I'm sorry, I meant to say Portland Thorns. Their coach was just announced he will take over the Dutch national team.
The Old Firm derby today (Sunday, 4.10pm UK) has a Women's Champions League place on the line, and for either Rangers or Celtic a loss or draw could end their title hopes. Rangers hold Scotland's 2nd place at present. https://www.scotsman.com/sport/foot...h-win-to-set-up-mammoth-weekend-clash-3244096 Glasgow City, four points ahead, got over some hiccups to win 4-2 away to Motherwell (7th), finally with a late goal by Van Wyk. If they can beat Hibs (home), Hearts (home) and Spartans (away) in the coming 7 days, then Glasgow City will clinch a remarkable title. They'll host Rangers on the final day, 6 June. Northern Ireland: The Premiership season 2021 has seen a big rise for Cliftonville to first place and a 5-point lead after only four weeks. The 2015 cupwinners beat the league champions Glentoran this week - Kirsty McGuinness scored twice in Cliftonville's emphatic 4-goal surge, after Glens had gone 2-0 up in only ten minutes. In earlier games, Lauren Cregan gave Derry City women their first win since 2019, by a single goal over Sion Swifts, and it was all-square between the recent champs Linfield and Glentoran (7pts each). - Cliftonville 4, Glentoran 2: "Reds stage comeback to stretch lead at the top" - (NI Football League) Highlights: youtube.com/watch?v=MsVQu1Im1eY
A great Sunday for Celtic Women, now on course for their first Champions League place. Neither side quite played like champions, and it was heading for a cagey 1-1 after last week's Celtic match-saver Logan made an error to put Rangers level. But Ewans' header turned the tide and pushes the Celts into 2nd place. Rangers 1 - 2 Celtic Rachel McLauchlan 27' / Kelly Clark 20', Sarah Ewens 82' And the title race tightens, surprisingly - Hibs held the line against Glasgow City. The Costa Rican Chinchilla (rested in midweek) was back with a fine performance but couldn't find the net. Scotland's biggest city is still in Covid restrictions but because City FC is now based just outside Glasgow, this match was able to officially have a crowd. Three games remain: 1 Glasgow City (+52GD) 47pts 2 Celtic - - - - (+45GD) 44pts 3 Rangers - - (+58GD) 42pts 4 Spartans 25pts 5 Hibs 23pts England: Wait, where did I put that Managerial Merry-Go-Round picture...? Yeah, and they're losing the assistant coach Jenny Sugarman, too, along with the expected departure of Marcus Bignot, interim manager this year, who's been at a lot of clubs. https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2...ton-villa-women-confirm-three-departures.html Also some bad news for fans of superb reality TV - that young guy from the Hammers is being re-cast for the next series! - "West Ham United Women's Managing Director Jack Sullivan to step down after four years of unprecedented growth" - (WHUFC.com) The growth was unprecedented, but you never want to get too big for your boots (I'm sure he'll be fine)
Team GB announced 11 Man City players out of 18.... Goalkeepers: Karen Bardsley (OL Reign and England), Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City and England) Defenders: Millie Bright (Chelsea and England), Lucy Bronze (Manchester City and England), Rachel Daly (Houston Dash and England), Steph Houghton (Manchester City and England), Demi Stokes (Manchester City and England), Leah Williamson (Arsenal and England), Midfielders: Sophie Ingle (Chelsea and Wales), Kim Little (Manchester City and Scotland), Jill Scott (Manchester City and England), Keira Walsh (Manchester City and England), Caroline Weir (Manchester City and Scotland) Forwards: Lauren Hemp (Manchester City and England), Fran Kirby (Chelsea and England), Nikita Parris (Olympique Lyonnais and England), Georgia Stanway (Manchester City and England), Ellen White (Manchester City and England) Reserve players: Sandy MacIver (Goalkeeper - Everton and England), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Defender - Arsenal and England), Niamh Charles (Midfielder - Chelsea and England), Ella Toone (Forward - Manchester United and England)
Nobbs and England aren't even reserve players. I'm honestly a bit surprised. Mead is a notable omission as well, but her not being in the squad isn't surprising.
Firstly it feels stupid to still be using 18 player squads. Even pretty much all international youth tournaments have changed that now. Really poor GB squad selection. Demi Stokes has had really bad fitness problems for a long time now and had an atrocious return in the last England game. I’ve never been a massive fan of her and I’m amazed she has made this squad. I actually think that selection is one of the worst selections I’ve seen in any finals squad ever lol. Alex Greenwood has had a much better season and has also played CB. Versatility is important in such a short squad. I would rather play Lauren Hemp there than Stokes anyway. Jill Scott got moved on by Man City and is on the decline. Really don’t get that selection. Rachel Daly as a defender. I personally think she’s pretty awful in that role. Doubt she will play any attacking role either. Jordan Nobbs and Chloe Kelly are the most unlucky.
My own feeling is that the Olympics are way overrated when it comes to a lot of sports--including soccer. The Olympics now have far too many sports--and the IOC seems determined to include anything and everything in the "games" in an effort to spark interest among young people and TV viewers. The Olympics just don't have much credibility with me anymore. A lot of the new events are absurd. As for soccer, it's a smallish field and a condensed schedule, and it's not be confused with the World Cup or European championship. I have no idea why the mandated an 18-person roster when, I believe, the four reserves will be going to Tokyo as well! RE Daly: Didn't she play some outside back for the English NT in the last WC. I think she did. She is a good attacking player but not likely to get any time up front in the Olympics. GB's biggest problem, IMO, will be their centerbacks: I think Houghton and Bright are pretty obviously past their prime.
