Skinner Stays | Walsh gets First England Goal | Earps+Zelem are Pointless

April 07, 2025

WOMEN’S FOOTBALL WEEKLY
IN THIS WEEK’S ROUND-UP...

  • UEFA Nations League: Walsh gets first-ever England goal

  • Latest headlines: 2035 UK World Cup looks 99.9% locked in

  • Kit drop: Nike Air Max 95 special edition boots

  • What we’re watching: Our pick of the week’s upcoming matches

  • Jobs: New opportunities in football

⚽ UEFA WOMEN’S NATIONS LEAGUE

England demolishes Belgium

England 5-0 Belgium (Highlights)
Goals came from Bronze, Bright, Beever-Jones, Park and Walsh. Unbelievably, this was Keira Walsh’s first-ever England goal after 83 international caps. The result put England at the top of Group A3, one point ahead of Spain.

How did the other UK nations do?:

  • Romania 1-1 Northern Ireland (Highlights) - Northern Ireland are second to Poland in Group B1

  • Wales 1-2 Denmark (Highlights) - Wales is currently bottom of Group A4

  • Scotland 0-4 Germany (Highlights) - Scotland sits at the bottom of Group A1, losing all three games so far

Next game: 8 April
Final group matches: 30 May and 3 June

🚨ICYMI

Top Headlines

📂 The FIFA Women’s World Cup is coming to the UK (unless something dramatic happens!). The 2031 and 2035 tournaments both received one valid host bid each. It means the USA Soccer Federation, who submitted a joint bid with other Concacaf nations (TBD), will stand uncontested as hosts of the 2031 tournament, while the four UK football associations (English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh) are all but guaranteed the 2035 tournament. FIFA will evaluate the bids and appoint the successful hosts in the second quarter of 2026.

🦘Australia Football has decided not to take any action against Sam Kerr after her London Taxi trial acquittal. They said her professionalism and taking responsibility for her actions impacted the decision. She’s likely to return from her lengthy ACL recovery as captain.

🇿🇲 Zambia removed four US-based players from its squad due to concerns over America’s immigration crackdown on people who spend time out of the country and then return. Barbra Banda, Rachel Kundananji, Grace Chanda and Prisca Chilufya did not join the team for the Yangchuan International Tournament.

❌ Gotham has taken strong action against the fan that shouted abusive comments at Barbra Banda during a game against Orlando Pride. The fan has had their season ticket cancelled and is banned from attending any future Gotham games or events. 

🧐 Chelsea FC valued its women’s team at (what seems a grossly over-valued) £200 million and sold it to another company in its management structure to avoid breaking PSR rules. It allowed them to post a £128 million profit where there would’ve been a loss. Although the Premier League is still assessing the creative accounting, UEFA has taken a different position, saying financial fair play rules were broken. As a result, Chelsea Men’s team could face a ban.

🏆 The 2031 USA Women’s World Cup will have 48 teams, up from the current 32. The men’s competition will move to 48 teams in 2026. On the plus side, we’ll be guaranteed to see smaller nations compete on the world stage for the first time, but get ready for some big scorelines. 

👀 No Barclays WSL referees have been included in the Euro 2025 list. Three other match officials will be involved in the tournament, with assistant referee Emily Carney, video assistant referee Jarred Gille and assistant VAR Sian Massey-Ellis, all named in the Euro’s team.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England has qualified for the U19s Euros in Poland this summer. They qualify with a game left to play, beating Austria 5-1, Belgium 6-0, their final game against Ukraine kicks off at 2pm on Tuesday.

📚 WHAT WE’RE READING
👀 FAVE FINDS
✍️ INSIDE TRACK

It’s finally happened. Marc Skinner has a renewed contract that will see him stay at Manchester United until 2027, with the option of another year. This one dragged on for months, but at least now United fans know where things stand and have time to defect if they hate the Skinner era as much as they make out.

🩼 ACL + INJURY UPDATES

  • England smashed Belgium in the first of their Nations League games, but a flurry of minor injuries sees key players return home. Lauren James picked up a hamstring injury against Belgium and is replaced by Jess Naz. Alessia Russo has returned to Arsenal for assessment, and U19 Lioness Michelle Agyemange has received her first senior call-up to replace her. Fran Kirby and Chloe Kelly had already returned home for treatment before the first Belgium fixture last Friday.

  • Liverpool’s Ceri Holland has been assessed following an injury in Wales’ match against Denmark, and things aren’t as serious as first thought. She left the field to a standing ovation following a heavy challenge. 

  • Arsenal took another injury hit during the international window with Daphne van Domselaar withdrawing from the Netherlands’ camp. She fell awkwardly during a dive, tweaking her ankle late in their game against Austria.

  • Over in the NWSL, Gotham defender Tierna Davidson has ruptured her ACL and is out for the season.

👟 KIT DROP

Air Max 95 fans, get ready for a perfect mash-up. Nike is releasing an Air Max 95-inspired Mercurial boot on 12 April. The iconic layered look plus neon detailing is everything you want from this reimagining of a classic. Keep your eyes peeled for go-live later this week.

TOGETHXR (a sports media company set up by Alex Morgan, Sue Bird and others) and Nike have launched their Everyone Watches Women's Sports Collection. Available now

🛋️ DITCH THE SOFA

Upcoming Events

FA Cup semi-final tickets are still on sale:

  • Liverpool vs Chelsea, 12 April, 12:15 ko
    Tickets here

  • Manchester City vs Manchester United, 13 April, 15:00 ko
    Tickets here

BallerFC - Belgium vs England
Signature Brew Blackhorse Road, London E17 5QJ
8 April - Doors 19:00, KO 19:30
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 Nations League
Tuesday 8 April 2025
16:45 - Germany vs Scotland [BBC Scotland, BBC iPlayer]
18:00 - Northern Ireland vs Romania [BBC iPlayer]
18:00 - Sweden vs Wales [BBC Two Wales, BBC iPlayer]
19:30 - Belgium vs England [ITV4, ITVX]

Women's FA Cup Semi-Final
Saturday 12 April
12:15 - Chelsea vs Liverpool [BBC One, BBC iPlayer]

Sunday 13 April
15:00 - Manchester City vs Manchester United [BBC Two, BBC iPlayer]

All kick-off times are BST

📂 JOBS, JOBS, JOBS

More Women Working in Football

P.S. If you know a WSL fan who’d love to read this email, please forward this one or share a link :)

More women watching, playing and working in football