The Guardian's Women's Football Weekly - Chelsea’s Invincibles and the big WSL report card – Women’s Football Weekly podcast

Episode Date: May 13, 2025

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Tom Garry and Chris Paouros to dissect a dramatic final WSL day

This is The Guardian. Hello, I'm Faker Rothers and welcome to The Guardian Women's Football Weekly. What a goalfest for the final day of the Barclays WSL season. Loose ends have been tied up so we're going to look back at how all the teams have fared across their 22 games. We'll also give out some awards. That was a terrible trumpet. Discuss the big talking points from the week. Plus we'll take your questions and that's today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. weekly. What a panel we have today. Susie Rack, how are you? I'm good, happy. Excellent, I love to hear that. I know that Tom Garry's happy because he did a very hairspray-esque good morning Baltimore to us all earlier on. How are you? Good morning to everybody including Sandy Baltimore.

Chris Powerhouse, how are you? Morning, morning. All good here. Thank you, Faye. Excellent work. Right, shall we get on with it because we've got so much to get through. An action-packed final day of the season despite the majority of the key prizes having been wrapped up. There were goals left, right and right and center 27 in total every team were looking to sign off their season in style and the only game where some jeopardy did still remain was at the Emirates where Arsenal and Manchester United were battling it out it ended in a seven-goal thriller for that all-important second place finish and Arsenal ended it on top.

Arsenal 4 Manchester United 3 is how it ended. Chloe Kelly got Arsenal off to a fast start she put them ahead within two minutes. Celotoon levelled though before Arsenal started to run away with it in the second half. Goals from Mariona Caldente, Frieda Manham and Kim Little in an 11 minute period put them in a very comfortable 4-1 lead but this is Arsenal, sorry Susie, and they let Mark Skinner's side back in it through Elizabeth Turland and Maya Letizier to set up a nervy finish to the game and I mean what a final game for you Susie as well especially because it ended with three points for your side but they love to put you through the wringer. What did you make of their performance?

Yeah I mean it was brilliant in many ways and rubbish in many others as you would expect from a game of that nature. What's exciting is like when this Arsenal team play well it's really nice to watch, like the football is objectively beautiful, but yeah, the ability to kind of fold in on yourselves and collapse a little bit is always there. And Man United are a great team and will punish you if you give them a sniff. And Cable provided an assist for Freedom Barnum's goal, but then two big errors for the two Man United goals that were quite costly but luckily not too costly but the end was just so nerdy whereas it'd been at four one you're sort

of like there was a real sort of celebratory vibey mood in the ground that was like really in the sun oh god i want i want the summer league back can we launch a campaign for that can we start a petition or something or like have a campaign because sitting in the opening minutes in the sun at that game, I was just like, bring it, bring it. I was going to say you're a glutton for punishment. You're pretty busy, Susie. You're limping towards the end of the season with a tournament ahead. Yeah, well, if we ditch the winter league, that's fine. We'll just have, you know, instead of being sat freezing at Lee Sports Village wrapped up in 30 layers in December, we'll be like in the sun, you know,

Lee will suddenly look really beautiful. Yes, we know how cold Lee Sports Village can be. Despite the 10th end though, Tom asked them to dominate Manchester United, but how worried should they be that they fell apart in the second half, especially with the FA Cup final ahead? I don't think they'll be too worried. It was arguably the worst defending we'd seen from Manchester United all season, but they have defended very well otherwise throughout the campaign. Actually, the goal fest at the Emirates meant that Man United didn't finish the campaign with the best defensive record in the WSL, which they'd kind of looked set to do for the whole season until the last couple of games, so they'll be slightly gutted about that, but nonetheless, you know, Falon Tullis-Joyce has still shared the Golden Glove with Hannah Hampton and I think they'll look at this one as more of an anomaly rather than a long-term concern for their defensive abilities.

as more of an anomaly rather than a long-term concern for their defensive abilities. They should be very pleased to be in the Champions League top three, but I don't think they should be getting too carried away. There's context to their top three qualification around Manchester City's collapse and injury problems. I think it's very fine margins between third and fourth and while United deserve congratulations for getting in there, I think they need to be mindful of the fact that long-term absences for Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood, Bunny Shaw, Viv Meadomar, and more recently, Mary Fowler have all contributed to that.

So they won't be getting carried away, I don't think. And I think while they'll be satisfied I don't think they will be sitting there or somewhere thinking we've cracked it we're the top three now there's still quite a lot of work to do long term to to make sure that becomes a permanent part of their calendar of Champions League football rather than just another one-off. Yeah I mean obviously there is a big difference between finishing second and third, Chris,

in terms of Champions League qualification. So Arsenal will enter next season's tournament qualifying in the third round. So that starts in September, but Manchester United will have to start their campaign in August in the second round which is some difference. Yeah and I guess you know coming down to the last game at least we had some sort of jeopardy on the final game of the season. I suppose you know if we look at how the season started you've got to

give Arsenal like huge props for turning it around in that way because they had the worst start ever to a WCL season this season, didn't they? And then they've sort of found their form at the right time and they should be up there really. I mean, I think the interesting thing for the league as a whole is how do you break that hegemony of the top four because it is those top four and an enormous gulf. And exactly as Tom's just said, Manchester United found themselves in this position sort of easily in inverted commas because Manchester City went off the boil. And I guess with the Euros, they'll have a lot of international players. It'll be interesting to see how they sort of fix up their pre-season, particularly as we know that they don't have a huge amount of support

from their football club. You know, like, is there going to be some factor there? You know, will they have the facilities they need to make a good start to their season if they're going to be starting earlier than everybody else, etc.? I guess sort of time will tell. But I mean, you know, I I mean you know I think you know they're still making redundancies over there. So I'd be interested to see how it plays out and what position they're going to be in in August. Yeah and you make a really good point about the table as well 15 points between fifth place Brighton and fourth placed Manchester City and we have been saying all season that

it's felt a little bit closer but perhaps not as close as we as we maybe thought and we're going to delve into each team actually and how they got on this season but we'll quickly run through the rest of the day's results. Chelsea kept the season off with their title celebrations in style at Stanford Bridge. They beat Liverpool by a goal to nil. A 91st minute winner, she's getting used to those isn't she, Aggy Beaver-Jones, to make sure that they took all three points and gave their fans something to cheer on the final day. Manchester City came from behind twice to see off relegated Crystal Palace with a 5-2 victory. Natalia Arroyo's Aston Villa extended their winning streak to five matches with a victory at home to Brighton. That finished 3-1 thanks to goals from Ebony Salmon,

Rachel Daly and Maz Pacheco who scored her first Villa goal in her final game for the club. Nikita Paris got a late consolation for Brighton in that one. Leicester City secured a 10th place finish with a 4-2 win over West Ham at King Power Stadium. Hannah Kane scored a brace where there were also goals from Janice Kamen and Sam Tierney. Vivienne Asayi scored twice for West Ham, including that superb free kick that you have to go and watch. Finally Tottenham held Everton to a one-or-draw. Vietri Kisari's curling free kick was cancelled out by Drew Spence in the first half. Right, so let's look back on how we think that each club

has done this season. For ease and fairness in case anybody questions it we are just going to move from top to bottom of the table. I like a little bit of logic. So Chelsea, an unbeaten season in the end, the Invincibles 19-1, 3 drawn, 0 lost and they secured a Barclays WSL record points tally of 60 as well. The other record is the only team to have have gone in invincible season since it's been 22 games. Sonia Bonpastor said that records are more than the title for her. No manager says that. That goes against that bucks any trend of any managers cliche ever. Where do they rank in any trend of any manager's cliche ever.

