One Step at a Time

 

A first win of the season for Sheffield United Women on Sunday afternoon as they deservedly defeated Durham 4-1 in WSL2, Amy Andrews taking home the matchball after netting a hat-trick. 

Bramall Lane is again the venue for the Blades next game, at home to Ipswich Town on Sunday 4th October (2pm) with 2 adults and 2 children able to attend for £25 (one adult and two children £18).  

Durham remain without a point to date but, after a summer when it looked as though the club may fold before their future was secured, it is good to see them still involved at the higher levels of the women's game.

Royals Return Home

A positive piece on the excellent Reading FC blog and fansite The Tilehurst End caught the eye this week as it told the story of the return of Reading Women's return to the wider umbrella of RFC after a tumultous couple of years.

Home matches will once again be played at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, beginning with the visit of Fleet Town on Sunday 13 September at 2pm, with tickets priced at £8 for adults and free for under 16's.

High Stakes At The Valley

An article on the BBC Sport website on Tuesday about 40 years of the play-offs brought back some childhood memories of a radio commentary I recall listening to as Charlton Athletic faced Leeds United in 1987.

I can't remember which of the three games between the sides it was but what was unusual, aside from the need for a replay after a draw over two legs, was that Charlton were battling to save their place in Division One against a Leeds side looking to go back to the top-flight.

Although long since gone from the play-off structure in the EFL, this season does see a similar situation arise in the WSL and Charlton are once again involved.

This time the Addicks have everything to gain as, after finishing third in WSL2 this season, they can benefit from the expansion of the top division (with Birmingham City and Crystal Palace already promoted automatically) by beating WSL's bottom club Leicester City in a one-off tie at The Valley.

Tickets for the game, which kicks-off at 12.30pm on Saturday 23rd May, are priced at £7 for adults, £5 for over 65's and £2 for under-18's.

Crowded House

Into an increasingly crowded schedule in the women's game comes the FIFA Women's Champions Cup, to be held in London at the end of January.

European champions Arsenal are joined by their continental equivalents Gotham FC from the USA, Corinthians of Brazil and Morocco's ASFAR.

Semi-finals will be held at the home of Brentford FC on Wednesday 28th January and kick-off times of 12.30 and 6pm may add to the low-key feel of the event.

However, Arsenal will host the third-place match and final on Sunday 1st February and with tickets available from £20 for adults (covering both games, 50% discount for under 18's, 25% for young adults and seniors) a good crowd should be attracted to North London. 

After the Euros

With excitement building towards Sunday's game between England and Spain, and after an uplifting month of football in Switzerland, Friday was a good day to release the 2025/26 fixtures for the WSL and WSL 2 as clubs in England look to get a boost in numbers coming through the turnstiles.

Arsenal's success in attracting supporters to their matches was highlighted at the end of last season after an average of nearly 29,000 fans per game came to watch the new European champions.

All Arsenal home fixtures this time around will be played at the Emirates Stadium and the club have produced a detailed guide to pricing structures for the new campaign, one in which they will also take part in the Fan Choice Pilot which allows for alcohol to be consumed at your seat in certain parts of the ground.

A new Category C price category has been introduced for particular matches, including the season opener against London City Lionesses on Saturday 6 September at 1.30pm.

That means early bird tickets purchased by the end of Friday 1 August start from £11.50 for adults with various discounts for concessions.

Liverpool also have an early bird offer in place for their first three home matches, including the Anfield clash with Everton on the opening weekend with tickets priced at £10 adults and £3.50 for juniors until August 8.

Lisbon Anyone?

Friday saw the quarter-final draw for this season's UEFA Women's Champions League take place, Manchester City and Chelsea being paired together while Arsenal meet Real Madrid.

Wolfsburg, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Lyon make up a heavyweight last eight with all of the teams eyeing the final which takes place in Lisbon on Saturday 24 May.

Tickets for that game, at the home of Sporting, will be available in a ballot (application period 20 to 26 February) with Category 3 prices just €10.

