Women's Football Thread 2024/2025

[better dead than red]

To be fair, the WSL's preferred way forward (which was even more of a money grab) was to close the league off entirely. No more promotion and no more relegation. A way of getting US investors with a view to flipping the clubs in a few years time.

The fans, football writers and the FSA were overwhelmingly against that and in favour of expanding the league and opening the door up to more clubs outside the top division. The WSL have had to pull a u-turn in light of all that pushback.

One promotion spot just makes the WSL 2 way too difficult to get out of and discourages clubs from investing.

I'm in no way a fan of Michelle Kang but I think her London City Lionesses team are about to show that you can invest in a WSL2 side and shake things up a bit if you're promoted. They're not going to be getting turned over week in week out that's for sure. I think Newcastle are ready to start backing their women's side a lot more too and already getting decent attendances.

This expansion has the potential to open up the top division to teams who are ready to start taking things seriously and will hopefully be a wake up call for the top flight sides who have stood still for far too long.

In terms of the 7s format, I can't see us copying that over here given the massive prize money the existing version has.

You should be if you are truly interested in expanding sporting opportunities for girls and women. And by this, I don't just mean football but rugby and in general.

She advocates for equal treatment of men and women in sport and wants women to be trained in ways conducive to women and not just "this is how we've always done it with the men." Moreover, she would like to see more pay equality between women and men.

I'd suspect Esme Morgan,.and possibly Sandy McIver have a positive view of her. Both seem to be having a positive experience as members of her NWSL club. Perhaps they can see past her being an American and or of Korean heritage.

 

[mexico1970]

Moreover, she would like to see more pay equality between women and men.

That part is organic, bigger crowds more sponsorship etc, as it is it isn't going to happen.

 

[better dead than red]

That part is organic, bigger crowds more sponsorship etc, as it is it isn't going to happen.

It won't. I agree. However, there probably should be more parity between what the clubs bring in from revenue and what the women get paid, in my opinion.

 

[Mon Autre]

You should be if you are truly interested in expanding sporting opportunities for girls and women. And by this, I don't just mean football but rugby and in general.

She advocates for equal treatment of men and women in sport and wants women to be trained in ways conducive to women and not just "this is how we've always done it with the men." Moreover, she would like to see more pay equality between women and men.

I'd suspect Esme Morgan,.and possibly Sandy McIver have a positive view of her. Both seem to be having a positive experience as members of her NWSL club. Perhaps they can see past her being an American and or of Korean heritage.

Of course I agree with Michelle Kang in so far as much that I want to see women's sport platformed more, but I'm just wary of the fact that underneath that girlboss veneer there's another shady billionaire every bit as objectionable as the rest of them (i accept these are the times we live in but it doesn't mean I have to think she's a great person). Also think her decision to rebrand Lyon, one of the women's foootball teams with a strong tradition of its own, against the wishes of the fans, wasn't a great move.

Im genuinely excited to see what London City do next year though. It will be interesting to see if a team not affiliated to a big men's team can really do something. And it will be great if a promoted team can hold their own.

 

[better dead than red]

Of course I agree with Michelle Kang in so far as much that I want to see women's sport platformed more, but I'm just wary of the fact that underneath that girlboss veneer there's another shady billionaire every bit as objectionable as the rest of them (i accept these are the times we live in but it doesn't mean I have to think she's a great person). Also think her decision to rebrand Lyon, one of the women's foootball teams with a strong tradition of its own, against the wishes of the fans, wasn't a great move.

Im genuinely excited to see what London City do next year though. It will be interesting to see if a team not affiliated to a big men's team can really do something. And it will be great if a promoted team can hold their own.

Fair enough. I appreciate your well thought out reply.

I'm interested to see how London City gets on, as well. To have a stand alone team have some success could be good for the women's game.

 

[Mon Autre]

Fair enough. I appreciate your well thought out reply.

I'm interested to see how London City gets on, as well. To have a stand alone team have some success could be good for the women's game.

There's defo an opportunity for LCL to do something a bit different and they could pick up a lot of new fans through NOT being affiliated with a men's team.

 

[Alex6691]

There's defo an opportunity for LCL to do something a bit different and they could pick up a lot of new fans through NOT being affiliated with a men's team.