Where do they rank in the history of great WSL teams, Susie, for you? Good question because I think there's a lot to like about what they've done this season. Obviously the record points, Tali, like can't be argued with. The gap over Arsenal in seconds can't be argued with. But I think there has been a little bit of a failure of the rest of the teams to properly give them a good challenge this season with City with their injuries, United's sort of a bit of a lack of consistency and not a deep enough squad really and then Arsenal that really poor start to the season that impacted things and then, you know, sort

of with nothing to play for a little bit of collapse towards the end as well. So they've almost been given a little bit of a free run at it, but the fact that they've, I think it's the context of themselves that makes it really interesting because when you look at like Sonja Bompastor coming in, the amount of players turnover, I also think you can't like just say, oh, new manager coming in. It's new manager coming in to replace Emma Hayes, who was there for 12 years and basically built the club in her image and to her specifications. And then you have like the biggest change that you could have. Like it's not like, you know, kind of other clubs

with their mid-season manager changes that, you know, the manager's been there for a few months or a couple of years or something. This is like major, major change. So to come in and do what they've done with the changing personnel, with Agibiva Jones stepping up with, you know, some of the new players through the door, Lucy Bronze being excellent, you know, I think it's really, really up there. Is it the best season ever? I don't know. I just find it really hard to choose. And also, I find it really hard to cut off the WSL from all previous things that went before as well. There's just so much history

in women's football that it's really hard to just go, oh, best WSL, blah, blah, blah, best WSL. Chelsea have gone out beaten before. So it's like, yeah, I think incredible given I thought this was good, and I think many people did, thought there was going to be some level of transition to them. And there hasn't really been at all. You know, not necessarily played the prettiest football at times, they've always got the job done. But that's like an Emma Hayes legacy as well. She's very good at kind of making sure that is the case at various points of the season. So yeah, like hugely impressive, like right up there, whether it's the best, I don't know. I always hate the comparison because I always think that there's so many different circumstances and caveats, et cetera.

It's very difficult to directly compare but they have set the standard for years now and Sonia Bonpas-Dor said their consistency was what was key to this season we've been consistent even when sometimes performances were not the best we always found a way to win and get the three points which seems like we've you know repeated every week on this pod since we here since we came back for this season. And the scary thing for the rest, Tom, is that it feels they're actually nowhere near the ceiling of what this team can actually achieve. So what are we expecting from them over the summer? I can't believe I'm hearing, guys. I can't believe I'm hearing. This is the greatest

thing I've ever seen in the Women's Super League. It's not just the fact that they're unbeaten. It's more than 2.7 points a game. I think we need to explain what that means in the context. So if you extrapolate that over a men's Premier League season, that's more than 100 points, which is incredibly rare in the men's Premier League. Man City did it, but you've got to be pep level of consistency. In the EFL, over 46 game season, that would be more than 120 points so just and for context Birmingham's men's team just got 111 the record so we were miles ahead of it like no one gets 2.7 points per game this is like Harlem Globe trotters like this is insane

2.7 points a game. Context context. Yes it's a smaller sample size and 22 game season but they've they've won all the head-to-heads against Arsenal and Man City and Man United, which has not been done before. They're not winning loads of those games by a big margin. I think all those head-to-heads were one goal margins, but they are, yeah, what they've done on the pitch deserves immense, immense praise without Sam Kerr for the whole season, without Gaudi Shibukannon for so so long goodness without Sophie Ingle I'm probably forgetting somebody sorry but they've had some really long-term things yes they spend the most money there's that context as well but they need to be

celebrated as what they are the greatest WSL team in just in terms of WSL you know it's clearly other things to talk about the European performances etc etc but just in terms of a WSL campaign, there's nothing compares to what we've just seen this season. Are you saying, Tom, that I should maybe not have asked the Arsenal fan on this? I was actually thinking of Liverpool. I was actually thinking of some of the Liverpool winning seasons. I'm joking. You know, don't take the bait. Listen, Chris Poweros, not only does she write incredible song lyrics for every single member of this of this pod team, she also when we've said that we're doing a review of the season,

she's gone into full on teacher mode and she has written a school report for every single team. So before we move on to Arsenal, and she has written a school report for every single team. So before we move on to Arsenal, Chris, what is your school report for Chelsea? So I do think Chelsea get an A-star for this season. They're top of the class, but they were coasting a bit in the dossier exams. Even with a new teacher, the class stayed on task. They were model students, but the European field trip still scuppered them. So it's time for them to properly swat up on their European history. That's the perfect summation. I love it.

I love that so much. Okay, I'm now going to ask you about Arsenal, which is very mean, bearing in mind your allegiances. But I mean, it was a big switch, wasn't it? The departure of Jonas Eideveld and then the long-term appointment finally of René Slagers. How do you think they're going to look back on this campaign? Well, I think they do get an A- because they still manage to find themselves in second place. You could say that their group project started badly but they ended up smashing it. I think you could, on the school report sort of metaphor, they got distracted in their first term, there was too much chatting and not enough listening,

but their new teacher meant rallying for a strong finish, but they need to show up on time next season. And I think that's the point, actually given the start, they need to show up on time next season and they've got to, you know, they're the ones that you want to, you know, we can talk about Manchester City in a bit, but they're the ones that you expect to give Chelsea a bit more of a run for their money next season if they kind of do all the right things. So they get a detention for being late or a demerit if you want to be American for tardiness. We've talked about their attacking prowess under René Slagers, but we have also this season talked a lot about the defensive frailties that are still there, as we've seen in the

final three games of the season and the amount of goals that they've shipped. What does she need to do, René Slagers, to try and shape this team into her image rather than Yona Saeeda Vow's team? I don't know. It's weird because the consistency just isn't there, right? Like some weeks into her image rather than Yona Saida Vow's team? I don't know, it's weird because the consistency just isn't there, right? Like some weeks they look unbeatable and then other weeks it's complete

