After joyous summer English women’s football faces a battle for its soul | Jonathan Liew


Danger lies ahead if the game follows the men’s lead and ends up locked in a toxifying money-driven arms race to the top

Rule number one of English football: when Leah Williamson tells you to do something, you do it. Particularly when she is screaming it at you over the din over 90,000 supporters at Wembley. “We want them to come to WSL games!” she yelled of the 17 million viewers watching the triumphant climax of the Euro 2022 final on the BBC.

Happily, the public have taken Williamson’s advice to heart. Something has changed here. On Friday night, Arsenal and Brighton kicked off the new Super League season with a sell-out at Meadow Park. Manchester City have already sold 20,000 tickets for their derby against Manchester United in December.

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