Edition 10

Headlines

Emma Hayes returned to the touchline on Sunday for the first time after her six-week break from football to recover from an emergency hysterectomy following her ongoing battle with endometriosis.?

The Chelsea boss had been watching the Blues from home while communicating with the bench on match days, as general manager Paul Green and assistant boss Denise Reddy led the side.?

Chelsea marked Hayes’s return with a 3-0 victory over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.

“It just felt like I was going back out to my family,” she said at full time.

The win moved Chelsea level on points with Arsenal and Manchester United at the WSL summit, after United recorded a last gasp 3-2 victory over the Gunners the previous day at the Emirates.

The victory was a particularly sweet occasion for United supporters, who were situated in a designated away section behind the goal where Millie Turner and Alessia Russo netted their late equaliser and then winner. Away ends remain somewhat of a novelty in the WSL despite complaints from supporters, with opposition fans instead mixing in the stands.

“What I’ll say to teams is if you do give us that [away end] capability, you’ll have a lot more fans through the door,” said Manchester United boss Marc Skinner. “We usually go straight into a huddle [at full time] but we had to go to them (the United fans).”

Over 40,000 supporters were in attendance at the Emirates for Saturday’s fixture, as women’s football in the UK was able to capitalise on the break in the domestic men’s game due to the World Cup.

The Women’s Championship attracted a cumulative record attendance of 17,500 across the six fixtures - including a league record crowd of 11,137 at Bramall Lane to watch London City Lionesses beat Sheffield United.

Earlier that week, a new domestic record for the women's game in Wales was set , as 5,175 supporters turned out to watch Cardiff City overcome Abergavenny Town.

Deep Dives

The Women’s FA Cup has seen a substantial increase in prize money this season, with the winners of the recent first round matches pocketing ￡6,000; victory at the same stage last season would have seen teams awarded just ￡850. 90min EN spoke to singer-songwriter Chelcee Grimes - who balances her music career with playing for tier four outfit Merseyrail FC - ahead of her side’s FA Cup clash with FC United of Manchester.?

Grimes discussed the impact that increased prize money has for a side like hers, the benefits to playing for an independent women’s club over a team connected to a men’s club, and how the traits she forged through growing up playing football have helped her write songs for Kylie, Dua Lipa and Kesha.

Business Corner

Finding the balance between selling out small grounds and making the hosting of fixtures in clubs’ main stadiums profitable and sustainable is the golden question in the women’s game.?

Chelsea frequently sell out their 4,850 capacity Kingsmeadow home, but their recent match against Tottenham was the first time a WSL fixture had been held at Stamford Bridge since the opening day of the 2019/20 season.

Tickets for the match started at ￡9 for adults and ￡1 for juniors - and Emma Hayes has called on women’s football to be more ambitious with its pricing to enable matches at main stadiums to become a normality.

“I think one of the biggest things that perhaps we don't talk enough about is how cheap women's football is,” said Hayes. “I really believe we have to increase the overall pricing structure if we're to play more in these places, because there is a cost implication to it.”

Lighter Bites

During Sunday’s post-match press conference, Emma Hayes was midway through answering a question about goal scorer Sam Kerr when she was interrupted by a phone call… from Sam Kerr.?

“You’re watching this, aren’t you?” Hayes asked as she answered the phone. “Are you watching this? Are you watching my press conference??

“Oh, she wants to eat, but my press conference is going on too long. Listen, I’ll be quick. Alright, f***ing hell, alright. Bye.”?

90min Highlights

90min EN spoke exclusively to Manchester City’s Vicky Losada . The midfielder has joined and departed Barcelona on three separate occasions over the course of her career, and discussed the growth she witnessed at the club during her different spells - from being relegated in her first season, to winning the Champions League in her last. Losada is also unique in the fact that she has a 90% plant based diet, and she spoke about how this has aided her performance and recovery from injury.

90min Talks welcomed Arsenal defender Jen Beattie to the most recent show. Joining Beattie were Shebahn Aherne, Girls on the Ball and Amy Drucquer to chat through all things WSL and their thoughts on the hosting of the Men’s World Cup in Qatar.