and utter chaos at the back. So it's like really hard to pinpoint the problem per se, like game on game you can see where the faults are, like technically, tactically, whatever, but then they'll put in a world-class performance and you like well these players can do it is is it a personnel problem is it a tactic problem is it a concentration problem like I don't think there's enough grit in the Arsenal team as a whole like I think there's not like you know the Katie McKay maybe there's not like the doggedness of like an Aaron Cuff but like level of player

who is a real like battler, like they don't really have battlers in their team and I think they need more battlers. So I think that is part of the problem. It's going to be really interesting to see what they do in the summer, how much money Renee is given and what they're able to do with it and the impact of a Champions League final regardless of outcome I think will be quite big in their ability to recruit. I also think that the more and more games they're playing at the Emirates is a massive pull for players because they're getting to play in front of big crowds week in week out pretty

much which is a huge advantage. But yeah, I don't know what they do to improve, like, other than just find some consistency. I don't understand why that consistency piece is missing, why they don't have that. Maybe it's not having a plan B enough, right? Like when things aren't going to plan that you find a way to win regardless, which is what Chelsea are just so brilliant at. Like they have a plan B, they have a plan C, they have a plan X. They're so good at finding a way to win regardless of how well they're playing, whereas if Arsenal, if it's not going to plan, if it's not looking beautiful, they sort of look a little bit lost and I feel like that's a bit of a problem. But yeah, I don't know,

I don't know. It's a disaster. We'll see what happens. Quite unusual, I think. What you've got from Chelsea there is quite unusual because like that's the formula that every football club wants is like how do we figure out how to grind out a win regardless you know and if that formula was there we'd have a very different kind of sport do you know what I mean so I think that's really kind of that's a magic there and maybe that's exactly what we we were just saying is like, what you said earlier, it's like how you then pass that on from somebody who's built that over 12 years,

and then someone else comes in and just picks it up and then does what Tom just described. It's, you know, it's almost unfathomable. It's like, that was the one thing that I was looking forward to this season. I always, you know, we might get a little bit of something out of Chelsea at the start of the season because they'll be in transition, no chance. So I think from an Arsenal perspective, it's like, okay, so how do you figure, how do you figure any of that out?

Because that formula isn't available to everybody. Yeah. Tom, you've already spoken about Manchester United in terms of the fact that they shouldn't get too carried away because Manchester City had such a poor season but still credit where credit's due finishing third is no mean feat and I'm sure bearing in mind what was going on off the pitch at the club you know a lot of people didn't predict that they would they would be able to do that. So are they given enough credit, do you think, for the performances, particularly this year in 2025? Yeah, perhaps they're not. They have made huge improvements this season. You have to remember where they were last season, down in fifth place, not just out of the top three,

but in fifth. And they've made marked strides this year. Defensively, they've been very good. I think they work incredibly hard off the ball and that's actually increased a lot since the winter break and I gather they did do quite a lot of specific work over that over the winter and that was there was quite a noticeable shift in the way they played off the ball before and after Christmas. They work extremely hard. I think overall they will look on it very possibly. I think the Cup final will have an enormous sway in how much they reflect on this season. If they come away with the FA Cup and the Champions League, I think they've had it a year beyond what they would have thought was the par.

But for the time being, let's perhaps reserve a slight judgement. We said on this pod quite a few times, didn't we, that they were in a great position in second for a long time, but we had that context of their final three games were going to be against Chelsea, Man City and Arsenal. Well, they got one point from those three final games. So what we sort of said proved to be true in that regard, that those games were going to define whether they were kind of second best or not. What I think at Man United, I think also about Arsenal in a way, both of them need to find a way somehow to win at Chelsea. Those head to heads is going to sound a way somehow to win at Chelsea. Those head-to-heads is gonna sound so simplistic but they're huge and particularly in Arsenal's case,

so the 12 point gap looks massive, right? 12 point gap looks huge, but I think if Arsenal win the two head-to-head games, the two six pointers have swung in their way, they're level on points. So yes, it's a big gap. But if you those head to head games are by far the most important and there seems to Chelsea seem to have the number on the other teams in the head to head circuit this year. But in recent years, generally, particularly at the bridge, Chelsea have, have always seemed to manage to pull it

off. So the big challenge where they've all got up their game, Man United and Arsenal particularly, is they've got to find a way to beat Chelsea in a one-off game and that needs to, the league needs that next season to make the title race more exciting for everybody. Yeah and actually you know they have been the most stable club haven't they? When you think about it of the top four Manchester United with Mark Skinner have had the most stability and he's signed a new two-year deal last month as well Susie. That's huge for him because it allows him to to do some planning and build over the summer. The question is whether or not he's gonna get the support behind the scenes.

That's yeah that's the key. He needs to be backed and I think you can see that he knows that in every press conference that he's done in the past two, three weeks in that he's kind of made the point post-match mainly that when asked about the future and end of season analysis and things like that, he said, we need to build depth in this squad, we need a deeper squad if we're going to be successful in Europe or like not even successful even if we're going to reach the group stage of Europe, we need to have a not group stage anymore is it league phase of Europe, then we're going to have to have depth to our squad, Chelsea, Arsenal, City show the kind of depth you need, we don't have that yet. Last game of the season he said, you know, I've got good players on my bench, but I still had two academy prospects on my bench, like, you know, it's not enough just to kind

of back him and give him a new contract, they've got to back it up with money and spend on players and you'd hope that Europe would be an attractive prospect and balance out the grimness of Leesports Village for a cheeky dig on the recruitment side of things because every player wants Champions League football. So the fact that they've done so well this season, they're in another FA Cup final as Tom said, like they've had a decent run this season, They've had a decent run this season, kind of put together a little bit more of a consistent campaign. The basis of the squad there is really, really strong and they're really together and they talk about family a lot and I think that's true.

