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At the top end, the title race is wide open from the outset, with Manchester City bidding to retain their crown
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Football — Suzanne Wrack
It has been a summer of change for women’s football in England, with expansion of the Women’s Super League to 14 teams bringing three new sides into the fold, huge transfers hitting the headlines, changes to the League Cup and a new name on the WSL trophy as we prepare for kick-off on Friday.
Players have had a proper break over the summer, with no major international women’s tournament for the first time in six years (Covid delays pushed back the Tokyo Olympics to 2021 and the European Championship to 2022, followed by the 2023 World Cup, 2024 Paris Olympics and Euro 2025). As a result, managers have had a full pre-season with all available players for the first time in more than half a decade, too.
Related: Arsenal poised to land PSG’s Élisa De Almeida on WSL transfer deadline day
In many respects, this is the most mouthwatering and unpredictable WSL season of recent years. At the top end, the title race is wide open from the outset. The holders, Manchester City, have perhaps the most settled squad and a potent attack spearheaded by the winner of three back-to-back Golden Boots, Bunny Shaw. However, they will also be juggling their league and FA Cup title defences alongside Champions League football, which they avoided last season through a fourth-place finish in the league the preceding year. That will be counteracted somewhat by Champions League teams no longer competing in the rebranded League Cup, which also opens the door to domestic silverware for those outside the top three.
Arsenal and Renée Slegers have no excuses for a poor season, after two disappointing and costly starts to WSL campaigns were somewhat understandable due to the tight turnarounds following the major tournament exploits of many players, and Champions League qualifying campaigns in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 season. The Gunners have overhauled the squad in the summer and lowered the age profile, adding experienced top-level talent such as Georgia Stanway, Ona Batlle, Géraldine Reuteler and Selina Cerci.
Chelsea have embarked on their own squad evolution, after a transitional season where they sought to strike the balance between making changes and retaining that winning spirit synonymous with the side. Some hugely influential and longstanding players have departed in Millie Bright, who has retired, Guro Reiten, Sam Kerr, Catarina Macario, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Niamh Charles.
Melvine Malard, who has reunited with Sonia Bompastor having played under her at OL Lyonnes, has already hit the ground running with two goals from the bench in the team’s 5-2 win against Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier. Where playing in Champions League qualifiers was a burden in seasons following major international tournaments, this campaign it could be an advantage for the Blues who have a chance to shake off any rust before they kick off their title challenge.
It perhaps feels a little unfair to drop Manchester United out of the title challengers and to place them in with “the best of the rest” but, with a nine-point gap between them and Chelsea last season, a lack of serious backing from the club and a so far underwhelming transfer window, this season could be a tough one for the Red Devils.
Marc Skinner’s exit after a frustrating five years in Manchester was welcomed by sections of their fanbase but the manager arguably helped the side to punch well above their weight, with a comparatively small wage bill despite a competitive turnover. Eva Olid is an exciting young manager, having led Hearts from the bottom of the Scottish Women’s Premier League (with the team avoiding relegation only because of league expansion) to the title before her exit at the end of last season. However, if fans are hoping for a fresh start they should perhaps temper their excitement, with the club leaning into Olid’s reputation for player development and their four summer recruits so far not doing anywhere near enough to offset the loss of their outgoing players.
They could be troubled by a chasing pack who have invested shrewdly, in the case of Tottenham, Everton, Liverpool and Brighton, or boldly, in the case of London City Lionesses.
United’s first challenge is against Michelle Kang’s big-spending side as they open the WSL season on Friday night, when the two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas will answer the question of whether she can “do it on a Friday night in Bromley”.
The London City manager Eder Maestre has the enviable job of being able to put together his dream team, but the unenviable job of trying to gel a side that have had 13 departures and eight players coming in. The decision to remove the manager that led them into the WSL, Jocelyn Prêcheur, was billed as a purely football one by sources, with the club sixth in the league in their first season in the top flight. That decision, though, shows Kang will not accept mediocrity and the patience required by Maestre may not be forthcoming.
Tottenham and Brighton are two other teams aiming high. Martin Ho’s Spurs are the league’s not-so-dark dark horses, with a hugely impressive debut season for their manager followed by an astute and targeted transfer window, which has included the recruitment of the third-highest scorer in the league last season, the midfielder Kirsty Hanson, and the club-record signing Alice Sombath from OL Lyonnes.
The impact of the shock departure of Dario Vidosic from Brighton, with his move to the NWSL side Angel City announced soon after, will be fully known when the season gets under way, but they have recruited a very promising young replacement in Arturo Ruiz and their squad has huge potential after a strong window.
Everton, Liverpool and West Ham could all prove to be surprise packages this season after similarly impressive transfer windows as the middle-lower end of the table ups its game.
Aston Villa have recruited 10 to replace the nine departed players but the fear will be that the incoming players struggle to fill the hole of players such as Hanson, Ebony Salmon and Gabi Nunes.
Of the newcomers to the WSL, Birmingham and Crystal Palace have overseen similarly large squad turnovers, with some top-level talent brought in to attempt to ensure they avoid the drop back down to WSL 2 such as Millie Turner and Lisa Naalsund for the former and Bethany England for the latter.
Charlton have not been able to recruit so ambitiously in the summer, though eight new players have arrived to help the manager, Karen Hills, and her side hoping to leave egg on the faces of many who will have put them as favourites to go down.
Predicting results or the outcome of the season is nigh on impossible though, and that will be the hope: that the expanded league delivers surprises.
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This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions . Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday .
On Friday 4 September at 1pm Suzanne Wrack will be answering readers’ questions about the new WSL season for Guardian Conversations .
Players have had a proper break over the summer, with no major international women’s tournament for the first time in six years (Covid delays pushed back the Tokyo Olympics to 2021 and the European Championship to 2022, followed by the 2023 World Cup, 2024 Paris Olympics and Euro 2025). As a result, managers have had a full pre-season with all available players for the first time in more than half a decade, too.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Suzanne Wrack. Published 3 Sept 2026, 10:27 am.
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