⚽ Sam Kerr Comedy. New Lionesses Kit. VAR alt trials.
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL WEEKLY
In this week's round-up...
ICYMI: VAR alternative to be trialled, Denmark men’s team stand up for women’s equal pay
New world rankings released
Fave Finds: Leah Williamson at Oxford Union
Kit Drop: Lionesses edition kit released
Transfer news: Sam Kerr takes head comedian role, Kiera Walsh transfer rumours
Jobs: Five football jobs we’ve spotted this week
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🚨ICYMI
Top headlines
⚽ The 2024-25 Women's Super League will start on 21 September.
😱 Thornaby FC, a small northeast football club, went viral for all the wrong reasons this week after the board voted to disband its women’s and girls’ teams. Players Beth Mead and Beth England called the club out. Six board members subsequently resigned, and the club’s chairman is pushing to reinstate the teams with a new, diverse board.
One of Thornaby FC’s girls' players, Lily, had this to say about the board's original decision, "If girls want to play football you can't just not let them." Grab a t-shirt with Lily’s quote on it, all profits go back to the women’s and girls’ teams.
📹 Video Support (VS), an alternative, simplified version of VAR will be trialled at the women’s U20 World Cup this August. Unlike VAR, VS does not check incidents automatically, instead, team managers can request a fixed number of decision reviews throughout the game.
→ How VS works
💸 Denmark’s men’s team have refused a pay rise so their women’s team can have equal basic pay. The four-year deal will take effect after Euro 2024. Key elements of the deal include:
Equal pay and conditions at tournaments
Equal basic pay
Improved insurance for the women’s(+50%) and youth teams (+40%), paid for by a 15% decrease in the men’s insurance.
🦘Perth International Football Cup: Paris Saint-Germain, West Ham United, Manchester City and Leicester City will compete in the pre-season tournament between 28 August - 1 September in Perth, Western Australia.
🇺🇸 Washington Spirit will host Arsenal and Chelsea at Audi Field in August. The Spirit play Arsenal on 18 August at 2pm EDT. They’ll then host a doubleheader on 25 August where they’ll take on Kansas City Current at noon before Chelsea plays Arsenal at 4pm. The games will be shown worldwide on DAZN for free. Spirit season ticket holders and Arsenal and Chelsea supporter groups will get early access to tickets on 18 June, 8am EDT. For further ticketing info check Spirit’s site.
🏟️ Chicago Red Stars have their game against San Diego Wave, which was scheduled at their home stadium in September, bumped in favour of a punk rock festival. Red Stars president Karen Leetzow said that the situation highlights the discrepancy in how professional men’s and women’s sports are treated.
🔻 Villarreal has been relegated from Liga F after their 1-0 loss against Atlético Madrid. They’d played in the top division for three years.
🏆 The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced that 22 teams are interested in participating in the inaugural Women's Champions League in August 2024. The AFC is serious about promoting the women’s game in Asia, committing to a $1.3 million prize for the winners.
📈 STATS
New world rankings released
Spain stays on top, with England sliding down from second to third and, the USA down from fourth to fifth. France and Germany moved up to take second and third spots respectively.
👀 FAVE FINDS
📺 Oxford Union released three videos from Leah Williamson’s talk, covering topics such as the impact of the Lionesses’ success at Euro 2022, the importance of representation in sport and research into injuries, and diversity in the squad.
🎧 In 2021, PSG's Kheira Hamraoui was attacked by masked men, leading to the temporary detention of teammate Aminata Diallo amid suspicions of rivalry. Diallo was released without charges. The incident is now the subject of a new four-part podcast series from the BBC called Sport’s Strangest Crimes: A French Football Scandal.
✍️ Women in Sport says UK political party manifestos do not include ideas to improve sport for women and girls. They’ve created their own list of policy ideas and are encouraging the public to write to their MP and highlight the policies ahead of the UK elections. A letter template is available on their site.
What we’re reading:
🖋️ INSIDE TRACK
Transfer news
↳ Sam Kerr has signed a contract extension to keep her at Chelsea until 2026. Fans went through all the emotions as the club released a video that implied the striker would be leaving the club; following it up twenty minutes later with a second video acting as a punch line to the joke, confirming Kerr wasn’t going anywhere. Chelsea really did mess with us all this season…
↳ Esmé Morgan’s move to Washington Spirit is official. The 22-year-old England defender has made the move despite having one year left on her Manchester City contract. She struggled for consistent game time under Gareth Taylor which has been cited as the main reason she wanted to move. That, and the opportunity to play under manager, Jonatan Giráldez, who takes over the Spirit after his successful stint at Barcelona.
↳ Flaura Wienroither has extended her contract at Arsenal after recently returning from an ACL injury which saw her sidelined for much of the 2023/24 season.
↳ Katie Robinson will leave Brighton when her contract expires at the end of June. There’s been interest from WSL, NWSL and Bundesliga clubs.
↳ Cortnee Vine is leaving Sydney FC and heading for NWSL team, NC Courage after signing a three-year deal.
ELSEWHERE… THE RUMOURS ARE FLYING
👟 KIT DROP
The Lionesses edition of the New England kit is now available. If you want customisation, there have been complaints about names not being available from the official England store. Instead, we’d recommend heading to Foudy’s for official lettering and patches.
🛋️ DITCH THE SOFA
Upcoming events
Football v Homophobia is bringing Football Pride to London. Guests include Georgia Robert and Lailah Muscat from TV's 'I Kissed A Girl'. Football Pride will take place on 28 June, 9.30 - 17:00, in partnership with the Chelsea Foundation at Stamford Bridge. Tickets £20
Female-Friendly Euro 2024 matches
If you’re looking for women-friendly watch parties for the men’s Euro’s this summer keep an eye on This Fan Girl. They will be announcing their meetups throughout.
Is there a women’s football event happening near you? Give us a heads-up
📂 JOBS, JOBS, JOBS
More women working in football
Digital Product Manager | The Premier League | Apply by 21 June
Head of Women’s Football | Bristol City | Apply by 26 June
Football Marketing Lead – Women’s & Youth | Chelsea | Apply here
Head of Events | Bloomsbury Football Foundation | Apply here
1st WNB XI Manager - Women's & Non Binary | Stonewall FC | Voluntary | Apply here
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