They've got that vibe around them, but it's how they balance upgrading the squads and lifting it into like being able to be competitive across four competitions versus maintaining that sort of like bunkered in family vibe that they've got going on. Chris your report card does it contain a problem about the facilities? No it doesn't, B plus diligent no drama, lacks sparkle, reliable prefects, handed everything in on time, followed instructions but didn't always put their hands up in the big moment. Nice, nice, I like it. Okay, let's do Manchester City because they just missed out on Champions League and there is such a gulf between them and fifth place as we mentioned. I mean it's just such a big disappointment

for Manchester City, Susie. Where did it all go wrong for them? Well the injuries is the obvious place to look right, like such a huge number of injuries, like such a huge number of injuries. You know, the fact that you've got a golden boot winner who's missed like half or more than half of the campaign, like speaks to the level of injury woes they've had. Lauren Hemp, Alex Greenwood, like we could list them all and it would take a year. Vivienne Amedean for parts of the campaign, Gerald, like for parts of the campaign, Geroard, like for parts of the campaign, yeah, Vegino, etc, etc, etc. That's been the biggest issue. The decision to get rid of Gareth Taylor when they did I think was also a really, really weird one. Don't get me wrong, like, I thought that he hasn't been meeting City's expectations, I would say, as a club for quite some time,

but it felt like a really strange decision to make at that point of the season. You could see why they did it, that, you know, it was, they had some huge games in all competitions, but they failed pretty much every single test. And, yeah, it's a really difficult thing to ask a new manager to come into that moment even if it is one in the cushion that does know the club to a certain extent to deal with. So I think that was a weird decision and they were maybe hoping for a bit of a new manager bounce and things like that and that didn't really happen per se, although some of those games were quite exciting. But yeah, just Cribble, at each stage they've just been been crippled by injuries and I mean they've just looked a little bit forlorn because of that. Like what's impressive is that they have played some pretty nice football in and around those

injuries so like the potential of the squad is there. They've just had an absolute mare with numbers available. What's your report card say Chris? 3 minus talented but flaky. That kid with all the potential who keeps missing school. When they're there they're brilliant but it's hard to build group momentum with so many absences. Well that's a very fair assessment. Interesting in terms of the future as well Tom because it's difficult for us to predict what Manchester City are going to do because Nick Cushing has said there's been no conversations over his future. He actually said he's going to go back to

take the bins out come the 1st of June. He will be taking them to compete in the World's Sevens before he leaves though. What do you think the club are thinking in terms of bringing in new management and players? Yeah, our understanding from the conversations that we've been having is that the club are relatively far along in the process to find a new head coach. I'm not expecting Nick Cushing to be in the running. He said on the record there that he's had no conversations about next season with the club. And yeah, you know, we believe they've been doing a very, very extensive search for a new head coach. I would expect somebody, you know, to be appointed over the summer. And

it's a really important decision for Man City. Now they've got to try and set their agenda now for the next sort of medium to long term, the next four to five years, they've got three trophy-less seasons. So this is the, this needs to be the line in the sand moment for the football club and I agree with everything that's been said about them but they'll still be kicking themselves about not being in Europe, like the chances were there they conceded like a last-minute goal at West Ham to draw, they've drawn I think at home to Everton recently obviously when Man United had 10 players at Old Trafford you know there was such the moments there where even with all the injuries they should still have gotten to the top three and I think they will be slightly kicking themselves because the door was left ajar and they didn't quite do it. Only one

point missed out and I stand by the fact that in my view, when their best 11 are fit, they can beat any team in the world and that was kind of exemplified when they beat Barcelona, when they were still missing a couple of players actually for that Barcelona game, when they beat Barcelona. But the problem is when they lose some of those starters, the depth just isn't quite the same. They're not, they're not, the drop off is big. So you're not replacing a Sam Kerr with a Mario Ramirez.

For example, you know, they're not able to keep it up and they need to try and bolster the depth in the squad, I think, now to try and make sure they are more resistant to some of the more unfortunate injuries and they need to have a big year next year because there'll be no Champions League football to juggle. So I think as a bare minimum, they'll expect to be back in the top two next season as a bare minimum because of the fact they can only focus on the domestic action. Yeah, it's going to be fascinating to see who does come in as head coach, isn't it? And what Nick Cushing goes on to do because he is actually employed by the City Football Group.

Right, that's it for part one. In part two, we're going to look back at the rest of the WSL and talk about a rebrand. I'm Claire Longrig, deputy editor of The Guardian Longreed. to the WSL and talk about a rebrand. I'm Claire Longrig, deputy editor of The Guardian Longread. I want to recommend a recent episode of the Audio Longread podcast. It's an extraordinary story written by Giles Tremlett. The story investigates the mystery

of a nameless girl whose body was found in a small Spanish town in 1990 and the 30-year quest to identify her and find out what happened. She carried no ID, no passport, no money, no wallet, no train ticket. Her pockets were empty. It was as though her identity had been deliberately erased. Just search Audio Long Read wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome back to part two of the Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Let's carry on with our mini report card shall we? Next up at Brighton they secured fifth and I think it's fair to say it's been a season of two halves for Dario Vidovich's side. They impressed before Christmas but then secured just three league wins in the second half of the campaign. We've already heard departures that have been announced Poppy Patinson, Maria Torres-Dottir, Guru Bergsvand, Diana Stefanovic and Pauline Bremer all leaving. What have you made of their campaign Chris? Well I think it has exceeded expectations. So on their report card it said what it says

is they're usually quite a student who's now thriving. They found some confidence, stopped copying others and started handing in original work. But they've now entered dangerous territory because plenty of students have peaked in one year and flopped the next. So I think it's this curse of fifth, right? So we've seen what's happened the last couple of seasons to the team that's finished fifth. The season after has been a bit of a disaster. So be interested to see how they consolidate on this position. Anyone else want to add anything

in on Brighton? Well none of the top three managed to win away at Brighton this season which I think tells you how good they've been at home. Yeah that's a really good point, a really good point and obviously that that team that you know suffered this season that finished fifth last season were Aston Villa weren't they and they've ended up in perhaps surprising bearing in mind they were in a relegation battle for a large part of the season finishing sixth I mean look obviously not the season that they would have wanted but Natalia Arroyo seems to have breathed a new life into them there will be player changes over the summer we know that already because Jordan Nobbs, Maz Pacheco, Danielle Turner and Rachel

Corsi are all leaving. So how excited Susie should Villa fans be about the rebuild under their new boss? I mean excited, but like I wouldn't like overdo it as well. Like it's been a really, really tough year for them. But I really like Arroyo and a few weeks after she came in I interviewed a couple of Aston Villa players, Kirsty Hansen and Jordan Nobs in the space of a couple of weeks and they were both really invested, I would say, in her project and the attention to detail, the clarity on the way she wanted them to play, on the style of football suiting them, and then obviously in and around those interviews they had a really poor start under her, but I think that was them getting to grips with it and I think

it started to click at the end. And so that is what is exciting, is it started to click at the end and so that is what is exciting, is it started to click for them. I think it's going to be really interesting to see what level of commitment the club make to her over the summer. Will they be put off by the fact that they were losing games? Will they be buoyed by the end of the season? Like flourish? The fact that they've got as high as they have in the table is just incredibly impressive given the majority of their campaign was so, so difficult. I think it also speaks to how little you have to do to do quite well in the WSL, right? You don't need to invest a huge amount or have an incredible number of wins to very quickly rise up the table, which should be incentive, you'd think, for all clubs. But I'm quite excited because like I say, the players spoke

