So much for the notion that Chelsea might struggle after the departure of manager Emma Hayes at the end of last season. On Saturday they wrapped up an unbeaten WSL campaign that saw them win their sixth title in a row with a record 60 points, 12 clear of runners-up Arsenal.
Sonia Bompastor has comfortably slipped in to Hayes’ shoes, her team now aiming to complete a domestic treble, having also won the League Cup, when they play Manchester United in next Saturday’s FA Cup final.
Their 1-0 win over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge marked Niamh Fahey’s final game in professional football, the 37-year-old coming on as a late substitute for Liverpool against one of her former clubs.
Fahey was one of 12 Republic of Ireland internationals to appear in the WSL this season, nine of them with clubs in the bottom half of the table, three of those suffering relegation with Crystal Palace.
Southampton hold Manchester City scoreless, Everton and Brighton take away wins
A season of mixed fortunes for the Irish in the WSL
Michael Walker: Ange Postecoglou is one win from a trophy, but it doesn’t paper over Spurs’ troubling season
Arne Slot compares ‘intense’ Conor Bradley to Achraf Hakimi in playing style
It was a tough old grind for a fair few of the dozen, but Everton’s Courtney Brosnan and Aston Villa’s Anna Patten are among those who can reflect on positive campaigns, even if their clubs’ form was decidedly erratic. Brosnan was especially impressive.
Both players started in all but one of their sides’ 22 WSL games, one more than Katie McCabe who – and this might come as a surprise – missed a couple through suspension.
But while her form for Ireland might have been up and down of late, she has been excellent again for Arsenal (well, aside from on Saturday when she was at fault for two Manchester United goals). She has flourished under Renee Slegers, who replaced Jonas Eidevall in January, playing mainly at left-back having been used in multiple positions by Eidevall. There might be a lesson there for Republic of Ireland manager Carla Ward – not least because the stats show McCabe to have been the WSL’s ‘most creative’ player this season, in both open play and from set pieces, despite playing from the back.
While it was a disappointing season on the domestic front for Arsenal, there’s no small consolation in a Champions League final to look forward to. They’ll be well and truly up against it when they play the three-in-a-row seeking Barcelona in Lisbon on May 24th, but if they upset the odds, it would be McCabe’s finest club hour.
While their seasons with Everton and Liverpool weren’t helped by a couple of injuries along the way, Heather Payne and Leanne Kiernan can be happy enough with their work, although Kiernan would have hoped for a lot more than two goals in 16 appearances.
The Palace trio had, largely, a miserable time of it after the club’s first season in the WSL ended in relegation. Hayley Nolan missed 12 games through injury, while Abbie Larkin could only contribute a single goal, and no assists, through the campaign. Izzy Atkinson fared worst of all, playing a grand total of 22 minutes through the whole league season.
Aoife Mannion was a bit-part-player for Manchester United, starting just two league games, while Caitlin Hayes took time to get going at Brighton after her move from Celtic in January. Goalkeeper Megan Walsh was a bystander in West Ham’s WSL season, Polish international Kinga Szemik keeping her out of the side, while Walsh’s team-mate Jess Ziu is still on the road to recovery after her second ACL injury in just over two years.
Injury also ruined the seasons of two of the younger crew, Manchester City’s Eve O’Carroll and Tara O’Hanlon. O’Carroll, the Derry-born underage international, made her debut for City in December, at just 17, but was blighted by injury thereafter. And just as O’Hanlon was reaching fitness from a serious hamstring tear, she suffered medial collateral ligament damage. The season was, then, a washout for the 20-year-old, who joined City from Peamount United in January of last year.
Mixed fortunes all ‘round, then.
