The switch from a summer to winter season has been a big talking point but the real interest once the action starts this weekend will be how promoted clubs fare in the two WSL divisionsThe Women’s Super League starts a new chapter this weekend. Since its launch in 2011 the league has been played during the summer months, now it embarks on its maiden winter season. The gap created by the switch was filled by the Spring Series, a one-off mini-league that helped give game time to players before the summer’s European Championship finals.The WSL now has 20 teams competing across two leagues. BBC Online and BT Sport are broadcasting more games than ever before. Some of the best players...
Sunderland’s relocation from the Academy of Light and from their ground makes them the first casualties of the switch to a winter Women’s Super League season but the parallels with PSG show this is a wider issueThe decision of Sunderland to relocate their women’s team miles from home – turfed off the Academy of Light training pitches and out of their Hetton Centre home ground – follows a worrying pattern. The move, from the club that kickstarted the careers of a host of England internationals now laden with silverware such as Lucy Bronze, Jill Scott, Demi Stokes, Jordan Nobbs and the Manchester City and England captain Steph Houghton, is a further blow to a team who seemed to be thriving...
One-sided victories for the top sides in Europe’s best leagues prove their strength but also highlight how financial differences are already distorting women’s gameThe winter-scheduled FA Women’s Super League 1 kicks off on 22 September with Everton – chosen to replace Notts County, who have folded, in the top flight – hosting the 2013 and 2014 league winners Liverpool. The Merseyside derby will be shown on BT Sport.Last weekend, though, France, Germany and Spain welcomed the start of their 2017-18 seasons, providing the first chance to look at how the giants of European football have strengthened and to see some of the major players of Euro 2017 back in action for their clubs. Related: Holland edge past Denmark in thriller...
FA’s decision to hold World Cup qualifiers games in football outposts misses opportunity to build on the high profile enjoyed by the Lionesses at Euro 2017It was impossible not to be inspired by the fight of the England Lionesses in Euro 2017 – from the grit against possession-heavy France and Spain to the goalscoring heroics of the golden boot winner, Jodie Taylor. The huge disappointment that Mark Sampson’s side did not come home clasping silverware, as the highest-ranked side left in play at the penultimate round, is balanced by pride in England’s second consecutive semi-final at a major tournament. That pride is easy. This team feels like a side not far off making that crucial final leap.With investment and participation on...
Six months before Euro 2017 the hosts were in disarray but their coach galvanised the players into a team who dominated the tournamentThe jubilant faces of the newly crowned European champions were splashed across the front of almost every major Dutch newspaper – regional and national – on Monday. “Undefeated champions,” De Volkskrant proudly boasted. “FENOMENAAL” was Algemeen Dagblad’s summary.It has been a remarkable rise for the women in orange, who made their first appearance at a World Cup finals only in 2015 but have now reached the continental summit, putting an end to Germany’s 22-year-monopoly of the European crown. Related: Holland edge past Denmark in thriller to secure Euro 2017 title Continue reading...