really highly of what she wants them to do. And I feel like we saw some of the things they were saying to me sort of click into place in those final few games, which makes me intrigued. What's on their report card Chris? Because I can't see them getting in the A to C's here. Yeah well actually I think they got a strong B because even though they didn't do their homework for the first few months they pulled it out of the bag with a cracking final project so if they sort of stop relying on last minuteminute cramming they might you know do alright that is fair enough but I think that's very generous I'm not sure which marking system you're using. There's last-minute cramming and then there's five wins in

a row so an amazing run but it is those five wins that give them the 15 point gap between them and Crystal Palace. Like two months ago, it was kind of unfathomable that they would finish in the top half, but there's so little between sixth and 11th, like all the teams are about to run through now, you can kind of throw a blanket over them all really, and Villa have finished top of that pile

with this storming finish because they are, they've developed a brilliant counter-attacking style. They look lethal on the counter-attack and fair play to them for that but there's much, muchness now between all the teams that we're about to discuss. Yeah so discuss Liverpool for me Tom then because they're another team that's seen a managerial change, Amber Whiteley replacing Matt Beard on an interim basis, we don't know whether or not she's going to be given the full-time position. And they didn't really live up to the hype, did they, of last season either. What do they need to do over the summer and what are we hearing about Amber Whiteley's position?

Yeah, big decision now for Liverpool and in particular their new director of football, Andy O'Boyle. I believe they're talking to, you know, lots of different people, a very kind of wide-ranging search to try and make sure they make the right decision. Nothing imminent, but I wouldn't, I'd be surprised if it was more than another, you know, week or two before they made a big decision. I think Amber Whiteley's given a good audition, but not, not, not perfect, but certainly made a really strong case to have to be given a chance with this and it would be nice to see you know her given the opportunity and a bit of stability but more than that I think it's about LiPL trying to decide what identity they want kind of going forward that they they'll be disappointed that they've not kicked on from last year but you know they've still recovered

you know relatively well to fit to finish in the middle of the pack, seventh place, but still they should be aspiring for more and I think they will be aspiring for more. The big question is how much the club now are willing to really back the team. We've seen over the years that the FSG model has been to be relatively trying to be supposedly self-sustaining, not really inject huge bundles of cash on the team. And the reality is now that if you want to be, if you want to be really competitive at the top of that, you know, that has to change. I don't think that will happen overnight. I don't foresee Libre all suddenly breaking

massive spending records, but they'll certainly, they'll certainly hope that there'll be more that there will be more investment now to try and compete because you're going to have teams coming up like London City who will spend loads of money. So, sorry, I've answered that question in a really long-winded way, Faye, but this is a really important summer for Liverpool now, but they need to set their identity out now for the long term with the decision that they're about to make. I think it was comprehensive, A+, for Tom Garry on his answer. What is your report card say Chris? Not for Tom, for Liverpool as well. I think they get a B- for being between phases because sometimes they look like they were

top of the class, other times they forgot what subject it was. A few strong answers but needing a clearer direction and having a substitute teacher midterm didn't help. Yes nice I like that. Doesn't help anyone usually does it? Everton's fortunes have changed over the course of the season as well with Friedkin's group's takeover Brian Sorensen has been given a new contract. How impressed have you been with what they've managed to do this season, Chris, despite all of those obstacles? I mean, are we kind of looking at the fact this sudden influx of funds is a chance to see what Brian Sorensen is all about as a

manager? Well, I think before I give them their report card, which is slightly middling, which you can imagine, as Tom exactly said, like now you're in sort of similar territory for all of them. I think apart from having one of the best songs I've ever heard in a football ground for Kelly Gargo, All we need is Kelly Gargo. I heard it on Saturday.

Great. You know, she's a great player. You know, like I think any team would be happy to have her running at their defences, but she's kind of looks slightly devoid of service. Like, you know, like you can sort of see she feels like she's in a slightly different category to some of her teammates. So I think that's the thing. We have that a lot at Everton.

They always have like at least one star player that makes everybody else look, and I'm so sorry this is going to sound really disrespectful and I don't mean it in this way at all, but you know what I mean, makes everybody else look average even though they're actually very good players themselves. There's always just one player they seem to hook on. That'd be interesting to see but their report they got a strong C for ticking over. They sort of coasted through the year, never got a detention, never got a gold star and actually if we were looking at them for next season, you know, for the student for next season, it's time to speak up and show what they care about. Interesting. Interesting.

We're looking at you, Friedkin Group. West Ham, a little bit disappointed I think, but you know they were in a relegation battle, but you could see what Rhianne Skinner is actually trying to do, Susie. Their recent run of form similar to Aston Villa has been much, much, much improved but have they shown enough this season to start to get excited about what Rhian's building there? I feel like I broke a record on West Ham because I say it all the time, like the quality of the squad should be doing so much better than they are. Like the quality of the players on paper is like really strong. They've got some really shrewd signings. I mean,

obviously Shakira Martinez has been a revelation and I'm like so excited to see her next season. Will she be there next season? Well, yeah, I mean, there is that too, like, surely everyone in the world will come in for her because she's had such a phenomenal start, but you know, hope that they can keep hold of her. But yeah, the balance of the squad feels right in terms of like experience and sort of younger players and like the potential is there for them to do really well, but they're not quite impressing in like often enough. They're struggling for sort of consistency so regularly. Before the end of the season, I found them really exciting. but again, they need to be

backed properly and I don't think they're being backed properly. I think it's the same across so many of the clubs, mid-lower table, is that there is a little bit of a hot and cold tap approach to actually backing the side properly. A lot of their success or lack of success is is dependent on how many rabbits managers can pull from hats like consecutively and successfully and yeah I think they've had a decent-ish second half of the season in particular but they just need to be backed properly like they just need money put in. Here comes a pointless hypothetical Faye, but I think they'd have gone down if they hadn't recalled Shakira Martinez in January. I agree with everything Susie said and my simple message

for them for next season to the club is play a game at the London Stadium. It's way overdue. Honestly. Very overdue. Absolutely. Report card Chris? Climbing back from the detention list. So they started the year on report, have showed some growth, they're still having a few wobbles but if they start listening they might be okay. There we go. Leicester City Tom, Omondie Mackell really been up against it with injuries this season. How do you assess

their campaign overall and what are going to be their priorities this season? This summer, should I say? I think they will need to just assign some quality. They really look lacking in quality up top, which is exemplified by their goals record. They've got the second lowest number of goals in the league, only one more their goals record. They've got the second lowest number of goals in the league, only one more than Crystal Palace. They will have sort of thought there was a sliding doors moment when they lost Mousson. I think it would be, I'm curious to see what the rest of the campaign would have been like if Mousson hadn't been out for such a long time, which was their big signing. And the mystery would be Mace

Badby as well. But I suppose we're all curious now, now the men aren't a men's Premier League team anymore. Will there be an increase in the cash coming into the women's side? Will it drop? Now the men are in the championship, gotta wait and see. They need to be careful because the team coming up will spend big.