Ring Out The Belles

Ahead of Fulham Women's return to Craven Cottage a few weeks ago, the excellent HammyEnd blog wrote about why it was such an important occasion , especially given the rich history of the club in their previous guise when they were one of the early trailblazers for women's football and the long path back from when Fulham Ladies were dissolved in 2010.

Would we have been in a position to celebrate England's Wembley success at the Euros this summer without clubs such as Fulham and Doncaster Belles and the opportunities they strived to provide at a time when so many avenues remained closed?

Now known as Doncaster Rovers Belles, the six times FA Cup winners have had to rebuild themselves after being squeezed out of the top divisions of the game in recent seasons and now looking to gain promotion into the third tier of the women's football pyramid.

Chief executive Russ Green told the official club website recently: “The Belles were pioneering, incredibly successful across the decades and we are all incredibly proud to be a part of such a historic club. While more recent times have been difficult, we are back on strong foundations and determined to regain our place among the elite in this country."

The Belles will play Lincoln City Women at the Eco-Power Stadium on Sunday 11 December with all school children across the city offered the chance to watch the game for free when accompanied by a paying adult.

General tickets are priced at £5 adults and £1 for under-17's with reductions for Doncaster Rovers and Doncaster Rugby League FC season ticket holders.

The Euros Bounce

Just a few short weeks after the euphoria generated by England's victory in the UEFA Women's Euros, domestic action returns this coming weekend with the opening fixtures in the FA Women's Championship, the second-tier of the club game.

And for a top price of a tenner there are some great matches to choose from in the opening two rounds as the battle begins to win a place in the WSL.

Southampton FC Women get things underway at 12.30pm on Saturday with St Mary's the venue for their game against Charlton. Tickets are priced at £8 and £2.

On Sunday there are local derbies between Durham and Sunderland and London City Lionesses and Crystal Palace, Blackburn Rovers host Sheffield United at Ewood Park and St Andrew's is the venue for Birmingham City against Lewes.

With the ongoing pitch fiasco engulfing the Sky Blues, there will at least be some football in the city this weekend as Coventry United take on Bristol City.

The official WSL site has a good guide to the fixtures taking place and links to the various ticket pages.

Sheffield, Sweden And Sunshine

 

As my bus trundled into Sheffield town centre around 6:15pm, it was clear there was an extra element to the usual Saturday night fever along West Street as, alongside the regulars were dotted large pockets of yellow and orange as supporters of both Sweden and the Netherlands enjoyed the sunshine, the fanzone and the bars ahead of their Women's Euros opener at Bramall Lane.

Me, my son and his friend got off the bus, as it became bogged down in traffic, and walked down to the ground, the atmosphere building as we got ever closer.

There has been plenty of discussion as to whether the choice of venues for the tournament has been ambitious enough, and also whether the geographical spread is right but the counter-argument has been that local authority buy-in and a willingness from clubs themselves was needed and that was evident on that walk to the ground, from the road closures to the volunteers to the signage and branding that had transformed Sheffield United's ground.

Our choice of who to support was going to be dictated by which fans we were sitting alongside and as we first turned into John Street it seemed as though Holland would be our team as we walked into an orange mass but a couple of turnstiles further on we went and it turned out that our seats were in amongst the Swedish contingent.

Having been persuaded that the kids really needed a couple of big, foam, pointing hands from the official merchandise stall, we settled down to an entertaining game and constant support from the Swedes towards their team, chants we didn't understand but joined in all the same, as they had the better of the first-half and took a lead into the interval before the Dutch came back strongly to earn a share of the spoils that both sides will probably be happy enough with as a tournament opener.

At £30 for the three of us I felt it was good value and a real occasion to remember, perhaps the 8pm kick-off would have put off a few with younger children but very enjoyable all the same for a record crowd for a game not involving a host nation at a Women's Euros.

Turin Break?

With Barcelona's Women set to break yet another attendance record in the home leg of their Champions League semi-final, tickets for the final itself are now on sale.

The Juventus Stadium hosts the showpiece event on 21 May, with Barca, Wolfsburg, Lyon and PSG still in the running to lift the trophy.

