Women’s Super League – The Development of Women’s Football
Written by; Tao MacLeod
Women’s football has taken great strides forward over the past couple of decades. The United States of America has always had strong domestic (although previously sporadic) and international programmes being historically more successful than their men’s sides. However other national teams and leagues have gained significant ground in recent years. Participation in football, by women and girls, is growing significantly across the world. The standard of play in Britain and Ireland is also becoming better, to the point that it is generating its own fanbase, alongside and separate from the men’s game.
Over the past few years the home nations have qualified for several major international tournaments. Scotland and Northern Ireland have both qualified for European Championships recently, with the Republic of Ireland also participating in the 2023 World Cup. England has broken a glass ceiling that now sees them compete at the top level. Having struggled to consistently medal in previous years, they came third in the 2015 World Cup, fourth in 2019 and took home silver in 2023, reaching three semi-finals in a row for the first time in the country’s footballing history, in either the men’s or women’s events. They even won the European Championships in 2022 (a feat that the men have never achieved).
England, alongside other nations, have now added themselves as serious contenders for international honours within women’s football. There are several reasons for this upsurge in achievements, including funding and sponsorship from the National Governing Bodies and other relevant organisations, greater grassroots opportunities and increased media coverage. However, I would suggest that the most important factor in this improvement is the focus on developing the domestic league. The English Football Association has been growing the top divisions over the past few years, attracting an engaged fanbase along the way.
The Women’s Super League was founded in 2010, with its inaugural season taking place in 2011. In the competition’s early days the number of teams were limited to eight. Arsenal won back to back titles in the first two years, with Liverpool then doing the same in 2013 and 2014. Chelsea won the first of their seven championships to date (an English record) in 2015, with Manchester City taking their solitary triumph in 2016. Top goal scorers have included England’s Ellen White and Eniloa Aluko, Scotland’s Kim Little, Australian captain Sam Kerr and Dutch superstar Vivianne Miedema, as well as Jamaican forward Khadija “Bunny” Shaw.
The league has steadily grown from its initial beginnings. Nine teams entered the competition in 2016, with 10 the following year and 11 the year after that. Since 2019 there have been 12 sides in the Women’s Super League. Importantly a second tier was added in 2014. Initially called the FA WSL 2, it has since been renamed the Women’s Championship, which now boasts 11 sides. These two elite divisions sit atop of a regionalised pyramid system, which allows for promotion and relegation. Major companies have been enticed to sponsor the competitions that also include the FA Cup and League Cup, which have increased the prize money available (and therefore earning potential) for the female athletes. Licensing of clubs has proven to be effective. The English FA have insisted the clubs will only be granted access to the top two flights (after being promoted) if they meet certain criteria, including having a high enough income to meet progressive levels of semi-professionalism and professionalism, a youth academy and access to a grass pitch. In 2018, the top tier of women’s football in England became fully professional.
The stadia being used has also started to improve. Mostly, the top women’s teams are ground sharing with lower league, professional men’s teams. Chelsea play their home games at Kingsmeadow, formerly used by AFC Wimbledon and Kingstonian FC and allows for 4,850 spectators into the stadium. Liverpool uses Langtree Park, with a capacity of 18,000, alongside rugby team St. Helens. Manchester United play their games at multi-sports venue at Leigh Sports Village (12,000 capacity). However, some of the bigger cubs with men’s teams have begun to bring their women’s sides ‘in-house’, using the main stadium for both of the elite level squads.
Manchester City use the club’s primary academy pitch, with up to 7,000 fans allowed in to watch fixtures. Leicester City are playing at the King Power Stadium, which has 32,312 seats, Aston Villa at Villa Park, 42,640 seats, and Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, with 60,704 seats. A lot has changed since the English FA banned women from playing in all official league stadia, during the early part of the 20th century and the era of the Dick, Kerr Ladies Football Club. The atmosphere inside the grounds is also different to that of the men’s games. It is less vitriolic, without any of the toxic masculinity often associated with football. A former neighbour of mine told me that he would no longer take his children to watch a professional men’s fixture, but would do so for a women’s match due to the more positive ethos around the supporters in attendance.
Broadcasting deals have broadened the reach and appeal of the WSL, with ESPN and BT Sport (now TNT Sport) having previously aired the games. Sky Sports now show matches on their pay-per-view channels, with the BBC picking up some fixtures, showing them in a free-to-air capacity. Since 2024 fixtures have also started to be streamed on YouTube, with highlights of the relevant action also available. All of this allows for greater engagement with existing fans, but also allows for the potential to reach new audiences. Youngsters can now see women playing football to a high level. This will, undoubtedly, have a positive effect on women’s football, with more people being inspired to take up the game and look for a grassroots club, or join/start up a school team, thus increasing the talent pool. It could also help to change minds about what women can do in sport, by showing the quality of the football to more and more people it could change attitudes in a constructive and practical manner.
The growth of the Women’s Super League, alongside the Women’s Championship has allowed for competitive games, ever improving standards and greater entertainment. Players from all over the world now come to England in order to showcase their talents (including World Cup and Olympic Games champions from the USA), raising the standers even further. Scotland, Wales and the two national teams from the island of Ireland have also benefited, with their top players signing contracts with top clubs. The elite level success of the English national team has coincided with these developments. As the Lionesses won Euro 2022, images of a young girl celebrating inside the stadium were captured on television and subsequently went viral on social media platforms. It showed the innocent joy of a youthful fan simply enjoying her favourite team’s success. A thought crossed my mind that she probably had never experienced a time in football before the creation of the Women’s Super League and professional women’s football in the United Kingdom. Long may this continue…