So if, if Flamden City spend wisely and therefore stay up up then one of these teams that we're talking about at the moment will go down and I'm looking at it from where I'm sitting Lester at most at most at rich because they haven't got the men's Premier League cash to support them next year. Hmm Chris report card? I think they get a C- they managed to pass but they missed a few deadlines and left it a bit late but they did scrape through they need a bit more structure and to believe in

themselves a bit more. Okay now listen that does mean by default that Spurs must have a D. They do. Yes okay tricky season try and assess this what are your reflections on on where things have gone wrong? I don't think any of us predicted that you would finish the season second from bottom. So I'm actually just, because this is like so personally painful, I am just going to share their report and then we can talk about it a little bit if you want. We do want. You can leave me. Yeah. So I think what actually the way I looked at this is that, you know, tried to stage a big production but didn't quite manage it. So started the year caught up in the school

play, Read Cup Run, and to their credit, they gave it everything in rehearsal. But in the classroom it didn't quite come together. Ambitious ideas, nice set design, but some key cast members were sidelined without explanation, the teacher lost the class and they never felt quite settled. So I think there is a goal for next term to go back to basics, rebuild the confidence of the students and make sure the whole class feels like part of the plan. Interesting. It's been a really hard and you know, it's been tough to watch because you could sort of see that, you know, there's been a that Robert has been one has wanted to sort of play with this sense of identity, but it's never quite come off.

And then, you know, you have an abundance of wingers on the bench. You know, there was one game for example, where Jess Nas, Haley Rasso and Ash Neville were oners on the bench. You know, there was one game, for example, where Jess Nas, Hayley Rasso, and Ash Neville were all on the bench, and Charlie Grant played at right wing. And none of us could understand what was going on in that game. And, you know, and I don't know how as a team you understand what's going on in that game.

So there are several, you know, and that's just, you know, that's sort of a microcosm of I think some of the things that have been going on. So, you know, and, you know, Vicki Jepsen has been really important to us for the last, you know, four seasons. She's going, well, she's going, isn't it? We actually hadn't hadn't announced that news on the pod. fill people in Chris because we're losing her to the States aren't we? That's right, she's been with us for four seasons and has been a really integral part of our coaching team. You can see what a great relationship she's got with the players. She's one of the great, I think one of a great sort of English prospect in terms of women coaches. But you know, I think she

I think Emma Hayes knows that too. So she's going to coach the US women's under 20s and to do some work with Emma and it's just a really great opportunity. It's like the, you know, arguably the greatest women's football organisation in the world. So you know, if they come knocking, I think that was something that she sort of, you know, couldn't say no to. But, you know, it's sad for us because I know, you know, she loves Spurs and, you know, she's, you could sort of see, you know, I saw her on Saturday at the game. It was really emotional for her, you know. Well, they gave her a home, didn't they, after what happened to her at Liverpool? So, you know, know really important but we wish

her the very best of luck. And she kept us up when in that season where we nearly sort of got relegated she took up that mantle so yeah absolutely I really wish her the best of luck she's a really excellent human being as well and I hope we sort of see her see her back again but I think you know that means more changes. And I think, you know, like Tom just alluded to it there around Leicester, it's like, it's a bit of a wake up call for all of these teams, actually, because, you know, London City aren't coming to, you know, they're not coming to play. They're coming to kind of, you know, they're going to really shake things up. And, you know, likely going to have bigger budgets than a lot of the teams we've just been talking about. So there's no, have bigger budgets than a lot of the teams

we've just been talking about. So there's no, I think one of the things that a lot of the teams rest on their laurels on, if you like, is that the team that comes up is going to go straight back down again. Well, I don't think that's going to happen next season. So actually, you've got to think about what business you do in the summer, what your structures look like, all of those things, because there's going to be a serious competition. And so from the first perspective, we've got to really be careful. Yeah, London City Lionesses are definitely going to spend, aren't they? Just a quick one, Tom, on the class teacher that seems to have lost the class, big questions over Robert

Villaham's future at the club. What's the latest, do we know? Yeah, the story broken yesterday by a friend of the pod, BBC's Emma Sanders, which from our understanding is that sources at the club saying that they will be reviewing Robert Villaham's position over the coming kind of fortnight. We expecting there to be meetings discussing his future no decision been made yet that's important to say nothing nothing decided yet but clearly after you know second from bottom finish I think it's fair to say his position is in jeopardy at the moment so a big decision for the club to make at some point over the next fortnight or so whether to whether to back Villaham for next season or whether

to make the change. I will say that's just very sorry and I feel like I've been really negative and that's not my vibe is like Beth England despite having been injured scored eight goals this season and I think that that's the issue there is sort of is that it's like you know no Beth England no party so you know but and she's like a, she's a proper leader and you can see when she's on the pitch that it boys the rest of them. And I think the other thing is, is, you know, Jess now has got her England call up and a start. So, you know, I think there were some nice moments, but I think, you know, obviously

nice moments do not a season make. No, they don't, for sure. And it was a terrible season for Crystal Palace. We have talked about their relegation Suzy already but it was a season that kind of started full of excitement for Laura Kaminsky and her side but they are back in the Barclays Championship next year. Or WSL2. Well listen we're getting to that don't jump ahead I'm trying to keep some order as head teacher of this pod today. Leif Smerud, the manager that replaced Kaminsky when she was sacked in February,

has since departed the club. I mean, both decisions really are baffling, Suzie, but where does the club go from here? Yeah, I think the decision to get rid of Laura was a really, really weird one because I think we could see what she was trying was a really, really weird one because I think we could see what she was trying to do and at times they looked very good and I think it wasn't necessarily a managerial issue that was holding them back. I think the gap between the WSL sides and championship sides in terms of professionalism, obviously, Palace have gone professional, but in terms of the amount of professional years in players' legs and that level of experience in their

legs and things like that, I think that's what makes a difference. They just couldn't hold on to a performance across 90 minutes for me at any point of the season, but could score goals. Two against City the other day, obviously City have got problems of their own but they're a few players back. But with scoring goals aplenty this season, Butler's just like really struggling to hold onto performance across 90 minutes and I don't think that is necessarily the fault of the manager per se, so I think it was a little bit premature and a disappointing season but one one that showed real, real promise. And I'd love to see them be properly supported to put in a real fight at the top end of the championship or WSL2 next season, which is going to be really, really tough when you've got so many other teams investing in that league now.