Tickets are available from €10 (€5 for under-12's) with discounted family packages also on sale.

The Final Countdown

Is on for this summer's UEFA Women's European Championships with less than 100 days to go before England kick-off the tournament against Austria on 6 July.

General sale tickets have now begun for all matches with prices from £5.

To get into the mood before then, here are some games that may be of interest.

Leeds United Women will play at Elland Road on Sunday 10th April, tickets for the visit of Alnwick Town are on sale now, priced at £5/£2.50.

Sunday 1st May marks the  first ever game at St James' Park for Newcastle United Women, cash admission to the fixture against Barnsley is priced at £3 adults and free for under 16's and concessions.

And tickets are available for Tottenham Hotspur Women against Leicester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 8th May, with a family package available for £13.

Get Sorted For The Euros...In 2022

I'm looking forward to the feast of football that's coming to our screens over the next few weeks (with the BBC showing the Copa America as well as the Euros) but, although Wembley is the main venue for the delayed Euro 2020 tournament, the multi-host format and of course the pandemic mean this is very much a made for television spectacle.

The Rugby League World Cup this winter looks set to be the first post-lockdown major sports event that looks and feels 'normal' in the UK but in football terms it will Uefa Women's Euros 2022, hosted at 10 venues in England next July.

Old Trafford has the opener, Wembley the final and there matches in between in Manchester, Leigh, Rotherham, Sheffield, Milton Keynes, London, Brighton and Southampton.

I know already there are plenty of plans here in South Yorkshire for the tournament to have a lasting impact and the ticket information points to a family-friendly, accessible set of matches.

Tickets for group matches not involving England start at £10/£5 and even the Wembley final will have tickets available at £15/£7.50.

Creating a ticket account with Uefa before July will get you priority access before the final draw is made in late October.

Updated 21 December...Well the Rugby League didn't happen so my tickets for England v Greece at Bramall Lane have been rolled over to 2022 but I will be at the same venue for Netherlands against Sweden in the Euros.

Remaining tickets for the tournament go on general sale in February.

The Big Kick-Off in FA Women's National League

This Sunday sees the FA Women's National League 2020/21 season get underway with matches across England and spectators welcome.

In many ways the FA WNL will perform a similar function to the non-league men's game has over the past few weeks, providing value for money football and a welcome chance to get out to a match while the elite game remains behind closed doors.

The league is branding itself as the #HeartbeatOfWomensFootball on social media and that reflects the depth of the competition which encompasses two Premier divisions (Northern and Southern) and four regional divisions beneath.

Perhaps it also reflects that the Women's Super League, for all of the top stars who have come to play in it this year, is increasingly resembling a closed shop and one where the interests of supporters is secondary to the business interests.

Although a route from the WNL into the Women's Championship does still exist it was closed off by the suspension of action last season and is also not solely dependant on results on the pitch.

There are some great websites and blogs covering the game at this level, She Kicks being a great source of fixtures and information.

Fixtures on the opening day include Middlesbrough versus Hull City (tickets available online priced at £3 adults and just 1p for accompanied children) and Poole Town against Southampton FC (admission by donation).

Women’s Game Faces Crisis of Visibility and Funding

Jonathan Liew in the New Statesman recently wrote about the impending problems facing all women’s sport, not just football, as the focus since the worldwide lockdown has been almost exclusively on men’s elite sport and when that will resume.

He commented: 'already there are signs that in what may prove a  necessary economic battle between preserving the most lucrative men’s sport and investing time and patience in women’s sport, there would be one clear winner.'

A report, from Fifpro, the global footballer's union, meanwhile, highlighted the 'existential threat' facing women's football.

The cancellation of The Hundred, the new cricket competition scheduled for launch this summer, was not universally lamented amongst cricket supporters but some interesting social media posts from some of the women set to take part made it clear that, for them, the new tournament was the difference being able to work as professional cricketers and potentially having to give up the sport altogether.

