The Barclays FA Women's Super League will be shown live on Sky Sports from September 2021; Sky Sports will show at least 35 games exclusively live in a three-year deal; the WSL has some of the best players and teams in women's football, making an exciting addition to the Sky Sports roster
Monday 30 August 2021 09:23, UK
The Barclays FA Women's Super League has a new home this season on Sky Sports. From world-class stars like Lucy Bronze and Vivianne Miedema, to competitive derby days, there are plenty of reasons to be excited...
Back in March, Sky Sports announced a three-year deal with the FA to become the primary broadcaster of the WSL from September 2021.
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.
The excitement has kicked up a gear with Friday's fixture announcement and there are plenty of reasons why you should watch this season...
The Barclays FA Women's Super League has no shortage of famous names. Lucy Bronze returned to Manchester City last summer after a trophy-laden spell at Lyon. Pick an individual women's award and Bronze has probably been nominated for it, with the 29-year-old regarded as one of the best full-backs in the women's game.
It is hard to overlook Arsenal forward Vivianne Miedema if we are considering some of the best. In four years at the club, she has scored 93 goals in 99 games across all competitions, while netting 18 goals in 22 WSL games last term, beaten to a third Golden Boot by Chelsea's Sam Kerr.
In October 2020, Miedema became the first player to score 50 WSL goals, overtaking the all-time league record of 49 set by Nikita Parris. She is also the Netherlands' highest international goalscorer across both senior teams with 73 goals - far more than the men's record holder Robin van Persie (50) - and helped her country to a runners-up spot at the 2019 World Cup.
That is before we even mention Pernille Harder - the most expensive women's footballer after her move to Chelsea in September - her club team-mates, Sam Kerr and Fran Kirby, and the well-known England Women contingent at City, including Steph Houghton, Georgia Stanway and Ellen White.
The Barclays FA Women's Super League had an exciting influx of American talent in the league last summer, although many have now returned to the USA having signed short-term deals.
But fear not, there are plenty of new - or mostly not so new - faces to enjoy this season. Two names that will be well known to WSL and England fans are Nikita Parris and Toni Duggan, having signed for Arsenal and Everton respectively.
After a trophy-laden two years with Lyon, Parris became Arsenal's club-record signing at the start of July, having previously won five major trophies with City. Her former City team-mate, Duggan, spent the last four years playing for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in Spain, but has returned to her roots at Everton, having begun her career at the club.
Duggan believes Everton - who finished fifth in the WSL last season - can challenge Chelsea, Arsenal and City for the league title, telling Sky Sports News: "We have not hid away from that, I think you have heard (Everton manager) Willie [Kirk] speak about it as well - that is the aim," Duggan said.
"We want to break down the teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City. They have had many years building the team, and they have been really successful over the past few years. Everton are at that stage now to take the next step."
City are not ones to be outdone though, having signed recent Champions League-winning captain Vicky Losada. The midfielder has spent most of her career at Barcelona, although enjoyed two seasons with Arsenal. She won the Women's FA Cup and WSL Cup, before returning to Spain for another hugely successful spell, culminating in Barca's first Women's Champions League title in May 2021.
City have also further strengthened up front, landing striker Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw from Bordeaux. Her two years in France were a huge success and the Jamaica international ended the 2020/21 season with 22 goals and seven assists, winning the Division 1 Feminine Golden Boot and also earning a place on the French Football Federation's Team of the Year.
Although their history may not be as long, there are some exciting derbies in the Barclays FA Women's Super League that can match the men's fixtures for rivalry and memorable moments.
The last two matches to break the WSL attendance record have been derby games. In September 2019, the WSL's inaugural Manchester derby was held at the Etihad Stadium with 31,213 spectators.
That record was then broken two months later when Tottenham faced Arsenal in the first north London derby in the WSL and the hosts' first match at the impressive Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The game beat the previous record by a fair margin too, with 38,262 people attending. March's north London derby was also held at the stadium, although without fans in attendance.
Both fixtures have enjoyed some entertaining recent encounters too. The first Manchester derby this season was a thrilling 2-2 draw as Man Utd came from 2-0 down to take a point, complete with some superb goals. City were the most recent winners in February, winning 3-0 at the Academy Stadium.
