks forward to what Charlie will be able to bring going forwards.

“I think Charlie's shown in the last season that she's a goal scorer, she scored 40 goals last season for Celtic”

“I want to have a challenging environment, I want more depth, but also to have the quality to make sure that we're competing in this league and Charlie definitely adds that but alongside that, she has experience in this league she's been here she's done it.”

“Now in terms of across that front line, hopefully she can come in and do what she's been doing and again for us we want to work with her want to develop her and try and push her as much as possible.”

Chambers on summer activity 

After the confirmation of these three deals, it brings the Royals total incomings up to five this summer, as Chambers states one of the biggest aims for the summer was to add quality in depth to help the team manage with a busy schedule.

“The good thing is I’ve kept the majority of the squad, and I think that was one of our biggest targets during the summer, so it gave us something to build on.

“We obviously had our highs and lows last season, but I want to see an improvement in our consistency, and I think a big part of that was due to fitness and injuries which took over the squad.

“I feel with the introduction of these players we’ve confirmed today, plus Brooke [Hendrix] and Becky [Jane], we already have greater quality in depth, so I can protect the players better and avoid taking any risks.

“The luxury of having depth, is also providing competition for places. I need people to feel they must fight for the shirt, whether that be looking to start, or keep their place. This, I believe, will only complement and enhance our performances throughout the whole season, and I’m really happy with the work we’ve done so far.”

See them in action

For the first time since 2018, the Royals will launch their new season at home as they welcome newly promoted Liverpool to the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Sunday 11th September, 2pm kick-off and you can be there supporting the team.

Whether you’ve backed the team in seasons gone by, or you want to kick off your journey in supporting Women’s Football, we look forward to seeing your support for the Royals this year! Tickets are on sale now with prices starting from just £4.