Sky TV deal and big stadiums - is this a breakthrough year for the Women’s Super League?

Lucrative broadcast deal and increasing use of men’s stadiums form backdrop to a likely exciting, unpredictable season

Ireland captain Katie McCabe (left) in action against Chelsea next season. The sides will meet in the WSL's first big 'Super Sunday' clash at the Emirates. 

There was excitement and anticipation before the 2020-21 Women’s Super League season, World Cup-winning superstars having parachuted into English clubs in search of regular football amid the pandemic and with people desperate for football to return in any form. But there was also a spectre of the unknown. The pandemic was far from over, no fans were allowed in grounds and football’s ‘new normal’ brought tensions and concerns. The impact of Covid on clubs in the long term and the effects on women’s teams were unclear.

The pandemic is still not over. However, the anticipation going into this new season feels less weighted and more jubilant. This is the season we have been waiting two years for. It is not just that the lifting of restrictions has given people a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel, or that fans will be filtering into grounds again. It is also that the switch from the game surviving and managing to growing again has lifted spirits and the mood; the switch from worrying about clubs balancing the books to worrying about attendance figures again.