St Helens and England speedster joins Super League champions York ahead of 2024
Eboni Partington in action for St Helens against Leeds Rhinos at Wembley - Alamy
St Helens have confirmed the departure of Eboni Partington, who joins Women’s Super League champions York Valkyrie on a two-year deal ahead of 2024, penning a professional contract.
The young winger is a product of the Saints academy, debuting back in 2019 and going on to score 18 tries in 41 appearances.
That tally includes a four-pointer under the arch in August as the Red Vee became the first women’s team to lift the Challenge Cup at Wembley, continuing their dominance in that competition with a third consecutive triumph.
Partington – who also scored a brace of tries in the 2022 Challenge Cup final at Elland Road in front of a then-record breaking crowd – featured for England last weekend at Headingley as they swept aside Wales in a 60-0 rout.
She leaves the Totally Wicked Stadium a League Leaders’ Shield and a Women’s Super League title to her name, joining another successful club in the women’s game in the shape of York.
St Helens and England speedster Eboni Partington joins Super League champions York Valkyrie ahead of 2024
Beating Leeds Rhinos 16-6 in the Grand Final on home soil at the LNER Community Stadium having gone unbeaten in the league all year, Valkyrie this term clinched their first Super League title. They had previously lifted the League Leaders’ Shield in 2022 but lost out to Leeds in the Grand Final.
Having sealed that first title however, York have made huge strides forward in recent weeks, with the vast majority of their squad penning their first professional deals ahead of 2024, including new recruit Partington and reigning Woman of Steel Sinead Peach.
York released a statement on their website today suggesting that Partington is the final addition to their squad ahead of next season, with a total of 20 players on board under Director of Rugby Lindsay Anfield.
Those 20 are as follows: Tara Jane Stanley, Liv Wood, Sinead Peach, Tamzin Renouf, Emma Kershaw, Liv Gale, Jas Bell, Lacey Owen, Savannah Andrade, Rhiannon Marshall, Georgie Hetherington, Jess Sharp, Ash Hyde, Sade Rihari, Ellie Hendry, Daisy Sanderson, Bettie Lambert, Kelsey Gentles, Georgia Taylor, Eboni Partington.