2018–19 FA WSL

Eighth season of the top English women's association football league

Football league season
FA WSL
FA WSL trophy
Season2018–19
ChampionsArsenal
3rd WSL title
15th English title
RelegatedYeovil Town
Champions LeagueArsenal
Manchester City
Matches played110
Goals scored336 (3.05 per match)
Top goalscorerVivianne Miedema
(22 goals)
Biggest home winManchester City 7–1 West Ham United
(14 October 2018)
Arsenal 6–0 Reading
(21 October 2018)
Chelsea 6–0 Bristol City
(20 February 2019)
Biggest away winYeovil Town 0–8 Chelsea
(7 May 2019)
Highest scoringManchester City 7–1 West Ham United
(14 October 2018)
Yeovil Town 0–8 Chelsea
(7 May 2019)
Average attendance1,010[1]
← 2017–18

The 2018–19 FA WSL was the eighth edition of the FA Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010. It was the first season after a rebranding of the four highest levels in English women's football. The previous FA WSL 2 became the Championship – eleven clubs competed in the 2018–19 FA Women's Championship.

Arsenal won their first WSL since 2012 with a 4–0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.[2]

Teams

Following restructuring of the women's game in order to provide for a fully professional Women's Super League (WSL), membership of both the first and second tier is subject to a licence, based on a series of off-the-field criteria. Yeovil Town estimated the budget needed for a WSL season at about £350,000.[3] Existing WSL teams were first offered the opportunity to bid for licences,[4] with all applying FA WSL clubs retaining their place in the first tier, with Brighton & Hove Albion from the WSL2 also offered a place in the WSL.[5] From the first tier, Sunderland were unsuccessful in their license application.[5]

This left up to two places in the WSL and up to five places in the Championship for applying clubs.[4] Fifteen applications were received for both the top two tiers,[5] and West Ham were given a licence in the second stage, so that the league is made up of 11 teams.[6]

Team Location Ground Capacity 2017–18 season
Arsenal Borehamwood Meadow Park 4,502 3rd
Birmingham City Solihull Damson Park 3,050 5th
Brighton & Hove Albion Crawley Broadfield Stadium 6,134 2nd, WSL 2
Bristol City Filton Stoke Gifford Stadium 1,500 8th
Chelsea Kingston upon Thames Kingsmeadow 4,850 1st
Everton Southport Haig Avenue 6,008 9th
Liverpool Birkenhead Prenton Park 16,587 6th
Manchester City Manchester Academy Stadium 7,000 2nd
Reading High Wycombe Adams Park 9,617 4th
West Ham United Romford Rush Green Training Ground 3,000 7th, WPL South
Yeovil Town Dorchester The Avenue Stadium 5,229 10th
Arsenal celebrates winning the 2018–19 FA WSL season.

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Bristol City Scotland Willie Kirk[7] Signed with Manchester United 29 May 2018 End of season (8th) Australia Tanya Oxtoby[8] 4 July 2018
West Ham United England Karen Ray[9] End of interim period 7 June 2018 Pre-season England Matt Beard[10] 7 June 2018
Liverpool England Scott Rodgers[11] Sacked 8 June 2018 England Neil Redfearn[12] 12 June 2018
Yeovil Town England Jamie Sherwood[13] Appointed Director of Football 14 June 2018 England Lee Burch[13] 14 June 2018
Liverpool England Neil Redfearn[14] Resigned 14 September 2018 11th England Vicky Jepson[15] 26 October 2018
Everton England Andy Spence[16] Sacked 7 November 2018 11th Scotland Willie Kirk[17] 1 December 2018
Birmingham City England Marc Skinner[18] Signed with Orlando Pride 11 January 2019 4th Spain Marta Tejedor[19] 21 January 2019

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Arsenal (C) 20 18 0 2 70 13 +57 54 Qualification for the Champions League
2 Manchester City 20 14 5 1 53 17 +36 47
3 Chelsea 20 12 6 2 46 14 +32 42
4 Birmingham City 20 13 1 6 29 17 +12 40
5 Reading 20 8 3 9 33 30 +3 27
6 Bristol City 20 7 4 9 17 34 −17 25
7 West Ham United 20 7 2 11 25 37 −12 23
8 Liverpool 20 7 1 12 21 38 −17 22
9 Brighton & Hove Albion 20 4 4 12 16 38 −22 16
10 Everton 20 3 3 14 15 38 −23 12
11 Yeovil Town (R) 20 2 1 17 11 60 −49 −3[a] Relegation to the Championship
Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Yeovil Town deducted 10 points for entering administration.[20]

