After a breathless summer that included heart-stopping penalty shootouts, a swath of managerial changes and even the women’s game’s first £1m transfer fee, as the new Women’s Super League season arrives, the million-dollar question is, can anyone stop Chelsea?
The defending champions have won six WSL titles in a row and they notched up a record points tally last term to win the championship by their largest margin yet – 12. Ominously for their rivals, they were trying to strengthen their squad even further during the final hours of the transfer window with the signing of the United States winger Alyssa Thompson from Angel City. Chelsea are, undeniably, the dominant force in the modern English women’s game and appear to be getting only stronger.
Sonia Bompastor’s side, who also won the FA Cup and League Cup to clinch a domestic treble in her first season in England, will begin their campaign at home to Manchester City on Friday, a fixture with a blockbuster feel at Stamford Bridge. A third of the teams in the top flight have changed managers and the visitors’ new head coach, the Swede Andrée Jeglertz, is hoping to transform the fortunes of a team that have not won the league since 2016.
As the former Denmark national team coach held his first pre-match press conference at Manchester City on Wednesday afternoon, Jeglertz was asked if Chelsea could be stopped and whether his new team could be the team to stop them, and he replied: “I wouldn’t sit in this chair if I thought something else.
“That’s definitely something the club really wants us to do and the belief in us is big. But we will also need to grow into the season, so we also said to the players: ‘Not everything will be perfect on Friday.’ We will definitely be ready for the game but we also need to have a little bit of patience.”
Another of the title hopefuls, Arsenal, who finished second last term, enter the campaign riding a wave of optimism after winning the Champions League in May. The north London club made history by breaking the £1m transfer-fee barrier to sign the Canada forward Olivia Smith from Liverpool this summer, signalling their intent as they seek a first league title since 2019. Manchester United, who finished third last term, are the only side other than Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City to have lifted a major domestic trophy since 2014 (the FA Cup in 2024) and it would be hard to look past one of that quartet claiming the main prize this term.
The club doing the most to upset the applecart is the promoted side London City Lionesses, the first fully independent women’s club to reach the WSL. Their owner, Michele Kang, has previously stated her ambition to win the league in the future, rather than merely stay up, and their transfer business reflects that target to be competitive. They have brought in star international names including the Netherlands midfielder Daniëlle van de Donk, the Italy centre-back Elena Linari and the England forward Nikita Parris. It has been a summer recruitment drive unlike anything witnessed before from a side that won promotion, and they are still not finished, with ever-strengthening reports linking the Bromley-based club with the France midfielder Grace Geyoro.
It may still be a stretch to expect them to break into the European places just yet but, at the same time, no one is expecting them to go straight back down, which in turn could generate anxiety for the clubs who were in the bottom section of the table last term. Finishing second bottom last time around were Tottenham, but they are one of four top-tier sides to be starting the season with a different manager, after hiring the former Brann coach Martin Ho to replace Robert Vilahamn, and hoping for a fresh new start.
Finishing level on points with Tottenham, and one place higher in 10th, were Leicester, and they sacked their manager, Amandine Miquel, only 11 days before their opening game of the season. They are understood to have brought in the former West Ham assistant coach Rick Passmoor as an interim coach. The top flight’s other managerial change has been the appointment by Liverpool of Gareth Taylor, who was replaced by Jeglertz at Manchester City. Taylor’s tenure gets under way on Sunday with just the small task of a Merseyside derby at Anfield; no pressure.
Everton have enjoyed their best summer in recent memory and on Wednesday they broke their transfer record to sign Ruby Mace from Leicester. Brighton and Aston Villa – who finished fifth and sixth last term – will also go into this campaign hopeful, after strong seasons, and West Ham also have some momentum after a decent second half of 2024-25.
The chances of any of these sides being relegated this season have been greatly reduced by the new, one-off format for promotion and relegation; the WSL is expanding from 12 to 14 next summer, so at the end of this season there will be a playoff between the bottom side and the team that finish third in WSL2, rather than an automatic relegation spot.
There will also be major changes to broadcasting coverage this season; every game is being screened live and the majority kicking off in a new slot, with multiple games simultaneously at noon on Sundays every week, as well as more frequent Friday night games. Sky Sports has 118 live matches, with the rest on the BBC, and the sport is seeking to capitalise on England’s summer success.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email moving.goalposts@theguardian.com
This is an extract from our free email, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is back to its twice-weekly format, sent out every Tuesday and Thursday.
