Deadline for teams to stay in the revamped top two tiers has passed, with Watford and Sunderland announcing that they are not even applyingThe deadline for Women’s Super League clubs to apply to stay in the top two tiers next season closed last Friday. Less than 50 days after announcing the controversial plans to restructure women’s football, clubs have had to submit details of how they will meet the new strict criteria set out by the Football Association that will see the establishment of a fully professional top tier and semi-professional second tier. The changes have brought a mixed response from clubs and now we have the first glimpse of their effects.Last Tuesday the WSL 2 club Watford announced they would...
WSL 1 clubs are leading the way as the group stage passes its midway point. Next season’s league changes will exacerbate the divideAfter a lengthy international break the Women’s Super League has again paused, this time for a round of FA WSL Continental Cup games. For those unfamiliar with the competitions in women’s football, the Continental Cup is a League Cup-type competition for the 20 clubs that make up WSL1 and WSL2.This competition, like the women’s leagues, has had its fair share of tinkering. It was preceded by the Women’s Premier League Cup, which now serves the 72 clubs below the top tiers, and has bounced between being an out-and-out knock-out competition and having an initial group stage. Related: Reading’s...
By challenging the powers that be in their sports the England footballer and the NFL quarter-back have rendered future players a valuable serviceIn the summer of 2016, during pre-season, the NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat alone on a bench during the national anthem before the San Francisco 49ers’ friendly against the Green Bay Packers.His action marked the beginning of a remarkable season of protest in the league, in which he knelt during the anthem for all 16 games, and triggered a movement that has continued into this season. Related: Eniola Aluko: the footballing whistleblower whose hero is Atticus Finch Despite the barrage of abuse and the might of the sporting organisations pitted against them, both have won Related: Colin Kaepernick...
Society moves forward when brave individuals question the status quo – and now the FA has its own chance to be courageous by undergoing radical reformAs a mixed-heritage young Englishman, one of the best days of my life and proudest moments of my career was representing my country at under‑21 level, being a part of an occasion where we played in the first match at the newly built Wembley stadium.Stepping out on to the hallowed turf, wearing that white shirt and hearing the national anthem in front of my family, both black and white, still gives me goose bumps and fills me with pride at not only representing the country I am proud to be a citizen of but also...
The Norwegian FA’s decision to offer male and female international players equal pay comes at a time when women’s teams are still battling for fairnessA standard has been set. Last week the Norwegian football association announced that their women’s national team will now be paid the same as their men’s side. They are the first national FA to have devised an equal pay deal, just a few months after Lewes vowed to do the same for their semi-professional players at The Dripping Pan. This latest deal is especially significant, coming at a time when women’s national teams are standing up and demanding more from the shirt they pull on, and the countries they represent on the international stage.International women footballers...