Women's Football Thread

[Lineker]

This season's Women's Super League (WSL) kicks off tonight (with Manchester Utd hosting Reading) - and it's easier than ever to watch!

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In March 2021 the FA WSL announced a new record-breaking three-year domestic television rights deal with Sky Sports and BBC beginning 2021–22. Sky will broadcast 44 matches per season with a further 22 matches shown on BBC platforms including a minimum of 18 on BBC One or Two. All other fixtures will remain available to stream for free on the FA Player, the governing body's own over OTT service. Believed to be worth around £8m a season, it is the biggest broadcast deal of any professional women's football league in the world and marked the first time that the WSL's rights had been sold separately from the men's game.

Tomorrow afternoon, Everton host Manchester City live on BBC One, before Sunday sees a switch back to Sky for Arsenal vs. Chelsea.

[snowbird]

between parris, iwabuchi and now heath arsenal's building a bit of a death star, hope it ends up being enough to convince miedema to stay lol

[Lineker]

Oh Spurs.

[Lineker]

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Karna Solskjaer, daughter of Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar, made her Red Devils debut in their 2-0 Women's FA Cup fourth round win at Bridgwater.

Her father, the former United forward and manager, and mother were among the capacity crowd of 2,500 in Somerset to watch the teenager come off the bench.

Her late introduction came after the tie was firmly in her side's grasp.

A first-half own goal by Charlotte Buxton and late second from Ella Toone sent the top-flight side through.

Manchester United enjoyed 69% possession and had 23 shots, 11 of which were on target, but the third-tier side - who have only been in existence for six months - defended stoutly.

 

 

[Lineker]

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The sports minister Nigel Huddleston has confirmed that the government will launch an in-depth review of domestic women’s football this summer with the aim of helping it close the gap with the men’s game.

The review will be independently chaired and supported by an expert advisory panel, with the DCMS saying it will look at developing the women’s game at elite and grassroots level. Its focus will also look at commercialisation, spectator support and media interest, publishling its findings by the end of the year.

It follows the Fan led review of football governance, published in November last year by Tracey Crouch MP, which recommended a review of the women’s game. The Government is expected to publish its response to the review, with a focus on the men’s game, soon.

The review comes as the women’s game gears up for a high-profile summer, with England hosting the Euros and the final being held at Wembley. More than 350,000 of the 700,000 tickets available for the tournament had been sold during pre-sales and a public ballot window, which means that the tournament has already past the record of 240,045 tickets sold for Euro 2017 in the Netherlands.

In a statement issued on Saturday evening, Huddleston said: “Women’s football is a growing force. The 2019 World Cup captured the hearts and minds of the nation, and with greater participation, employment and visibility in the media, I am confident that Eueo 2022 will inspire more women and girls to get into our national game as we work towards parity across all sport.

“Despite these positive signs for the game, it is clear that an assessment of the value of the women’s and girl’s game is needed, to ensure it is properly financed for the long-term. The time is right for a thorough review of the women’s game to ensure all is being done to support its further growth.”

The Football Association welcomed the move. An FA spokesperson said: “A review of women’s football was a key outcome of the Fan-Led Review and one that we fully support. We have been working with the government for some time on all of the recommendations from the Review and in particular on the proposals to look into the future of women’s football.

“This new review will support the continued growth and development in women’s and girls’ football, and it will also help to create a great legacy following what promises to be a fantastic summer of women’s football as we host the Uefa Euro 2022 tournament.”

 

[Lineker]

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Electronic Arts has announced the inclusion of women’s club football teams in Fifa 23 – a first for the series.

At launch, only two leagues will be included: the FA Women’s Super League and the French Division 1 Féminine. However, EA says it plans to expand the roster in future. EA also revealed on Tuesday that, for the first time ever, the cover of the game will feature both a male and female player, with Chelsea’s Sam Kerr joining PSG’s Kylian Mbappé. Fifa 23 will also feature both the men’s World Cup Qatar 2022 and the Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023.

EA first added women’s football to its 325m-selling series with Fifa 16 in 2015. However, that game featured only a handful of international sides. Last year’s Fifa 22 bought the roster up to 17 international squads and also allowed users to create a female player for the game’s Pro Clubs mode for the first time. However, the limited provisions for the women’s game have led to criticisms that the inclusion is merely a publicity endeavour.

With the rising popularity of the women’s game, boosted by the current Euro 2022 tournament, the imperative is increasing. “We’re committed to building an equitable experience and aspire to help grow women’s football,” said Fifa 23 producer, Matt Lafreniere. The company says it will reveal more about the women’s club game over the coming months, including the later addition of new leagues. It has confirmed that female players have been motion captured to ensure authentic animation, and that the women’s matches will benefit from the game’s new Hypermotion 2 technology which applies machine learning to motion captured data to create new, realistic player movements on the fly.

