Lionesses captain Leah Williamson has warned that she would "never" rule out the potential of strike action in order to get a message across regarding players' concerns over the football schedule. It's been a hot topic in women's and men's football in recent years, one the Arsenal star herself has not shied away from discussing, and she has made her feelings clear about the issue again this week.
Tottenham Hotspur booked their place in the Women's FA Cup quarter-finals in the most dramatic fashion possible, overcoming a stubborn London City Lionesses side in a marathon penalty shootout on Monday night. After a 2-2 draw at Hayes Lane that saw Spurs rescue themselves with a 95th-minute penalty, the north London outfit eventually triumphed 9-8 in a shootout that saw 17 consecutive successful spot-kicks before a final hero emerged.
Arsenal forward Olivia Smith was stretchered from the field and taken to hospital when suffering a worrying head injury during the Gunners’ Women’s FA Cup clash with Bristol City. The Canadian star was rushed away for medical checks, having received lengthy treatment on the field. A full diagnosis is yet to be delivered, but Arsenal are “hopeful” that the knock is not too serious.
After winning all of the last six Women's Super League titles in succession, it's not been an easy season so far for Chelsea. The Blues are set to surrender their crown for the first time in seven years, with Manchester City sat eight points clear at the top of the table, and the negative noise around the club has only grown since the unpopular departure of Paul Green, the long-time head of women's football, was announced last week. But on Sunday, it felt like a boost of hope was injected into their season, by none other than Lauren James.
Coming into the 2025-26 season, few - if any - were carrying the kind of momentum that Chloe Kelly was. She was the Lionesses' hero in the summer, scoring the penalty that delivered the 2025 European Championship title after also enjoying huge moments in the quarter-and-semi-finals to get England into that title-deciding clash with Spain. With a permanent move to Arsenal secured after all that, having helped the Gunners win the Champions League in May while on loan, Kelly felt primed for a huge season.
Manchester United earned their seventh straight victory in all competitions as they came from behind to beat London City Lionesses 2-1 in the Women's Super League. A stunning Jess Park equaliser and a late Millie Turner winner on her return from injury secured the three points after Nikita Parris had given the newly-promoted visitors the lead, as the Red Devils stay second in the division with the hard-fought victory.
Lauren James' brilliance helped Chelsea boost their chances of qualifying for next season's Women's Champions League in an important 2-0 win over Liverpool on Sunday, the Blues securing all three points at a time when plenty of negative noise has swirled around the club. Disappointing results led to questions being asked of head coach Sonia Bompator and her future, while the departure of head of women's football Paul Green this week caused a real stir. But the players did all they could do on Sunday, seeing off a revitalised Liverpool side thanks to goals from James and Sjoeke Nusken.
Lionesses star Ella Toone is "probably" going to miss Manchester United's League Cup final clash with Chelsea next month, Red Devils boss Marc Skinner has admitted. The England international has not played since December because of a hip issue and it is unlikely that she is going to recover in time for the showpiece event, meaning she is all-but-ruled out of the Lionesses first camp of 2026, too.
Only four teams in Women's Super League history have ever endured a longer wait for a first win of the season than Liverpool did this term. Winless through 12 matches, only Yeovil Town, Doncaster Rovers Belles, Everton and Reading had ever experienced more barren streaks in the competition than the Reds, whose status as the former two-time WSL champions made their case stand apart as the most shocking and surprising of the five.
United States star Catarina Macario reportedly has an offer on the table from three-time Champions League winners Barcelona, amid growing interest in her services from major clubs across Europe. Macario's contract with Chelsea expires at the end of the season and it has also been reported that she has turned down a new deal with the Blues, making her a figure of real interest as the summer transfer window approaches.
Chelsea have announced that Paul Green, the club's head of women's football, has left the club after 13 years with the Blues. Green departs after a period of huge success in west London that has seen Chelsea Women claim 19 trophies. Green departs just days after the club announced manager Sonia Bompastor has signed a new contract that will run until 2030.
Laura Woods has fired back at former Lionesses star Eni Aluko after seeing the ex-England international suggest that “the women’s game should be by women, for women”. Aluko has previously taken issue with Ian Wright enjoying a prominent role in coverage of women’s football, claiming the Arsenal great is “dragging women’s punditry backwards”. TV presenter Woods, who regularly hosts men’s and women’s games, has picked holes in Aluko’s arguments.
Eni Aluko has renewed her public criticism of the choice of male pundits in women's football, aiming a dig towards Ian Wright and Nedum Onuoha for their TV roles covering the Lionesses' Euro 2025 final at ITV and the BBC, respectively. This is not the first time that Aluko has called out a perceived lack of opportunities for female pundits, criticising Wright in the past for his prominent place within the women's game before issuing a public apology for her words.
Chelsea got back to winning ways in the Women's Super League on Sunday, beating Tottenham 2-0 to avoid inflicting further damage on their hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League. Back-to-back league defeats for the first time since 2015 and Arsenal's surprise win over runaway leaders Manchester City had left the Blues, who have won each of the last six WSL titles, outside the three European spots before kick-off in north London, but goals from Keira Walsh and Alyssa Thompson allowed them to leapfrog the Gunners into third place with seven games to go.