Results

Home \ Away ARS BIR BRH BRI CHE EVE LIV MCI REA WHU YEO
Arsenal — 3–1 4–1 4–0 1–2 2–1 5–0 1–0 6–0 4–3 3–0
Birmingham City 0–1 — 1–0 0–1 0–0 1–0 2–0 2–3 2–1 3–0 2–1
Brighton & Hove Albion 0–4 2–1 — 0–1 0–4 0–0 0–1 0–6 1–4 0–1 2–1
Bristol City 0–4 0–1 0–0 — 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 2–1
Chelsea 0–5 2–3 2–0 6–0 — 3–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 5–0
Everton 0–4 1–3 3–3 0–2 0–0 — 2–1 0–4 3–2 1–2 0–1
Liverpool 1–5 0–2 0–2 5–2 0–4 3–1 — 0–3 0–1 1–0 2–1
Manchester City 2–0 1–0 3–0 2–2 2–2 3–1 2–1 — 1–1 7–1 2–1
Reading 0–3 0–1 1–0 3–0 2–3 2–1 2–2 3–4 — 1–2 4–0
West Ham United 2–4 1–2 0–4 2–0 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–3 0–0 — 2–1
Yeovil Town 0–7 0–2 1–1 1–2 0–8 1–0 1–2 0–4 0–5 0–5 —
Updated to match(es) played on 11 May 2019. Source: FA WSL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Position by round

Updated to match(es) played on 11 May 2019. Source: FA WSL

Season statistics

Top scorers

Top scorers[citation needed]
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Netherlands Vivianne Miedema Arsenal 22
2 England Nikita Parris Manchester City 19
3 England Bethany England Chelsea 12
England Fara Williams Reading
5 England Georgia Stanway Manchester City 11
Netherlands Daniëlle van de Donk Arsenal
7 England Courtney Sweetman-Kirk Liverpool 10
8 England Fran Kirby Chelsea 9
England Jordan Nobbs Arsenal
10 Scotland Erin Cuthbert Chelsea 8
Scotland Kim Little Arsenal

Awards

Monthly awards

Awards by month
Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Ref
Manager Club Player Club
September Australia Tanya Oxtoby Bristol City England Sophie Baggaley Bristol City [21]
October Australia Joe Montemurro Arsenal Netherlands Vivianne Miedema Arsenal [22][23]
November England Kelly Chambers Reading England Courtney Sweetman-Kirk Liverpool [24]
December England Nick Cushing Manchester City England Georgia Stanway Manchester City [25][26]
January Australia Tanya Oxtoby Bristol City Scotland Erin Cuthbert Chelsea [27][28]
February England Hope Powell Brighton & Hove Albion England Sophie Harris Brighton & Hove Albion [29][30]
March Australia Joe Montemurro Arsenal England Beth Mead Arsenal [31][32]
April Spain Marta Tejedor Birmingham City England Beth Mead Arsenal [33][34]

Annual awards

Awards[citation needed]
Award Winner Club
FA WFA Players' Player of the Year England Sophie Baggaley Bristol City
FA WFA Goal of the Year England Beth Mead Arsenal
FA WFA Save of the Year England Megan Walsh Yeovil Town
LMA Manager of the Year Australia Joe Montemurro Arsenal
PFA Players' Player of the Year Netherlands Vivianne Miedema[35] Arsenal
PFA Young Player of the Year England Georgia Stanway[36] Manchester City
PFA Merit Award England Steph Houghton[37] Manchester City
FWA Footballer of the Year England Nikita Parris[38] Manchester City
PFA Team of the Year[39]
Goalkeeper England Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City)
Defence England Hannah Blundell (Chelsea) England Aoife Mannion (Birmingham City) England Steph Houghton (Manchester City) England Demi Stokes (Manchester City)
Midfield South Korea Ji So-Yun (Chelsea) Scotland Kim Little (Arsenal) Switzerland Lia Wälti (Arsenal)
Attack Netherlands Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal) Scotland Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea) England Nikita Parris (Manchester City)

