Edition 34

Headlines

The Lionesses kept Team GB’s hopes of qualifying for the 2024 Summer Olympics with a dramatic 3-2 win over the Netherlands at Wembley Stadium. Sarina Wiegman’s side went in at half-time two goals down to the Dutch, however goals from Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp and a 91st minute winner from Ella Toone secured the crucial victory.?

Emma Hayes is set to earn ￡1.6m-a-year as the new USWNT manager, matching the annual salary of USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter thanks to the US Football Federation’s commitment to equal pay across both the men’s and women’s senior set-ups.?

England and Chelsea star Millie Bright has reaggravated the knee injury which kept her out of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. The defender was forced to drop out of the Lionesses squad for the December Nations League fixtures, and was also unable to feature in Chelsea’s recent 4-1 win over Paris FC in the Women’s Champions League.?

Bright was replaced by Millie Turner in the England squad, however it was Alex Greenwood and Jess Carter who started at the heart of the defence against the Netherlands.

Alexia Putellas is another of the game’s stars who has not been fit enough to feature in the December internationals. The former two-time Ballon d’Or was forced to withdraw from the Spain squad after sustaining an injury during Barcelona’s recent 5-0 win over Benfica.?

A Fifpro survey carried out with players from 26 of the 32 nations who competed at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup has found that over half of the footballers surveyed believed that they had insufficient rest before the tournament, while 60% stated that post-tournament rest was also inadequate.?

90min Highlights

In the latest episode of 90min’s new women’s football podcast series Life’s a Pitch, Republic of Ireland internationals Ruesha Littlejohn and Lucy Quinn discussed what makes Lauren James a world class footballer.?

Business Corner

The Women’s Super League and Championship are preparing to break away from the FA after agreeing to be governed by a new body from next season. The independent body called ‘NewCo’ would take over the governance structure of both leagues.?

Plans have hit a roadblock recently however, with the majority of Women’s Championship clubs having opted to reject a proposal that would see key funding and governance decisions solely taken by WSL clubs as part of the new structure.?

The FA have announced that creative tech giants Adobe will be the new lead sponsor of the Women’s FA Cup until July 2026.?

A new ￡30m Lionesses legacy fund is set to deliver 30 new state of the art 3G pitches in order to support the growth of the women’s game in England.