Women's Super League live on Sky Sports: Arsenal vs Chelsea announced

Sky Sports will show at least 35 Women's Super League games exclusively live; The deal covers the next three seasons and will be added to Sky Sports' flagship offerings; 2021/22 WSL season begins on the weekend of September 3

Tuesday 10 August 2021 22:36, UK

Sky Sports has confirmed its first selection of Women's Super League games, with Arsenal to play Chelsea in a blockbuster encounter on Sunday September 5.

Sky will show all 12 clubs across the first five rounds of action and kicks off with Manchester United vs Reading on Friday September 3 before champions Chelsea travel to The Emirates to play rivals Arsenal two days later.

As one of the most competitive leagues, with some of the most famous names and teams in the world, the WSL will be one of Sky Sports' flagship offerings.

The new season, and subsequently the new broadcast partnership, will begin on the weekend of September 3, 2021.

Karen Carney, who won over 100 caps for the Lionesses, joins as the lead pundit for the new season while Caroline Barker will become the lead presenter for the WSL on Sky Sports.

Lynsey Hooper joins as the WSL reporter and commentator Seb Hutchinson also joins ahead of the new season.

The history of the WSL

April 2011 - The inaugural WSL season begins with an eight-team league played through the summer.
Early 2014 – A second league, WSL 2, is added with one team relegated from the top tier, WSL 1.
December 2014 - WSL 1 expanded to 10 teams while teams from the third tier – the Women’s Premier League – could earn promotion to WSL 2.
July 2016 – WSL campaigns move back to a winter season in line with the traditional English football calendar.
February to May 2017 – The FA WSL Spring Series is played to bridge the gap between summer and winter seasons. Each team played each other once with Chelsea winning WSL 1 and Everton winning WSL 2.
2017/18 season – WSL 1 reverts back to being called the Women’s Super League.
2018/19 season – The WSL becomes a fully professional league and expanded to 11 teams. Each club has to reapply for their licence, meeting the compulsory requirements of a minimum 16-hour contract for players and to form a youth academy. Brighton and West Ham are added to the top tier. WSL 2 is renamed as the Women’s Championship.
2019/20 season – The WSL is expanded again to 12 teams. Man Utd and Tottenham are promoted from the Championship, Yeovil Town are relegated. Due to Covid-19, the season is ended early and decided on points-per-game. Chelsea are crowned champions with Liverpool relegated.

The deal will see Sky Sports show at least 35 games exclusively live per season and further strengthens the broadcaster's commitment to women's sport.

Confirmed WSL fixtures live on Sky Sports

Friday September 3 - Manchester United vs Reading, kick-off 7.45pm

Sunday September 5 - Arsenal vs Chelsea, kick-off 12.30pm

Saturday September 11 - West Ham vs Aston Villa, kick-off 11.30am

Sunday September 12 - Manchester City vs Tottenham, kick-off 6.45pm

Saturday September 25 - Everton vs Birmingham, kick-off 11.30am

Sunday September 26 - Arsenal vs Manchester City, kick-off 6.45pm

Saturday October 2 - Chelsea vs Brighton, kick-off 11.30am

Sunday October 3 - Birmingham vs Manchester United, kick-off 6.45pm

Sunday October 9 - Chelsea vs Leicester, kick-off 12.30pm

Sunday October 9 - Arsenal vs Everton, kick-off 3.00pm

WSL on Sky: Big names, the 'big three' and inspiring girls

The Women's Super League will have a new home from next season on Sky Sports. From world-class stars like Lucy Bronze and Vivianne Miedema to the potential end of the 'big three' - Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City - there are plenty of reasons to be excited.

Here, we look at why you should watch the WSL on Sky Sports this September...

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