See also

References

  1. ^ "NWSL attendance jumps 23 percent to new record in 2019". Soccer America. 13 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Vivianne Miedema and Beth Mead hit spectacular goals as Arsenal crushed Brighton to become champions for the first time since 2012". The Guardian. 28 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Women's Super League: Restructure can help make league best in world - Katie Brazier - BBC Sport". bbc.com. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  4. ^ a b "Women's Pyramid Restructure: Q&A With Katie Brazier". The FA. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "Women's Super League: 15 clubs apply for WSL and Women's Championship licences - BBC Sport". bbc.com. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  6. ^ "Manchester United get Women's Championship licence; West Ham join top flight". 28 May 2018 – via www.bbc.com.
  7. ^ "Willie Kirk: Manchester United Women name ex-Bristol City boss assistant coach". BBC. 28 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Oxtoby appointed Vixens manager". Bristol City.
  9. ^ "New West Ham United coach confirmed". www.kumb.com.
  10. ^ "West Ham Ladies appoint former Chelsea & Liverpool coach Matt Beard | West Ham United". www.whufc.com.
  11. ^ "Scott Rogers leaves Liverpool Ladies". Liverpool FC.
  12. ^ "Liverpool Ladies appoint Doncaster Rovers Belles boss as manager". BBC. 12 June 2018.
  13. ^ a b "New boss for Lady Glovers". Somerset County Gazette.
  14. ^ "Neil Redfearn resigns after one league game in charge". BBC. 14 September 2018.
  15. ^ Pearce, James (26 October 2018). "Liverpool FC Women appoint new manager". liverpoolecho.
  16. ^ Frith, Wilf (7 November 2018). "Andy Spence leaves Everton Ladies". SheKicks.
  17. ^ "Willie Kirk: Everton Ladies appoint Manchester United Women assistant as manager". BBC. 1 December 2018.
  18. ^ "Orlando Pride Appoints Marc Skinner as Head Coach Ahead of 2019 NWSL Season". Orlando Pride.
  19. ^ Frith, Wilf (21 January 2019). "Birmingham City Women appoint Marta Tejedor as manager". SheKicks.
  20. ^ "Yeovil Town Ladies: Women's Super League side to go into administration". www.bbc.com.
  21. ^ "Bristol City Women: Boss Tanya Oxtoby shares praise after WSL award". 8 October 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  22. ^ "Montemurro named LMA October Manager of the Month". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  23. ^ "Miedema named October WSL Player of the Month". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  24. ^ "Kelly Chambers wins LMA Manager of the Month for November!". www.readingfc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  25. ^ "Cushing wins LMA Manager of the Month award - Manchester City FC". MCFC. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  26. ^ "Stanway named FA WSL Player of the Month". MCFC. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  27. ^ "Oxtoby named LMA Manager of the Month". Bristol City. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  28. ^ Frith, Wilf (7 February 2019). "#FAWSL / #FAWC: Cuthbert & Wiltshire win January POTM awards". She Kicks Women's Football Magazine. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  29. ^ "League Managers Association - LMA MANAGER OF THE MONTH AWARDS - FEBRUARY 2019". www.leaguemanagers.com. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  30. ^ James Hilsum (11 March 2019). "Albion Goalkeeper Named Player Of The Month". brighton&hovealbionFC. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  31. ^ "Montemurro named LMA March Manager of the Month". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  32. ^ "Mead named March WSL Player of the Month". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  33. ^ "Marta Tejedor named Manager of the Month for April". Birmingham City Football Club. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  34. ^ "Mead named April WSL Player of the Month". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  35. ^ "Virgil van Dijk and Vivianne Miedema win PFA Player of the Year awards". 28 April 2019.
  36. ^ "Virgil van Dijk and Vivianne Miedema win PFA Player of the Year awards". 28 April 2019.
  37. ^ "Virgil van Dijk and Vivianne Miedema win PFA Player of the Year awards". 28 April 2019.
  38. ^ "Manchester City forward Nikita Parris named FWA Women's Footballer of the Year". talkSPORT. 29 April 2019.
  39. ^ "PFA FA WSL Team of the Year". womenscompetitions.thefa.com.

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