Closer to the theme of this blog, the FA’s decision to void the season below National League level in the men’s game was replicated below the top two tiers of the women’s game.

That meant the campaign in the FA Women’s National League (WNL) was ended along with any hopes of promotion for those teams at the top end of the Northern and Southern divisions.

As with so many decisions taken in the women’s game over the last few years it seems that the main focus is creating and preserving a professional league that is almost entirely separate from the leagues below it.

The FA WNL is a vibrant competition which is home to many different types of club, those associated with men’s teams and those which have been in existence for many years in their own right.

In terms of finances, many of these clubs will not have some of the fixed costs (wages, ground maintenance etc) that have seen many men’s teams launch fundraising appeals but that in no way lessens the potential impact of the current crisis and potentially makes it easier for them to be jettisoned.

AFC Fylde have already announced a withdrawal of funding for their women’s team (reportedly with the coaching staff at the club being given just 15 minutes notice).

But the FA Women’s Super League and Championship will not be without their own issues with many clubs being part of a wider football division where the priority, at present, seems to be the playing out of the men’s season at almost any cost.

Although promises have been made about funding being maintained, by both the FA and FIFA, the priorities are clear. For example it was almost automatically assumed that the Euro 2021 tournament scheduled for England next summer would be moved as soon as Euro 2020 was put back a year.

England Women’s matches, the Women’s FA Cup Final and top FA WSL games provide an affordable, family-friendly experience and a way into the game for many people.

Without those the women’s game further down the levels faces a struggle for visibility as well as finance over the next few years.

Can The Old Firm Muscle In On Glasgow's City?

After 2019 saw the national team reach their first ever World Cup Finals, the women's game in Scotland continues to grow, providing welcome increases in participation at all levels.

At the apex of the club game, the Scottish Women's Premier League has expanded its second division to ten teams this year with the introduction of promotion play-offs to both SWPL 1 and 2.

Scottish Women’s Football Executive Officer, Fiona McIntyre, told scotwomensfootball.com that "It's an extremely exciting time for the Scottish game. The changes we’ve made to our senior game are significant and we strongly believe will have a positive impact for all involved. I believe we will see an incredibly competitive and exciting season across both premier leagues."

Glasgow City have dominated the landscape in recent years with 13 consecutive league titles with only Hibernian managing to get in a blow with the occasional cup triumph.

But both Celtic and Rangers have upped their commitment to their women's teams over the winter, the experienced Fran Alonso appointed as Head Coach at Parkhead and the two clubs making a number of potentially significant signings.

Celtic host Glasgow City on the opening weekend of the season (23rd February) and with an extra Champions League spot set to be on offer (Glasgow City take on Wolfsburg in the quarter-finals in March) there is plenty to play for over the course of the campaign.

But the bigger picture will be plenty of affordable football over the next few months (follow ScotWFootball and scotfootfixs on Twitter) and increased opportunities for participation for women and girls all across the country.

Nottingham Switch for Continental Cup Final

I was at Bramall Lane for last season’s Continental Cup Final (the competition open to teams in the top two tiers of the women’s game in England) and it was a family-friendly occasion as Manchester City defeated Arsenal on penalties in unseasonal February sunshine.

Tickets were well-priced but the attendance was disappointingly low at just 2,424.

A year on and it will be interesting to see what effect a positive World Cup and some high-profile Women’s Super League fixtures, together with a switch of venue, has when this season’s final is played at the City Ground at 5.30pm on Saturday 29th February.

Perhaps unsurprisingly the semi-finals will be contested between what is increasingly becoming the ‘big four’ in the women’s game with Arsenal hosting Manchester City and Chelsea travelling to Manchester United at the end of the month.

Early-bird tickets are available until 7th February, priced at £7.50 for Adults (£10 after). Concessions tickets are £1.

Big Guns Enter Women's FA Cup

The draw for the Fourth Round of this season's competition sees clubs from the FA Women's Super League and Championship enter the fray with the obvious highlight being a Manchester derby between United and City.

Looking at the draw on the FA website you will see home ties for Southampton FC Women and Southampton Women's FC, something BBC Sport looked at prior to the previous round.