Olivia Smith's composed finish gave Arsenal a huge 1-0 win over Women's Super League leaders Manchester City on Sunday, providing the Gunners' push for Champions League qualification a huge boost. Renee Slegers' side, who were crowned champions of Europe last season, have now heaped the pressure on a stuttering Chelsea to keep up with them in the race for the top three, while still holding a game in hand over the rest of their rivals.
Manchester City were handed just their second defeat of the Women’s Super League season as they were outplayed by an impressive Arsenal on Sunday. The runaway leaders were well off the pace and saw their midfield bossed for much of the game by the Gunners, who ran out deserved 1-0 victors, courtesy of a first-half strike by Olivia Smith.
NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has joined the ownership group of Women's Super League champions Chelsea. Antetokounmpo is a close friend of Alexis Ohanian, who is a minority owner of the Blues' women's side, and the 'Greek Freak' has decided to purchase his own stake in the club as he continues to bolster his investment portfolio.
Leicester City's Alisha Lehmann has revealed she did not want to venture out of her house and instead remained in bed all day when she struggled to deal with a spate of online hate. The Switzerland international has lifted the lid on how being one of the most followed footballers on the planet has impacted her on a day-to-day basis and how at times she was unable to cope.
Catarina Macario's future at Chelsea is reportedly in doubt after the U.S. Women's National Team star rejected a new contract offer from the club. Macario has been linked with moves to the NWSL and to other clubs in Europe, with the latest news, a Chelsea exit seems closer than ever. The Blues are currently third on the WSL table.
Marc Skinner's side continued their unbeaten start to 2026 in the Women's Super League with a deserved victory over Leicester at the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Swedish star Zigiotti Olme was key to United's win, with a goal and an assist, while super-sub Terland made the game safe late on with yet another strike against the struggling Foxes
Chelsea Women have confirmed manager Sonia Bompastor has signed a new contract with the club which will run until 2030. The 45-year-old led the Blues to a domestic treble during her first season in west London, but this new deal comes despite her side sitting 12 points behind Women's Super League leaders Manchester City after Sunday's 5-1 defeat to their title rivals.
Ella Toone will miss both legs of Manchester United's Champions League play-off clash with Atletico Madrid this month and she is also unlikely to be included in the next England squad, ahead of the Lionesses' 2027 Women's World Cup qualifying campaign beginning against Ukraine in March. The midfielder is recovering from a hip issue that has sidelined her since December.
Tottenham finished second-from-bottom in the Women's Super League last season. Since promotion seven years ago, their top-flight record against Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United stands at two wins, five draws and 42 defeats. Financially, they are not in the same place as the ‘big four’, not when Chelsea and Arsenal have both made £1-million transfers in the last year or so. And yet, despite all of this, Spurs are right in the fight with all of them for Women's Champions League qualification this season.
Manchester United have bid farewell to a highly-rated Lionesses prospect after Keira Barry ended her 10-year association with the club and joined NWSL side Bay FC. It's the second time this week that head coach Emma Coates has brought a familiar face over to the United States, having left her role in the England's youth national teams to take up this position in December.
When Manchester City signed Vivianne Miedema on a free transfer from Arsenal in the summer of 2024, it felt like one of the biggest coups in Women's Super League history. The Cityzens were not only signing the league's all-time top-scorer, they were also directly weakening a title rival in the process.
As investment in the women’s game continues to grow, each and every transfer window feels bigger and bigger, as both the anticipation and likelihood of new record transfers and big money moves for the game’s greatest stars increases. In that sense, January is never as headline-grabbing as the summer window, but there has still been plenty of eye-catching business over the last few weeks - especially in the Women’s Super League.
England's most recent debutante, Anouk Denton, has joined NWSL club Bay FC from West Ham in what is reportedly a club-record sale for the Hammers. The 22-year-old defender won her first cap for the Lionesses back in December and is now set for a new chapter in 2026, moving to the United States after impressing in London for the last three years.
Chelsea's 2024-25 Women's Super League season was an all-timer. Undefeated through 22 games - the first team ever to achieve that in the competition's history - while also registering a record points return of 60, the Blues ascended to unprecedented levels of dominance in their first year under new head coach Sonia Bompastor. What has gone wrong, then, that means the six-time defending champions are on the brink of relinquishing their crown less than a year later?
Arsenal have been given some extremely positive news after goalkeeper Anneke Borbe was discharged from hospital following a nasty looking head injury in Sunday's FIFA Women's Champions Cup triumph over Corinthians. There was serious concern for the 25-year-old but it appears her situation may not be as bad as first feared.
Arsenal icon Katie McCabe is set to leave the club at the end of the season as the Gunners prepare for what is going to be a huge summer. The Ireland international is one of 10 players soon to be out of contract in north London and, as Arsenal near deals for both England's Georgia Stanway and Barcelona's Ona Batlle, her 11-year stay at the club will reportedly come to an end.
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