Bompastor Breaks League Cup Final Curse
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL WEEKLY
IN THIS WEEK’S ROUND-UP...
Subway League Cup Final: Top talking points
Picks from the pitch: Relive the weekend’s top strikes and saves
ICYMI: Nick Cushing in a surprise return
What we’re watching: Our pick of the week’s upcoming matches
Jobs: New opportunities in football
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🥪 SUBWAY LEAGUE CUP
Bompastor, the League Cup whisperer
Chelsea bagged their first silverware under Bompastor beating Manchester City 2-1 to lift the Subway League Cup. Here are our top talking points from the final:
The curse: Chelsea has had an impressive record of losing the League Cup final they were on quite a roll… 2022, 2023, and 2024. Finally, the curse is broken. Please only refer to Bompastor as ‘the curse-breaker’ going forward.
The pitch: The first thing anyone tuning in to watch the game would notice was the state of Pride Park’s pitch. It was, quite frankly, shocking. Bumpy, cut up, and more worthy of a Sunday League match than a cup final.
The goals: Mayra Ramirez got an early goal, and as the game continued, Aoba Fujino’s sublime equaliser seemed to give City the lift they needed. The winning goal came in the most cruel way as Yuo Hasegawa diverted a Ramirez cross into the back of her own net to seal Chelsea’s victory.
OUR PICK OF THE LEAGUE CUP LINKS:
⚽ PICKS FROM THE PITCH
Our top five WSL moments
This week had some big results, not least Crystal Palace’s crucial 3-1 win at Aston Villa, only their second win of the season. They’re still in last place but the win puts them one point behind Villa in 11th and 3 points behind Leicester in 10th. Palace is certainly not done just yet!
Watch back this week’s top strike and saves:
Fuka Nagano fired this one home for Liverpool’s second, and her first goal at Anfield.
Aniek Nouwe came back from 15 months out with an ACL injury to play a full 90 minutes and score on her Crystal Palace debut.
Fran Kirby was back among the goals with what turned out to be the winner
Ashleigh Weerden got everything right with this edge-of-the-box strike
RESULTS: MATCHDAY 16
West Ham 1-1 Manchester City (Highlights)
Chelsea 3-1 Leicester City (Highlights)
Everton 1-3 Arsenal (Highlights)
Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United (Highlights)
Crystal Palace 3-1 Aston Villa (Highlights)
Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Brighton & Hove Albion (Highlights)
AS IT STANDS
🚨ICYMI
Top Headlines
👋 We’d barely sent last week’s newsletter and Gareth Taylor was at the wrong end of a surprise sacking by Manchester City. Perhaps the biggest shock was Nick Cushing being appointed interim manager. After rejecting Arsenal’s approach late last year, and subsequently being sacked after poor results at New York City in the MLS, the ex-City manager makes his return with the hope he can make something of what’s left of the season.
🤝 Talk of making the WSL a closed league would probably mean a renegotiation of the £65 million game changing broadcasting deal agreed between Sky, BBC and the WSL. A closed league would mean no relegation battles, which are always a great revenue driver, and would lead to meaningless games with nothing riding on them. Broadcasters unlikely to be happy with that scenario.
🗣️ Taylor Hines became the latest WSL player to suffer abuse on the pitch after a fan made ‘sexually inappropriate comments’ during Liverpool’s FA Cup win against Arsenal last week. The fan was identified and removed from the stadium. There have been concerns that abusive conduct is becoming a more regular occurrence in the women’s game.
🗓️ FA Cup semi-finals have been announced:
Chelsea vs Liverpool
Saturday 12 April, 12:15 BST (BBC ONE)Manchester City vs Manchester United
Sunday 13 April, 15:00 BST (BBC TWO)
👀 Eight top teams will play in a new seven-a-side tournament in the week leading up to the Women’s Champion’s League Final in Lisbon. The teams are not yet confirmed, but at least two WSL teams will compete. The tournament will be run independently, funded by private equity and the prize pot could eclipse the money on offer for UWCL winners.
NWSL NEWS
🏆 Washington Spirit kicked off their new season with a bang, winning the Challenge Cup and taking revenge against 2024 champs Orlando Pride. Spirit won 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in normal time.
📺 The NWSL is coming to a UK TV near you. TNT will broadcast two NWSL games per week through the 2025 season. Playoffs and weekly highlights come as a bonus. NWSL+, the league’s streaming platform will broadcast all other games.