While Arsenal have had the upper hand in most north London derbies so far, they were taken all the way to penalties by Tottenham in their WSL Cup meeting in November. Spurs twice came from a goal down to secure a 2-2 draw, before a dramatic shootout saw Alex Morgan miss the decisive spot-kick to hand Arsenal victory.
Let's also not forget about the Second City derby. Both Aston Villa and Birmingham battled against relegation last term, but eventually survived at the expense of Bristol City. Their most recent match in April was a dramatic affair - Veatriki Sarri's 96th-minute equaliser secured a 1-1 draw for the Blues.
Let's not downplay the role England Women have had in promoting the women's game. Their successes over the last five years have had a huge hand in the attention and investment that women's football has had, with many of the players plying their trade in the Barclays FA Women's Super League.
The Lionesses' third-place finish at the 2015 World Cup - which until recently, was the highest any senior England team had finished at a major tournament since 1966 - thrust women's football into the spotlight and they have maintained that interest.
Although having never managed before, Phil Neville's appointment in 2017 attracted attention - people wanted to see how he would fare in his first role. That meant more eyes on women's football and, again, they followed it up in superb fashion.
Neville's first task was the 2018 SheBelieves Cup in which England finished second before going on to win the tournament the following year. He also led the Lionesses to a World Cup semi-final in 2019, before packing out Wembley in November later that year for a friendly against Germany, with the 77,768-strong crowd the highest attendance for a home international women's game in England.
It is a testament to England's success that some of the most successful managers in the sport were linked with the job when Neville announced his intended departure, including Jill Ellis and Emma Hayes. Hege Riise has taken the reins on an interim basis after Neville left England early to join Inter Miami, and will also lead Team GB at this summer's Olympics.
The Lionesses' first permanent non-British manager, Sarina Wiegman, will take over the role from September 2021. She is the reigning European Championship-winning coach with the Netherlands, leading the country to a runners-up spot at the 2019 World Cup, and is already targeting similar success with England.
With the 2022 Women's Euros taking place in England, it's a huge chance for the Lionesses to impress on their home turf as a final at Wembley awaits.
You only have to look at the numbers to see that the last two seasons have been huge for the Barclays FA Women's Super League and women's football across the board. More girls are seeing players like themselves on TV, going a long way to inspire and encourage the next generation.
Harder told WFS Live last year: "When I was young, there were not that many women's players for me to see on the platforms or see games on TV. Most of my idols were actually men's players.
"In the last five years, I feel like it's really been growing a lot and many games are now on television... So many young girls can watch us play and now we can be their idols instead of [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo."
In 2017, the FA launched the 'Gameplan for Growth' to try and double female participation in football. They have now reached that target, with 3.4m females now playing the sport, including a 54 per cent increase in affiliated women's and girls' teams.
Football is the biggest women's team sport in England, according to the FA, and, as already mentioned, England Women have had a huge hand in that with televised WSL games each week surely a very close second.
But it also takes volunteers, coaches and opportunity to help women's football grow even more as girls continue to break down the gender barriers in a male-dominated sport and realise they can be the next Harder, Miedema or Bronze.
The Barclays FA Women's Super League turning professional in 2018 was a watershed moment after years of part-time contracts, working multiple jobs and a lack of investment. Women's football was getting the attention it had been crying out for to make it possible for women to also earn a living playing the game they love.
There is still a long way to go on this front though. The Women's Championship remains a semi-professional league with many players holding down full-time jobs as well as full-time training and playing programmes - but there are improvements happening all the time.
In these strange times we are living in, it is important to keep up the momentum and support from the last few years for a game that is only growing every season. From the start of the 2021/22 campaign, that will be right here, live on Sky Sports.
Sky Sports has announced a three-year deal with the FA to become the primary broadcaster of the Barclays FA Women's Super League from September 2021, becoming one of Sky Sports flagship offerings.
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.
Sky Sports are recruiting for the best-in-class on-and-off-screen production team as part of the plan to align WSL with the broadcaster's other big sporting leagues and events.
The WSL will get the full Sky Sports treatment with lengthy build-ups and reaction to all live matches, plus daily news from the competition across Sky Sports News and Sky Sports' digital platforms.
