The two Manchester clubs are on the rise while Arsenal have made signings in an attempt to stop the rotWest Ham battled well to claim a 1-1 draw with Tottenham on Sunday night after Hawa Cissoko put her team in the worst possible position. The Hammers were 1-0 down after 54 minutes and Cissoko, who was responsible for the tackle that led to Spurs’ penalty, was sent off two minutes later for a second yellow card. But West Ham managed to claw back a point in the dying moments through a Kate Longhurst header in the 92nd minute. The comeback highlights the team’s progression as last season they could well have sunk being a goal and a player down. But...
The tournament in England could be huge as the hosts are contenders and the game is championed as never beforeWe are becoming accustomed to hearing moments in women’s sport – on and off various fields, pitches, courts, pools and tracks – be described as gamechanging. It could be seen as an overused phrase or an exaggeration given how frequently it is rolled out. Except women’s sport is benefiting from a broader movement and advocacy for women in society generally – against sexism and abuses, for reproductive rights and equal pay – and the broad increase in consciousness around these issues.What is no longer acceptable in wider society is also not acceptable in women’s sport and athletes, coaches and the women’s...
Teams with new managers and a point between them meet on Sunday and a win could be a huge step away from the dropFew matches arrive with much jeopardy just nine games into a 22-game season but on the eve of the Women’s Super League winter break, Sunday’s meeting of Leicester City and Birmingham could not feel any more tense.For both teams, who are separated by the single point Birmingham collected from a 1-1 draw with West Ham in October, with new managers hired last month, taking three points at Filbert Way could swing fortunes and provide the first step away from the WSL’s single relegation place. Continue reading...
With tough games following one after the other there has been no chance for respite between important European tiesThere is often discussion and debate, friendly and fiery, over which league tops the rest in terms of competitive balance, investment and the quality of the product on the pitch.In many ways these are abstract discussions to which we will never really have a clear answer. That is in part because women’s football is not a static beast but a living, breathing creature with its development constantly in flux and uneven, which means finding a fair barometer is close to impossible. Continue reading...
Women’s game deserves greater investment than the men’s, but instead the pay gap is getting widerWhen Chelsea’s Sam Kerr raced clear of Steph Catley in the FA Cup final on Sunday before delightfully dinking the ball over the Arsenal goalkeeper, Manuela Zinsberger, it was football at its finest – men’s or women’s. To add some context to her impressively relentless performance Kerr had flown to Australia, played twice against the US, the world champions, recovered from a stomach bug, landed back in the UK on Thursday and took part in one training session before the final. Continue reading...