Women’s Super League Kicks Off With High Hopes and Star Signings

London City Lionesses after their opening goal at CopperJax Community Stadium in Greater London on Friday

With the new men’s football season already underway across Europe, this weekend marks the start of one of the continent’s premier women’s leagues — the Women’s Super League — with Friday’s opener between London City Lionesses and Manchester United at the sold-out CopperJax Community Stadium setting the tone of the campaign, with the Lionesses showcasing their attacking arsenal for the season in a 2-1 victory.

The heightened anticipation around another WSL season is not just a testament to the growing interest in women’s football, but also to the ambitious squad-building several English clubs have undertaken over the past couple of months. Defending champions Manchester City have managed to keep FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year Bunny Shaw in their ranks despite strong interest from Chelsea. West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur, meanwhile, have been active in the transfer market as they look to climb the table, while last season’s runners-up Arsenal are targeting their first WSL title since 2019 after strengthening their squad with eight new signings.

However, the biggest signing in the league’s history came from the Lionesses, who brought in two-time Ballon d’Or winner and four-time Women’s Champions League winner Alexia Putellas from Barcelona. The move surprised many, with one of the most celebrated names in women’s football leaving Barcelona after 14 trophy-laden years to join a club founded only seven years ago. But Putellas has made it clear that she still “just wants to keep winning”, something she believes reflects the Lionesses’ vision.

The competitive depth of WSL is also one of its biggest attractions — something Liverpool players Alice Bergstrom and Aurelie Csillag, who joined the club during the January transfer window, acknowledged in an exclusive chat with TOI. “I think we know that WSL is attractive because we don’t have a huge gap in the points. So I would say the first six or eight teams are really good. But, on a given day, it’s still as hard to play against them as it’s against the last one on the table,” said Liverpool’s Swiss striker Csillag, whose team finished a lowly 11th in the 12-team league last season.

“I mean like last year, we may have finished below them, but we still won against Tottenham, Aston Villa and Everton. So, I would say that this is the best league in the world and that’s the reason that top players like Putellas from Barcelona are coming to play here.”

While it had been a forgettable season for the Reds women, the 2012 and 2013 back-to-back WSL winners have also been building their squad by roping in the likes of Spanish midfielder Natalia Ramos and Dutch women's league Player of the Year Mao Itamura in their bid to end higher up on the league table this time.

“We got some new players with really good quality on the wings, in the middle as well as in between the posts. So, I think we are going to be great this year, and I’m also very excited to play against the other teams in the WSL. They have also had some major signings like Putellas that I am looking forward to play against,” said Liverpool’s 23-year-old Swedish defender, Bergstrom.

With some of the world’s top women footballers — including Arsenal’s Alessia Russo and Mariona Caldentey, Manchester City’s Ayaka Yamashita, Manchester United’s Maya Le Tissier and London City’s Putellas — set to feature, WSL promises another high-quality and highly competitive season.