New leadership, new players, new managers and big ambitions. The Women’s Super League kicks off on Friday night with expectations high, but should they be? What will this campaign look like and how do we judge its success?
The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw famously said: “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” In a season underpinned by huge change, with the ownership of the WSL and Championship transferring out of the hands of the Football Association and to Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL), being open-minded is key, but so is being analytical and, where necessary, critical.
The change in ownership will throw up few material differences for fans: relegation and promotion remain the same, no attempt has been made to change the league sizes and the broadcast deal with Sky and the BBC rolls over for another year. What needs to be watched, then, is what goes on off the pitch, in the stands (in terms of attendances) and behind the scenes.
A new broadcast deal is out to tender, but hopes of a significant increase are being tempered. Inquiries about the broadcast blackout at 3pm on Saturday being lifted were strongly rebuffed, meaning there is no regular women’s-football-only slot, and that affects the interest of broadcasters.
To help fund the launch of WPLL, the Premier League has provided a £20m long-term loan “on favourable terms”, according to WPLL’s chief executive, Nikki Doucet. The Premier League and, as part of its golden share, the FA have seats on the WPLL board, but long-term income for the league is vital.
There will be more women’s games than ever hosted at clubs’ main stadiums. That will hopefully deliver an attendance boost but, with no World Cup or Euros to spring from, a slight dip should not be viewed as a failure.
Expect this to be a season of experimentation and water-testing as WPLL finds its commercial and football feet. Doucet said: “We can’t be afraid to fail. We have to be able to try new things.” Some allowances should be made for errors but there has to be scrutiny of the types of commercial deals done, the general commercialisation of the game, the funding splits to the leagues and clubs and how central the fan and player voice is. The future of the leagues could swing in different directions and this is the season to let feelings be known.
In football terms, there have been big changes too, with four new managers adding an element of the unknown.
Chelsea will get the season under way against Aston Villa at Kingsmeadow. The champions have been in impressive form in pre-season. Their squad is packed with world-class talent and the new manager, Sonia Bompastor, is keen to maintain Emma Hayes’s legacy of winning while in transition. Can they do it? There is no reason why not, particularly if Arsenal and Manchester City qualify for the Champions League group stage and are grappling with three high-intensity games a week. Arsenal and City have had one and three seasons out of Europe respectively, so how their squads might cope remains to be seen. A game-laden calendar is Chelsea’s bread and butter.
For Jonas Eidevall at Arsenal and Gareth Taylor at City, the pressure is on to stay in the title race. Remaining in touch with each other, and with Chelsea, would go a long way to ensuring their futures. Both managers have been backed and have strengthened – Arsenal having the Barcelona forward Mariona Caldentey among their recruits and City signing Arsenal’s WSL record goalscorer, Vivianne Miedema – and there can be few excuses for not keeping title hopes alive and kicking. Their enticing showdown at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday is a chance to make a statement.
Perhaps more exciting than the title race is the battle to be the best of the rest. Several teams have had impressive transfer windows, chiefly Brighton, who finished ninth last season but have a new manager, Dario Vidosic, and have lured Fran Kirby, Jelena Cankovic and Nikita Parris and taken Michelle Agyemang and Bruna Vilamala on loan.
Manchester United have lost Mary Earps, Lucia García, Irene Guerrero, Katie Zelem and Parris but have added top talents in Dominique Janssen, Elisabeth Terland and Celin Bizet. Perhaps most importantly, Grace Clinton returns from her season’s loan at Tottenham. All come with WSL experience. The goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce is ready to step up in place of Earps, though the inability to secure an experienced backup will have frustrated United.
Aston Villa, Tottenham and Leicester have had solid windows, with Villa’s deadline-day signing of Levante’s Gabi Nunes, Tottenham’s addition of the Australian duo Hayley Raso and Clare Hunt and Leicester’s recruitment of the striker Noémie Mouchon highlights.
Everton have brought in Honoka Hayashi from West Ham and Melissa Lawley from Liverpool but had to let go of players such as Hanna Bennison to fund their moves with the ownership up in the air.
Liverpool had a quiet window with three players arriving and Matt Beard operating on a small budget. Their fourth place last season very much exceeded expectations.
At the bottom, the relegation battle is likely to be between West Ham and promoted Crystal Palace. Palace have recruited well, adding a number of players with WSL experience and youngsters from the top three on loan. However, the gap between the WSL and the Championship is a big one.
The struggles of West Ham should give Palace hope. The Hammers have lost a host of key players, including Mackenzie Arnold, Hawa Cissoko, Hayashi and Risa Shimizu, and on paper the incomings do not match the level of the outgoings.
League position can be loosely determined by a club’s commitment to its women’s team, historically, ideologically and financially. There will be outliers – managers and players being able to compete beyond their means, like Liverpool last season – but this formula will be a reality for the foreseeable future.