I always follow the Olympics but I would agree it seems to be getting worse with all the tweaking. That CB partnership has never been a good one. Extremely slow and Bright is very limited with the ball. I just never mentioned it because it was obvious they would make the squad. The selections I mentioned were surprising to me. England have needed a reboot for a while but keep sticking with the older guard.
They have a lot of good young potential players. Hemp, Lauren James, Toone, Chloe Kelly course she unluckily got injured, mixed with the veterans that are in their prime. Jill Scott should be gone, same for Bright. Steph Houghton is pretty much the captain.
Kelly's certainly unlucky, but that's obviously not a roster selection issue. I would have gone with Greenwood, Nobbs, and England in place of Stokes, Scott, and Daly.
FA Women's Cup draw made. Games will be played 29 September next season: The 2020-21 #WomensFACup quarter-finals are set. Who will win the 🏆 this year? pic.twitter.com/jTfN2yzNtG— Adobe Women's FA Cup (@AdobeWFACup) May 28, 2021
Interesting point on Charlton. They are turning professional this Summer,.so they should be able to compete. But they have just released 13 players. All the new ones won't be allowed to participate in the QF and further. Think the limit was 6 new players this year.
Sounds like a big problem considering how those previous players helped Charlton where they are now. Do they even have enough players to compete in the upcoming match?
Everton are on the verge of securing Juventus midfielder Aurora Galli on a 3-year contract. The transfer will be official within the next 10 days. She will be the first Italian woman to play in the FAWSL. (Source: @NicoSchira) pic.twitter.com/wUJIBy7ART— Women’s Transfer News (@womenstransfer) May 30, 2021
Team GB news: Karen Bardsley injured her hamstring yesterday. Not sure what it means for her Olympic place.
Well we know now that Carly Telford or Hannah Hampton are the two back-ups, should Bardsley fail to recover on time. Hege Riise has named a 21-player squad for our upcoming June camp at Bisham Abbey. The 19 #Lionesses whose Team GB selection was confirmed last week will be boosted by call-ups for goalkeepers Carly Telford and Hannah Hampton. 💪 pic.twitter.com/d3lxJeZgH1— Lionesses (@Lionesses) June 2, 2021 Team GB camp will start on 17 June after the international window with Ingle, Weir and Little joining the England squad. Interestingly, Team GB could have a midfield three without any English player with Ingle at the base of the triangle with Little on the right and Weir on the left.
SWPL: In this lockdown-affected season, it looked as if Glasgow City's 13-season title run would end when Rangers beat them in December, 5-0. City have had many challengers before, but to overcome both of the two strongest clubs in Scotland this year is perhaps their greatest achievement. They sealed the championship on Sunday: Celtic won all 3 derbies against Rangers, and so Celtic are rewarded as runner-up with a Women's Champions League place. Seven of their players had to miss the last game after a positive Covid test, but the high potential of Fran Alonso's squad was still shown in a goal-chasing 8-0 vs Motherwell (2 each for Chloe Craig and Anna Filbey). In 2021/22, the Scottish top division will expand to 10 teams, with Aberdeen likely to be promoted. Final top five of 2020/21: 1 Glasgow City (+61GD) 56pts 2 Celtic - - - - (+64GD) 53pts 3 Rangers - - (+66GD) 48pts 4 Hibernian - (+15GD) 29pts 5 Spartans - (–13GD) 29pts Wales: Swansea City have won a trophy double, after a hard season in the WPWL. They came from behind in the league cup final to win 4-1 over Cardiff City (Stacey John-Davis 2 goals). Four days later, Swansea won the league title by a point over Cardiff Met. Abergavenny could have upset Swansea's last-day celebration - but the Swans got the minimum 0-0 that they needed. The Welsh league is being re-named next season, with a secret brand new original name ("Women's Super League"?) and the English-style licence decisions see Abergavenny relegated for finishing 4th, and Barry Town and TNS join the top flight. https://www.cymrufootball.wales/news/faw-confirms-tier-1-2-clubs-new-leagues/ Swansea 4 - 1 Cardiff City www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFt4gMAvVLc
Congratulations to Glasgow City who as a semi-pro team managed to beat two teams who went full time professional last Summer Celtic and Rangers. It does not happen very often any more.
I wonder if they were able to maintain the same squad from last season and able to gel compare to the newly pro teams cause it can’t be instant. And perhaps the coach did a good job planning tactics against the teams.
https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2...omen-season-tickets-on-sale-now?cardIndex=0-0 CHELSEA FC WOMEN SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW With fans set to return for the new season, you can watch global superstars such as Pernille Harder, Fran Kirby, Sam Kerr and Ji So-Yun up close, with season tickets initially priced at just £44 for adults and £5 for juniors/seniors. The 2021/22 season ticket includes all Barclays FA Women’s Super League home games as well as FA Cup and League Cup home fixtures.
Not sure if we're going to keep posting here rumours about next season, but some rumours claim that new Juventus' coach Joe Montemurro would like to bring Kim Little to his new Italian club. Honestly, though, the same rumours admit that it's highly unlikely that Arsenal lets her go.
I just saw that Bordeaux has released Bunny Shaw, I presume because of the club's financial problems. If I'm an FA NWSL club, I'm doing whatever it takes to sign her. I have to think there will be serious interest from ManCity and ManU, the latter already apparently trying to obtain Oshoala from Barcelona.
"...she is heavily linked with a move to English team Manchester City." https://nationwideradiojm.com/khadija-shaw-announces-shes-leaving-bordeaux/