🏃🏻♀️ 14-year-old Mckenna ‘Mak’ Whitham made her debut for Gotham, becoming the youngest-ever player in a regular NWSL game. Whitham is a serial record breaker – she became the youngest contracted player in NWSL history and then became the youngest ever pro player in a US top-flight league last July.
✏️ Bosnation FC has confirmed a name change is incoming months after their new brand launch flopped with fans. They’ve changed their social profiles to ‘Coming Soon FC’ and removed their logo.
🫶 Angel City's Sydney Leroux is taking a break from football for the good of her mental health. She made a statement over the weekend, saying "This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to say or admit to myself. But after a lot of reflection, I've made the difficult decision to step away from soccer for my mental health." She promised she’d be back.
👀 FAVE FINDS
Rebel Rapino for Mundial Mag
Mundial’s, The Rebel Issue, has put head rebel, Megan Rapino on the cover. Complete with an exclusive interview tackling everything from equal pay to Donald Trump’s campaign against trans people. We can’t wait to get our hands on a copy.
Demi Stokes has teamed up with Green Football to reduce the 100,000 tonnes of sportswear that go to landfill every year (that’s equivalent to 500 million football shirts). Between 11 March - 2 April, Green Football is encouraging players and fans to donate, sell or gift pre-loved kit to give it a second life. More info here
🧠 QUIZ
Question: Which USWNT and NWSL player recently hinted at a future move overseas?
Answer at the bottom of the email
✍️ INSIDE TRACK
ErinCuthbert’s not going anywhere
Erin Cuthbert has signed a new Chelsea deal until 2027. The 26-year-old midfielder joined Chelsea eight years ago as a teenager and has won six WSL titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups with the club.
Goalkeeper Adrianna Franch has joined Birmingham City on loan until the end of the season. The 2019 USWNT World Cup winner was previously at Kansas City Current and brings a ton of experience to City who currently sit top of the Championship and are pushing for promotion to the WSL.
🛋️ DITCH THE SOFA
Upcoming events
Watch the Champions League with BallerFC
The Volley, 211 Old Street, London, EC1V 9NR
Tue 18 March, 17:45 - Real Madrid vs Arsenal
Wed 19 March, 20:00 - Manchester City vs Chelsea
Beth Mead Signing Event
Thursday 20 March, 16:00-17:30, The Armoury Store
More info
Is there a women’s football event happening near you? Give us a heads-up.
📺 WEEKLY WATCHLIST
What We’re Watching
UEFA Women's Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg
Tuesday 18 March
17:45 - Real Madrid vs Arsenal [TNT Sports 1, DAZN, DAZN YouTube]
20:00 - Bayern Munich vs Lyon [TNT Sports 1, DAZN]
Wednesday 19 March
17:45 - Wolfsburg vs Barcelona [TNT Sports 1, DAZN]
20:00 - Manchester City vs Chelsea [TNT Sports 1, DAZN, DAZN YouTube]
Women’s Super League
Saturday 22 March
14:00 - Everton vs Crystal Palace [WSL YouTube]
17:30 - Arsenal vs Liverpool [Sky Sports]
Sunday 23 March
12:00 - West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspur [Sky Sports]
14:30 - Manchester City vs Chelsea [BBC]
15:00 - Leicester City vs Brighton & Hove Albion [WSL YouTube]
16:30 - Aston Villa vs Manchester United [Sky Sports]
All kick-off times are GMT
📂 JOBS, JOBS, JOBS
More Women Working in Football
Bid General Manager - FIFA Women's World Cup 2035 | The FA | Apply by 24 March
Programme Content Manager | Manchester City Sports Business School | Apply by 26 March
Independent Chair of The National Leagues Pyramid Board | The FA | Apply by 26 March
Masters Placement Academy Performance Coach/1st Team Sports Scientist | Crystal Palace FC | Apply by 18 April
Executive Assistant | NWSL | Apply now
🧠 QUIZ
Question: Which USWNT and NWSL player recently hinted at a future move overseas?
Answer: Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit)
“I've always thought about playing overseas at some point in my career… I think I would kick myself if I retired and hadn't done that. So it's just a matter of when I think. But yeah, [I’m] just focused on this year and we'll see what happens when the time is right."
Trinity Rodman, speaking to ESPN's Futbol W
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