Manchester Metropolis’s Alex Greenwood lifts the trophy as she celebrates with teammates after profitable the Girls’s Tremendous League. Photograph: REUTERS
LONDON:
The Girls’s Tremendous League returns this weekend with a way of momentum. Expanded to 14 groups, fuelled by contemporary funding and looking out extra aggressive than ever, the 2026-27 season guarantees to be one of the compelling within the league’s historical past.
Manchester Metropolis are champions after ending a 10-year title drought, however retaining the trophy might show even more durable.
“Our largest problem this yr is to proceed profitable and, on the similar time, compete in different competitions and likewise need to win these,” Metropolis boss Andree Jeglertz instructed the BBC.
“Profitable in a single yr is one factor, however having the ability to win within the subsequent yr, that’s even more durable … we have now ok gamers to have the ability to play with one beginning 11 on Saturday and do a few modifications on Wednesday and nonetheless win. Every participant might be extra essential than they’ve ever been for the membership.”
Metropolis host promoted Birmingham Metropolis on Sunday with their Jamaica striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, armed with a contract extension till 2030, the league’s most feared goalscorer.
Arsenal, runners-up final season, have strengthened once more and look real title contenders, with England striker Alessia Russo main a squad filled with expertise and their supervisor Renee Slegers mentioned her season ambition was “taking the subsequent step.”
“We have been rising the final couple of years,” she instructed the membership’s in-house media. “There have been lots of actually good issues final yr.
“If you happen to take a look at outcomes, we’re second within the WSL. We’re semi-finalists within the Champions League. The following step is to be even nearer and to be up there to compete for the primary place … we will do the whole lot that we’re able to inside our management to place ourselves ready to do it.”
Arsenal go to Brighton & Hove Albion for his or her opener on Sunday.
CHANGES AT CHELSEA
After a decade of home domination, together with a treble in 2024-25, final season’s one trophy –- the League Cup –- was less than Chelsea’s traditional requirements.
A summer season of change has adopted, with supervisor Sonia Bompastor welcoming Katie McCabe from Arsenal, amongst others.
Some massive names have additionally departed, together with former England defender Millie Brilliant, who retired, and Australian worldwide Sam Kerr, who left for Gotham FC of the Nationwide Girls’s Soccer League within the U.S.
Chelsea host Aston Villa on Saturday.
The largest disruptors could also be London Metropolis Lionesses, who host Manchester United within the curtain-raiser on Friday.
Backed by proprietor Michele Kang, they’ve made a press release within the switch market, bringing in eight newcomers together with twice Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, her Barcelona teammate Mapi Leon and former England goalkeeper Mary Earps.
Kang was an enormous cause Leon moved to London Metropolis.
“As a result of seeing one other lady doing a lot to assist ladies’s sports activities and ladies’s soccer develop, I believe it is unattainable to not worth that,” she instructed the Guardian. “I believe it is one thing very highly effective.”
The league’s growth provides contemporary intrigue, with promoted sides Birmingham, Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic bringing new storylines and rivalries.
4 additional league video games will check squad depth, significantly for European hopefuls Arsenal, Chelsea and Metropolis.
The battle for the Golden Boot ought to once more function Shaw and Russo however a wave of rising expertise and high-profile arrivals reminiscent of Putellas guarantees to lift the usual throughout the league.