Birmingham going so, so close to coming up this year, it's going to be really, really tough. And, you know, they're going into a summer of like, potentially high turnover, new manager, all of those kinds of things that are going to make it really complicated for them. Okay, quick one. Final report card, Chris. I think they ended up with an E sadly, learning the hard way, new kid thrown into the top set maybe too soon, seemed to be on the back foot but did show some signs of potential and will likely thrive in a smaller class next year. Nice. Right, okay, we've just about got some time for some awards. Keep it nice and tight

everybody. Best player, bearing in mind that the WSL, Butler's WSL awards handed it to Mariona Caldente. Do we agree, Susie? I can't argue with that. I think she's had a phenomenal season. My personal one would be Alessia Russo, purely because Caldente sweeps up in terms of pretty much all stats and had a phenomenal season, but she is always a phenomenal player. Whereas I thought we saw Alessia Russo like game elevate this year. Like I thought, you know, it looked like she just stepped up a gear. And so that's sort of why I edged her. But like I agree with Caldente as well. So it's really hard to pick between, I'd say three or four players this season. I'm going to have to fail you all if when I say give a quick answer, you give in-depth answers,

which most teachers would want you to give an in-depth answer, but I'm very conscious of time. Tom. Yeah, for the FWA award I voted for Erin Cuthbert, I think she just epitomised the invincibleness of Chelsea, but statistically, Cardenze is the best player in the league. She topped over stats in terms of balls into the penalty area and also off the ball in terms of how often she won the ball back in the final third and middle third. So Caldente statistically, yes.

I don't know anything about statistics, but I had Caldente as well because she is like the creative player of your dreams. Excellent. Nice and and tight I love that. Best manager Suzy go. No explanation. Oh uh Bonpastor like no competition. Tom? Yeah Sonia Bonpastor that is we don't need to say anything else. Chris? Agreed agreed. Excellent best Best signing. Susie. Caldente. Tom. Caldente with a nod towards Kelly Gargo and Shakira Martinez from last summer, before the recall. I know what you mean.

Chris. Yeah, I had Caldente or Shakira Martinez, even though it's not really a signing, but also I think special mention has to go to Sondie Baltimore and Olivia Smith. Yes, very much so. Brilliant this season. Most improved. Suzy, Tom and Chris, we're going to go in that order so I don't have to keep saying names. Oh, most improved. Maybe Aggy Beaver-Jones? But then she wasn't bad before. But she had a really great season.

Millie Turner for me. I've gone with Aston Villa. Really? Oh, well, as in the last five games of the season. Fair enough. Goal of the season. So what did I go for for this? What did I go for? Joanna Wright and Canrids, like phenomenal strike. Bolly, that, that, yeah, brilliant. That was mine, Susie, as well. And that's but actually Viviana Medemart won that.

And I know that that's Tom's because he fought for it as well. So I'm just speaking on Tom's behalf because I know which one he voted for. You are correct. Oh, mine was between two girls, both of Gates Spurs. One was Johanna Rittinkarunid because I still have watched it a million times and still don't know what she did. And the other one was Emily Fox from outside the box, that sort of final nail in the coffin of the final defeat of the Emirates. You know, like they absolutely battered us and then she goes and scores a worldy from Outside the Box. Okay, most memorable moment on the pitch?

Oh, that's tough. I'm going to say Vimidima's return in that opening weekend to Arsenal and then scoring to level things up was like quite a moment. An emotionally difficult one for me personally, but a moment. I think the season was epitomised by Milo Ramirez steamrolling past Alanna Kennedy in what at the time looked like a really crucial title deciding game between Chelsea and Matite, miles apart by the end of a season, but it was a season defining thing where they had a tight game and Ramirez just bulldozed through everybody and scored a great goal, so that will stand out for me. And for me because I'm feeling slightly

sullied for voting for Mariona Caldente and Emily Fox just then, Brighton beating Arsenal at the start of May. Most memorable moment off the pitch, Susie? Oh, well, I suppose you could, you know, if you're being serious, you could say all of the debate around relegation and stuff. But for me was uh uh rene sleggers was asked about um marionette caldente um being very similar to an octopus uh because of her ability to play numerous different positions in a game and it was just a really funny moment oh in jonas edelweil leaving club, huge news early in the season and sort of set the trend for a season of managerial departures all over the place.

I think that was a big, big, big moment. I've got I was thinking more about things like Lauren James launching her LJ10 Foundation, which I think was a was a like a nice like a good thing to happen off the pitch. But also Lucy Bronze talking about her ADHD and autism and the subsequent coverage and debate around that I think were two kind of important moments off the pitch for me. Funniest moment? Oh, I don't have a funniest moment.

Did nothing make you laugh this season, Suzy? No, nothing made me laugh. I'm sad for you. Okay, let's go with Lucy Bronze skipping rope after the final whistle with some kind of flag. That was quite funny. I particularly enjoyed Rhianne Skinner bringing her dog into a press conference about three weeks ago. That really tickled me. It was very funny seeing the dog try and get in position in front of the mic for cuddles while Rhian tried to talk brilliant and i think from a funny like Suzy i was like i couldn't get past some things from Chelsea at the

weekend so Sonia Bonpasador being soaked by her players was quite good but also special mention to Neve Charles after the game like no boots, hat hair looking like she just legged it off centre court as the ball girl. Have you seen that clip? It does look like it's Wimbledon somehow so yeah I thought that was fun. It's not funny but I did love Sonia Bon Pastore doing a selfie with the press pack with the title. I love that. Biggest disappointment, Suzie? Oh well personally Arsenal season and not actually challenging but being sneaky. Can I be sneaky? I want to be sneaky, I want to be sneaky and go not even WSL, Chelsea in Europe was really disappointing. Yeah, fair enough. Tom?

