West Ham Women will face Aston Villa in a pre-season friendly on Sunday 30 August, giving summer signing Ebony Salmon the opportunity to come up against her former club before the new WSL campaign begins.
West Ham officially confirmed the fixture on Thursday, with Rita Guarino’s side set to travel to Keys Park in Staffordshire as preparations for 2026/27 continue.
Villa have also confirmed Keys Park as their secondary home venue for the new season, making the friendly one of the first opportunities for their squad to use the Hednesford Town ground.
West Ham Women Aston Villa friendly gives Guarino another test
The fixture should be particularly interesting for Salmon.
The England forward left Aston Villa to join West Ham earlier this summer, becoming part of an extensive recruitment drive under Guarino.
ReadWestHam detailed Salmon’s arrival as part of the club’s summer transfer activity, with the striker signing a two-year contract after leaving Villa. She joined a group of new arrivals that also includes Laia Codina, Katie Zelem, Constance Picaud, Nadine Riesen and Niamh Peacock.
The Villa friendly provides another useful opportunity for those additions to develop relationships before competitive football returns.
It comes during a busy period across West Ham. The men’s side are preparing for their first competitive fixture against Portsmouth on Saturday, with ReadWestHam examining the selection issues facing Nuno Espírito Santo ahead of the Carabao Cup tie.
Guarino has a little more preparation time available, but expectations around her rebuilt squad will be higher after such an active transfer window.
Villa should provide a useful WSL-level examination shortly before those results begin to count.
For Salmon in particular, the fixture adds a personal subplot to what would otherwise be another pre-season test.
