WOMEN’S FOOTBALL WEEKLY

The five-minute read for dedicated-ish fans of women’s football.

It’s been a week of big hits: The Hammers (West Ham, for all you newbs) finally nailed three points to lift them off bottom, Arsenal took a pummeling on all sides, and things got a bit eggy for our favourite man to hate. Plus: make sure you read to the end for Greenwood’s latest jegging episode. Enjoy!

– Jo, founder of Twentytwo

⚽ RESULTS ROUND-UP

WSL MATCHDAY 9

Another huge weekend of results in the WSL. City won the Manchester derby to extend their lead at the top of the table, then Liverpool did an outstanding job against Chelsea, taking two points off the current champions and handing City a nice little points buffer. But possibly the biggest win of the weekend was for West Ham, who finally got their first three points of the season, lifting them off bottom place.

Big takeaway: Chelsea are not infallible, and the title race is shaping up to be way more interesting than anyone anticipated (i.e. Chelsea won’t have won it by Christmas).

• Manchester City 3-0 Manchester United (Highlights)

• Aston Villa 1-3 London City Lionesses (Highlights)

• Brighton 4-1 Leicester City (Highlights)

• West Ham 3-1 Everton (Highlights)

• Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (Highlights)

• Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Arsenal (Highlights)

AS IT STANDS

OUR PICKS FROM THE PITCH…

1. Amber Tysiak climbed above the defence to head in from a corner.

2. Alyssa Thompson is on a roll. A little cut in and floated into the top corner.  

3. Lauren Hemp gave United’s defence a lesson in why you shouldn’t give her time on the ball at the edge of your box. 

4. Madison Haley finished off a well-worked Brighton goal, Seike with the assist.

5. Over in the WSL2, Emily Murphy bagged a brace in the North East derby, sending Newcastle to fourth. 

🎥 Watch this if you only click one thing: Beata Olsson kept her head and calmly slotted home Liverpool’s equaliser. It could be a defining moment in the season as Chelsea dropped another two points. 

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CATCH UP…

Watch every goal and the best saves from matchday three of the Champions League. Current standings: Manchester United in third, Chelsea fourth, and Arsenal eleventh.

🚨ICYMI

Top Headlines

🏟️ The WSL has released new stadium design guidelines in its drive to improve the matchday experience for players, fans and the media. There are loads of suggestions that put safe, inclusive, community spaces at the heart of things, tbh we were sold as soon as they suggested building more women’s toilets.

🏆 Chloe Kelly, Hannah Hampton, Michelle Agyemang and the Lionesses all scooped awards at the British Sports Awards.

🩼 Injury update: Katie Reid, Arsenal’s 19-year-old defensive rising star, has torn her ACL in a training session, which ends her season. Man United’s keeper, Phallon Tullis-Joyce has fractured her eye socket and will be out of action for the next few weeks.

👏 Sweden’s Magdalena Eriksson has announced her international retirement

🇺🇸 Over in the NWSL, Gotham FC scored a stoppage-time winner to beat Orlando Pride in the semi-finals. They’ll face Michelle Kang’s Washington Spirit for the Championship on 23 November.

And finally…

🐔 Our least-favourite man in football, Luis Rubiales, was pelted with eggs, allegedly by his uncle, while launching his new book ‘Killing Rubiales’. We’re hoping the Uncle releases ‘Egging Rubiales’ in time for Christmas.

📚 WHAT WE’RE READING

→ North Korea’s U-17 women’s team: world champions turned state propaganda machine – The Observer

→ How League of Our Own is making football fair again – Twentytwo

🔍 IN FOCUS

Rodman Rumours Spark Salary Cap Debate

Trinity Rodman could soon be on her way to the WSL. Three WSL clubs are in talks with the USWNT and Washington Spirit star, all hoping to land her signature when she’s out of contract at the end of the year. But it’s causing a stir.

Why it matters:

• There’s been an exodus of big players from the NWSL over the last year, and without the draw of household names, viewing figures have suffered.

• Rodman’s potential move is putting pressure on the NWSL to take action and help keep big players in the league. The biggest problem? The salary cap.

The salary cap?:

• NWSL clubs have a $3.3million salary cap in 2026 – there is no maximum spend on individual salaries, but they have to cover all players within that budget. 

• For context, Rodman’s 2022 three-year deal was worth $1.1million, but Spirit have another 26 players to cover with the rest of the cap. So you can see things can get tight pretty quickly.

• On the plus side, the cap helps keep things equal. It’s why in any given season, the title could be won by anyone.

• On the downside, leagues such as the WSL don’t have a cap, so they can offer players bigger deals.

Our take:

• Rodman has been plagued by injury, so it’ll be interesting to see what role and how much clubs are willing to offer her. 

• The salary cap is a big question for the NWSL to work out. They’re probably not going to answer it in time to stop Rodman making a move, but we expect them to introduce some kind of designated player rule, where clubs can have a set number of star players whose salaries are partly or fully exempt from the cap.

👟 KIT DROP

It’s been 25 years since Kappa dropped its Kombat design, and what better way to celebrate than a new special edition? There are 18 kits to choose from - our standouts? Aldosiivi’s muted yellow and green colour blocks, then its all about the stripes – Nice’s classic black and red, and Red Star’s green and white.
Get yours here

Foudys is in full Black Friday mode. Get 25% practically everything with code: SCORE25

🛋️ DITCH THE SOFA

Upcoming Events

Women’s Football Fair 2 | Sunday 30 November
Whether you're a player, fan, or simply curious, this is the perfect day to celebrate the power and passion of the women's game.
Hockley Social Club,60 Hampton St, Birmingham B19 3LU
£5 Early Bird / £10 General Admission Tickets – Get yours here

Lionesses Homecoming Series:

England vs China
Saturday 29 November, 17:30, Wembley - Tickets

England vs Ghana
Tuesday 2 December, 19:00, St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton – Tickets

Catch England U23s against Norway (27 Nov)  and the USA (1 Dec) – Tickets here (scroll down)

Is there a women’s football event happening near you? Give us a heads-up

📺 WEEKLY WATCHLIST

What We’re Watching

Your what-not-to-miss viewing guide (BST)

UWCL
Wednesday 19 November

• Wolfsburg vs Manchester United (17:45, Disney+)

• Arsenal vs Real Madrid (20:00, Disney+)

Wednesday 19 November

• Chelsea vs Barcelona (20:00, BBC Two, Disney+)

Subway Women’s League Cup
Full fixtures here - check your club for streaming news
Friday 21 November

• Aston Villa vs Birmingham City (19:00, WSL YouTube)

Sunday 23 November

• Sunderland vs Durham (14:00, WSL YouTube)

NWSL Championship Final
Sunday 23 November

• Washington Spirit vs Gotham FC (01:00, TNT)

👀 FAVE FINDS

Before you leave…

• Hashtag United’s Lucy Brame heard a dreaded pop from her knee during a cup game against Oxford United and knew it was bad. It turned out to be severe. An ACL tear, with MCL, LCL and meniscus damage. With a year-long wait for treatment on the NHS, Lucy is raising £12,000 to get the op privately. 

• What better way to mark Alex Greenwood’s contract extension than with a pair of custom jeggings? (Context here in case you missed this vital bit of WSL lore

See you next week!

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