Electronic Arts isn’t the only publisher recognising the growing influence of women’s sport. Earlier this month, 2K Games announced a new instalment of its NBA 2K sim series, NBA2k23 WNBA Edition, focused on the women’s game, while Sports Interactive now includes women’s leagues in its bestselling Football Manager series.

Fifa 23 will be the last title in the 30-year Fifa series developed by EA. It was revealed in May that the publisher would be losing the licence, due to disagreements over costs and exclusivity. Fifa will now be extending its video game licence to a range of different game makers. Electronic Arts, meanwhile, announced that it will be moving to a new brand, EA Sports FC, from 2023.

 

[Lineker]

Changing this from a WSL thread to a more general women's football thread:

 

Canada captain Christine Sinclair says the national women's team will go on strike over pay equity concerns and a lack of funding that they believe will compromise their performances.

[TheGrandAvatar]

 

 

[stokeriño]

Still no resolution on who (if anyone) will broadcast the Women's World Cup

Boggles my mind that we're 50 days out from the tournament starting and this hasn't been sorted. 

I understand that FIFA probably figured that women's football had reached a point where they could make more money selling the TV rights to it separately (as opposed to bundled in with other competitions)... but their avarice jumped the gun here, I feel. With this tournament being in Australia/NZ and therefore awful timeslots for European TV, they can hardly be surprised the bids were low. It's not like there's a reference point for how high the bids 'should be' either (the article cites the Men's WC in comparison, but that's ridiculous).

Will be interesting to see who out of FIFA and TV broadcasters blinks first.

[Lineker]

 

[Lineker]

On 31/05/2023 at 22:38, stokeriño said:

Still no resolution on who (if anyone) will broadcast the Women's World Cup

Boggles my mind that we're 50 days out from the tournament starting and this hasn't been sorted. 

I understand that FIFA probably figured that women's football had reached a point where they could make more money selling the TV rights to it separately (as opposed to bundled in with other competitions)... but their avarice jumped the gun here, I feel. With this tournament being in Australia/NZ and therefore awful timeslots for European TV, they can hardly be surprised the bids were low. It's not like there's a reference point for how high the bids 'should be' either (the article cites the Men's WC in comparison, but that's ridiculous).

Will be interesting to see who out of FIFA and TV broadcasters blinks first.

BBC and ITV will be sharing the UK rights.

[Lineker]

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Newcastle United Women have turned professional as they endeavour to climb from the third tier to the Women’s Super League in successive seasons. Becky Langley’s players have just been promoted from the fourth tier but the club’s majority Saudi Arabian owners ultimately want to see the team in the Champions League on an annual basis.

Newcastle are the first English third division women’s side to become fully professional since Fulham in 2000. That proved a short-lived experiment but 23 years on the women’s game has evolved considerably and no one at St James’ Park doubts the depth of ambition being directed towards Langley’s squad.

The sporting director, Dan Ashworth, took time out from finalising the £50m-plus signing of Italy’s Sandro Tonali from Milan for Eddie Howe’s men’s team to emphasise the importance of a women’s team, who have attracted large crowds, averaging about 25,000, to a handful of games at St James’ Park.

“The success of Newcastle United Women is an integral part of our sporting objectives and we are delighted to support the team’s progress by building a professional model around them,” said Ashworth, who, as the Football Association’s technical director, played an important role in helping establish England’s Lionesses as one of the word’s leading sides.

Langley was suitably delighted. “This is a monumental moment,” she said. “We hope to be a leading light in the movement towards professionalism in the women’s game and inspire women and girls who dream of pursuing a career in football.”

The club say Langley’s players will receive competitive salaries and have access to first-class medical, sports science and training facilities while continuing to play most games at the 10,200-capacity Kingston Park stadium they share with Newcastle Falcons rugby union side and Newcastle United men’s reserves.

Darren Eales, the chief executive, said: “This is an historic moment for our Newcastle United family and for women’s football regionally, nationally and beyond.”

 

[Lineker]

 

[Szumi]

She's going to take the USWNT job, according to multiple sources. No surprise on this one.

[Lineker]

On 04/11/2023 at 15:35, Szumi said:

She's going to take the USWNT job, according to multiple sources. No surprise on this one.

Confirmed!

[Lineker]

 

[Lineker]

Arsenal player has collapsed during the Conti Cup final...

[The Lusophone]

9 minutes ago, Lineker said:

Arsenal player has collapsed during the Conti Cup final...

Thank fuck for this.

[The Lusophone]

Classy Emma, real classy.

[METALMAN]

Male aggression, innit