I think not being affiliated with a mens team is quite appealing to new fans as you say. For that reason, had it not been for LCL being in London, they may well have become my womens team before City ever did.

This is why I like the NWSL because the teams are mostly independent. I follow Angel City and have their home shirt for this season and it’s nice to follow a team that is separate entity to other clubs (though I believe LAFC are an investor nowadays)

 

[better dead than red]

There's defo an opportunity for LCL to do something a bit different and they could pick up a lot of new fans through NOT being affiliated with a men's team.

They perhaps could draw fans of the women's game who aren't native to London and don't have ties to a local club. If I lived there, I can't see myself giving money to Chelsea or Spurs, etc to watch their women play but would maybe take in a LCL match on occasion with my daughters.

 

[IrishBloodEnglishHeart]

We're off to see England against Jamaica on Sunday. If anyone knows anywhere decent to park around the King Power then let me know!

 

[SpeaksForItself]

Managed to get my daughter and I two tickets for England Vs Jamaica. Anyone know if Bunny will have recovered from injury by then?

Apparently not enough to be in the squad if my source is correct.

Interesting to see whether Keating or the USA-based keeper (Moorhouse) gets a run-out; if not both back-up keepers will have zero caps between them. (I'm not sure that playing against Jamaica will make that much difference other than to get any first match nerves out of the system.)

 

[Mon Autre]

Apparently not enough to be in the squad if my source is correct.

Interesting to see whether Keating or the USA-based keeper (Moorhouse) gets a run-out; if not both back-up keepers will have zero caps between them. (I'm not sure that playing against Jamaica will make that much difference other than to get any first match nerves out of the system.)

Strongly suspect she'll go with Hampton for this one. Having been switching it up between Earps and Hampton so often over the past 12 months we've hardly seen a settled GK and back 4 in the run up to this tournament. They need as much game time together as possible.

 

[IrishBloodEnglishHeart]

At the game. Not sure if The Goat is working with Jamaica but he just walked past me and my little girl, absolutely no one recognising him - "Shaun! Can my daughter have yo....." He just said no and walked off hahahaha.

Never meet you heroes.

 

[IrishBloodEnglishHeart]

Just getting into the women's side of the game for my daughter and went to the Lionesses game yesterday with her.

We were googling who some of the decent England players used to play for and it seems like they all used to play for City and left. Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh, Esme Morgan, even Ella Toone. Can we just not hang onto the decent players for some reason?

 

[JRockBlues]

Just getting into the women's side of the game for my daughter and went to the Lionesses game yesterday with her.

We were googling who some of the decent England players used to play for and it seems like they all used to play for City and left. Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh, Esme Morgan, even Ella Toone. Can we just not hang onto the decent players for some reason?

We used to regularly supply up to half the England squad for international games. Either age or a succession of poor managers have caught up with our squad these days. There are more ex-City players than current in the selection for the Euro's. We are also much more cosmopolitan in the make-up of our team and are technically better for it imho.

 

[IrishBloodEnglishHeart]

We used to regularly supply up to half the England squad for international games. Either age or a succession of poor managers have caught up with our squad these days. There are more ex-City players than current in the selection for the Euro's. We are also much more cosmopolitan in the make-up of our team and are technically better for it imho.

Good info, thank you

 

[Mon Autre]

Just getting into the women's side of the game for my daughter and went to the Lionesses game yesterday with her.

We were googling who some of the decent England players used to play for and it seems like they all used to play for City and left. Lucy Bronze, Keira Walsh, Esme Morgan, even Ella Toone. Can we just not hang onto the decent players for some reason?

Past couple of years we've done really well at retaining players. Jill Roord is the only one who has gone that we would have probably chosen to keep. Oh and Aleixandri but that's inevitable when you sign a a catalonian player. They wil always end up at Barca if they're half decent.

Bronze left after a disappointing season where she'd had a lot of injuries and whose best days were already behind her. Walsh was a bad one to lose but we got a good fee for her and she deserved her chance to compete for Champions League trophies. Plus we got Hasegawa in her place who is probably the better play of the tow of them at this point.

Morgan was unused and pushed out by Gareth Taylor rather than it being a case of us being unable to hold onto her.

Toone I wouldn't really class as one that got away. She's United through and through and was always gonna end up back there once they had a professional set up in place.