Recent Women's FA Cup Finals have been well attended, family friendly occasions and the 2020 showpiece should be no different when it takes place on Saturday 9 May.

Adult tickets are priced at £15 with up to two children per adult free of charge.

One other line from the women's game is that the WSL clash between Everton and Liverpool on Sunday 9 February will take place at Goodison Park with tickets for non-members priced at £6 and £3.

The Road To Vienna

Friday saw the draw made for both the quarter and semi-finals of this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League with British interest in the competition represented by Arsenal and Glasgow City.

After looking as though they may get left behind Manchester City and Chelsea at the top level of the game in England, Arsenal’s resurgence under Joe Montemurro continues with a smooth run to the last eight of the Champions League following on from last season’s FA WSL title win.

They will take on Paris St-Germain in the quarters before a potential meeting with holders Lyon.

Glasgow City, who face Wolfsburg, have arguably already exceeded expectations by getting this far and the success story of the perennial Scottish champions shows no sign of falling away despite the financial imbalance that means they regularly lose their top players to England and elsewhere.

Renewed competition on the domestic front may yet come from increased investment in their Women’s teams from the Old Firm clubs, Celtic especially are promising a major upgrade and inflicted a first league defeat since June 2016 on Glasgow City last weekend.

In recent seasons it has been Hibs Ladies who have managed to inflict some blows on Glasgow in cup competitions and they will meet again in the Scottish Women’s Cup Final at Tynecastle on Sunday 24th November at 4.10pm.

Tickets are on sale now, priced at £7 Adults, £3 Concessions and free for Under 12's.

The Champions League final will be staged at the Viola Stadium, home of Austria Vienna, on Sunday 24th May and tickets are already on sale at the very reasonable price of 12/8 Euros for Adults if you fancy a few days in the Austrian capital.

Derby Days Head Women's Football Weekend

The first ever Women's Football Weekend is scheduled for 16/17 November and the showpiece events will be two FA WSL local derby fixtures set to be played in front of big crowds.

Spurs meet Arsenal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 17th at 3pm and tickets are now on general sale, priced at £6.50 for Adults, £3.50 for Concessions and £15 for a family of four.

And Anfield will be the venue for Liverpool against Everton at the same time with tickets £5 for Adults and free for up to 3 accompanied Under 16's.

It's great to see the full weight of the respective home clubs' ticketing and marketing teams being thrown into these fixtures and I'm sure they will be well attended.

Such games, unavoidably perhaps, have the feel of 'one-offs' with many of those watching maybe unaware of the context in terms of league position.

But the bigger picture will be the many thousands enjoying the occasion and hopefully seeking out opportunities to play and watch elsewhere.

And the Women's Football Weekend will be about much more than matches in the WSL as hopefully clubs up and down the country will be able to attract some new faces along. 

Non-League Day & Women's Football Weekend

With the opening international break already over, the next two gaps in the domestic top-flight calendar will see the return of an established favourite and the introduction of a new theme.

Saturday 12th October marks the 10th Non-League Day with James Doe's 2010 idea having grown into a superbly marketed platform for clubs up and down the country (and now further afield as well) to try and attract new supporters while cementing their place in the local community.

The NLD page on Twitter is a good place to catch up on everything that is happening and Merstham FC of the Isthmian League Premier Division have been quick off the mark to announce that their home game against Leatherhead will be a Family Day with loads of activities both before kick-off and after the final whistle.

There is free entry for all emergency services personnel and season ticket holders from any club can watch for a fiver.

November's international break, specifically the weekend of 15/16th November, will see the first Women's Football Weekend as the FA seek to capitalise on the positive feeling created by the World Cup and also the opening matchday of the Super League season when large crowds were in attendance at the Etihad Stadium and Stamford Bridge.

There are some big matches scheduled for the weekend, including a North London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which will clearly sell well but I like the idea of a theme that will encompass all levels of the game over the weekend and I'll give it plenty of plugs on Twitter over the next couple of months.