No games played at the London Stadium by West Ham, that's my biggest disappointment. Chris? No more needed to be said. Biggest gripe, that's kind of similar, isn't it? I feel like Tom might go for West Ham and the London Stadium for this. My biggest gripe is not enough communication on plans for the future of the WSL or consultation more publicly. I think fans need more notice on fixture changes, fixture tweaks for whatever reason. And one thing I think that all leagues could do around the world, much better, is if you know a change is possible,

why can't you tell fans, you know, if this team gets to this competition and therefore there's this fixture clash, this game will be rearranged for that date so you know in advance that that is the plan B and then you can kind of plan your lives accordingly rather than a Lots of the last-minute changes that we seem to get across the across the whole sport Not not so much of a gripe as much as a kind of an issue that I think is that abuse that players face if they're Black or queer or both so bunny sure missing a game this season because of the misogynoir She faced was a you know, like that is a big problem you know all the homophobic bile that Christine Nunes

and Sam Kerr had from announcing the pregnancy. And I think, you know, it's not just sort of online culture. It's misogyny, racism, homophobia, and they're all sort of baked into cultures around football. And as much as we say, we don't want women's football to fall into the hole of men's football, here we are. And we can talk about visibility and inclusion all we want but where's the protection, where's the consequence? We can't just celebrate representation,

we've got to be deliberate about not recreating the same toxic dynamics that have always pushed people out of the game so sorry I know that was a bit longer but that was kind of when I was thinking about gripes that's where my head went. I think that's a fair gripe. Agree. Agree. Hashtag agree. Right listen we can't leave the episode without talking about the news of a rebrand to the top two tiers of the women's game. We've mentioned it very briefly but let's explain totally. The WPLL, Women's Professional League Limited, has more names than Prince. It's now going to be known as the Women's Super League Football. So WSL football essentially. Yesterday they

revealed a new visual identity for the top two leagues while also announcing that the Barclays Championship will become the Barclays WSL2 from next season. Suzie, what are your thoughts on both these announcements? So many thoughts. I suppose the biggest one is that the optics of spending money on a big rebrand that didn't feel overly necessary while there are so many other issues in the league feels like a little bit of a waste of time. Things like seeing in the visuals mocked up season ticket passes and wristbands and things that don't exist in football and not actually an image of like what the logo will look like on the sleeve of a shirt. Like things like that that just speak to an attitude towards the game and a sort of festival vibe that I think isn't going

down very well with fans. I don't know, it looks particularly nice, like as a student of architecture who you know spend three years doing a design-based degree, I don't think it is that innovative either but I don't really care about what it looks like per se, it's more like the this is what you're spending money and time on when there is so many other issues that need to be solved that I have really care about what it looks like per se, it's more like the, this is what you're spending money and time on when there is so many other issues that need to be solved that I have a bigger issue with. Tom? In terms of the, can I say one thing about the coverage of the renaming of the second

tier? Like, an incredible amount of the coverage around the rest of the media industry didn't seem to mention that this used to be the name of the second tier like seven years ago, which I found surprising. That's a just a comment on the on media industry. I in terms of the logo is it's a logo is is fine. I've kind of neutral on it. But I understand why they felt they needed to do it to kind of distinguish themselves from from when it was run by the FA. What I hope now, whether it be logos or names or whatever, is that the league has a bit of consistency of that now for the next 20 years. I think

it's chopped and changed so much to different iterations over the last decade and tired of all the various different renames. I think now it's just, now they've done the WSL and WSL2. Can we just stick with that for like 20, 30 years and not be renaming things now from now on, you know, year after year? Yeah, it's just got a bit confusing, hasn't it, at points. Chris, what do you make of it? It's sort of a bit meh about it all. I think with all, like with all change, there's going to be a backlash and then it will be the status quo soon enough and we'll forget what it was before. So it's just one of those things that we'll have forgotten about in a minute. I think I take Susie's point about actually there are more things, there are other things to focus

on you know, so talking about proper investment facilities, you know, the medical, the refs, having more women coaches, breaking the hegemony of the top four, all of those things that we're talking about. But I think you know, there's a big But I think there's a big need for investment and a strong brand will do that. So I'm assuming that's why they've done it, right? But I think one of the funny things I've seen is like this whole thing about the World Surf League. I think there's a World Surf League

and the logo type isn't that dissimilar. But I guess as the SEO grows and as the WSL grows as it is, then it will overtake the World Surf League so we won't have to worry about it. Yeah, so it's one of those difficult things isn't it? All the changes came about so quickly that they weren't able to launch with, you know, the new brand. So I can understand why they almost want to start. You know, they've got the inaugural season looking after the two leagues out of the way. And so this feels like the shelf to then start the platform to then start.

So we'll see. And it's great they've got their own website because the website, like any of the web FA websites are often really clunky. And actually, you know, the championship doesn't really resonate with women's football fans by all accounts. You know, no one goes on YouTube and looks for the championship, whereas you do put WSL. So I think you might have, you know, there might be more for like, sort of, you know,

fans that are just coming to the game because that's the thing is like we are growing fan bases here that actually there might be, you know, more interest in the WSL2 because it makes more sense than a championship, which is an arbitrary term that's been... Although I saw some people going, it's like relegating it to second place and like you've got the Premier League and the Premier League too and the Premier League too is like Academy League and like so are you not giving it the like its own space it deserves but I mean I don't care enough to be honest. I think you're gonna have that problem regardless

because it is it is the second tier so I think that that is that's gonna be difficult no matter what. Right few a few more things to wrap up. Elsewhere Wolves have made an announcement about their continued support for their women's team. We brought you the news last week that the club had failed to file the application for tier 2 football despite the team being in the running for promotion from the FA Women's National League Northern Premier until the final day of the season. Chairman Jeff Shee said Wolves women remains a vital part of our football family

and we're committed to building a sustainable competitive future for the team. They've promised to apply for a tier two license on an annual basis while also strengthening the women's set up. The latest England squad's gonna be announced later on this morning as Serena Vigman's Lionesses prepare for their final two Nations League games against Portugal and Spain and I just want to give a big

shout out to Luton Town ladies who completed the double this weekend in tier five. They won the Eastern Region Women's Football League Cup beating Stevenage by three goals to nil after winning the league during the week and securing promotion to tier four so well done to them. Right it's been an absolute pleasure I feel as if we've got I feel like I've been the head teacher telling you all off and telling you to go quicker but hopefully I'll keep my job next season. Susie have a lovely day or see you very soon. See you soon. A plus for you. A plus for you too Tom Gary. Triple A star for you Faye. Oh thanks very much. I feel like I need to give a distinction to Chris Powerhouse for coming up with the report card plan in the first place. I don't mind being a

SWAT either Faye so thank you. You're very good at it. Are we showing our age? Aren't GCSEs all like levels one to nine now? Shouldn't Chris have a nine? That's so true and that always just I find that weird there's no 10 I don't get it. Why have that system if you don't have 10? When I was at school there wasn't even an A star. Right, listen, team, we have to stop talking. This has already been far too long for a season wrap up. Keep having your say by sending in your questions via social media or emailing us at women's football weekly at theguardian.com. And as ever, a reminder to sign up for our weekly women's football newsletter. All you need to do is search moving the goalposts, sign up.

The Guardian Women's Football Weekly is produced by Sophie Downey and Silas Gray. Music composition was by Laura Aydel. Our executive producer is Sal Ahmad.