Since that summer where lots of players left though we've secured contract extensions for all of our best players, notably Lauren Hemp.

This year will be very telling though as I think shaw and Fowler wil both be heading into the last year of their contracts.

 

[SpeaksForItself]

Just to add to the above, if you include Bronze and Stanway (who had literally just left having played in the FA Cup final) and Scott (on loan at Villa) City made up 10 out of the 23 that won the Euros 3 years ago.

Morgan is an odd one, as she's definitely liked by Wiegman, but Kennedy always got the nod (in 23/24) when one of the back four was injured or (as was actually more often the case that year) suspended*.

You'd think that had she stayed she'd have been ahead of Prior and Layzell in the pecking order. (It remains to be seen whether Rose is better than her - I noticed she came on at half time for Canada on Saturday.)

As far as players whose contract is up next year we have:
Greenwood, Knaak (surprisingly short contract), Ouahabi(+), Park and the aforementioned Shaw and Fowler.

Fowler is the most interesting one as, let's face it, she (sadly) is unlikely to feature much if at all next season. (Kerr did her ACL back in January 24 and hasn't been seen for 18 months. Roord back in half the time was better that you could expect.)

(I wonder whether Beney is lined up as her replacement - it will be interesting how much she features for the Swiss.)

I'd love Bunny to stay, but I'd be very surprised if she wasn't tempted elsewhere as she'd easily fit into the likes of Lyon/Bayern.

(*Other than Roord's ACL and Bunny at the end, we were very lucky with injuries that year and effectively only used 14 players that year for 95%+ of the time)

(+ I know not a favourite of many, but she's back in the Spain squad)

 

[IrishBloodEnglishHeart]

Thanks both! Sounds like Taylor has fucked up a lot for us.

 

[SpeaksForItself]

Thanks both! Sounds like Taylor has fucked up a lot for us.

The flip side is in the last 5 years Chelsea have just become turbo-charged.

They've won 6 WSL titles on the spin, but the first two were basically 50/50 between us and them. In both seasons we lost the away match and narrowly failed to win the home game (Stanway missed a penalty in a 3-3 draw; and they were hanging on to 2-2 the following year), which would have won us the title both years. Our squads were pretty similar - we probably had a bit more depth, they had a better starting 11.

Since then, their squad has gained far greater depth than any other side in the WSL. Two seasons ago now (last year), we missed out on goal difference with - as I said above - basically a 14-woman squad and little beyond that.

As a City fan for over 4 decades, it would have been right up there with the Joe Royle (Championship) promotion year of 99/20 in terms of exceeding expectation. Literally nobody was tipping us to compete. I remember reading a pre-season preview which said something like "the side that will disappoint the most will be Manchester City". Other previews had us potentially finishing bottom half. Only Rachel Yankey at the end of the previous season said something like "City have got a young side it will be interesting to see how they develop". Everybody else it was Chelsea, Arsenal, Ragettes and Villa for the top 4.

Our squad now has gained a bit more depth, but it's still around 40% 21-or-under.

 

[IrishBloodEnglishHeart]

The flip side is in the last 5 years Chelsea have just become turbo-charged.

They've won 6 WSL titles on the spin, but the first two were basically 50/50 between us and them. In both seasons we lost the away match and narrowly failed to win the home game (Stanway missed a penalty in a 3-3 draw; and they were hanging on to 2-2 the following year), which would have won us the title both years. Our squads were pretty similar - we probably had a bit more depth, they had a better starting 11.

Since then, their squad has gained far greater depth than any other side in the WSL. Two seasons ago now (last year), we missed out on goal difference with - as I said above - basically a 14-woman squad and little beyond that.

As a City fan for over 4 decades, it would have been right up there with the Joe Royle (Championship) promotion year of 99/20 in terms of exceeding expectation. Literally nobody was tipping us to compete. I remember reading a pre-season preview which said something like "the side that will disappoint the most will be Manchester City". Other previews had us potentially finishing bottom half. Only Rachel Yankey at the end of the previous season said something like "City have got a young side it will be interesting to see how they develop". Everybody else it was Chelsea, Arsenal, Ragettes and Villa for the top 4.

Our squad now has gained a bit more depth, but it's still around 40% 21-or-under.

Thanks for this mate