Edition Five

Headlines

History was made on the penultimate day of the summer transfer window, as Barcelona paid Manchester City a world record fee to secure the services of Keira Walsh.

Walsh is traditionally an unsung hero for club and country in her deep lying midfield role and considered quitting football after the 2019 World Cup. But after receiving international acclaim for her performances for England at Euro 2022, Barcelona stumped up in excess of ￡400,000 to bring the 25-year-old to Catalonia. The previous world record transfer in the women’s game had been the fee of ￡250,000 paid by Chelsea to Wolfsburg for Pernille Harder in 2020.

Walsh’s Barcelona debut was delayed by at least a week due to the ongoing referee strikes in Spain. Despite the officials’ intention to strike in protest over working and employment conditions being announced on Thursday, the opening weekend of Liga F saw teams travel across the country to the venues for their scheduled matches, warm up, walk onto the pitch in full kit, shake hands with the opposition and when - as expected - there was no sign of an officiating team, each game was subsequently postponed. This occurred for all eight top flight matches.

Walsh’s record transfer was not the only history made last week. Equal pay for the US Women’s National Team was finally made official following the team’s friendly victory over Nigeria, as the USWNT Players Association and US Soccer signed the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The CBA ensures both the men’s and women’s sides will receive identical appearance fees and equal prize money for all competitions. The two sides have also agreed to pool together and split equally a percentage of their World Cup prize money, which marks a huge commitment to equality, given the discrepancy between prize money between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

“I wasn’t sure it was going to happen during my career,” USWNT captain Becky Sauerbrun admitted.

Elsewhere in international football, Wales secured a World Cup playoff spot for the very first time in front of a record crowd of 12,741 at the Cardiff City Stadium thanks to a 0-0 draw with Slovenia. Gemma Grainger’s side now have to navigate a complex playoff - beginning with the visit of Bosnia and Herzegovina - if they are to reach next summer’s World Cup. The playoff system has been criticised for its unorthodox format and absence of seeding, with Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw - whose side also qualified for the playoffs for the first time - labeling it ‘very strange’.

One player who is no stranger to starring at the World Cup is Marta. The Brazil icon was recently honoured with a life-size statue in the Museum of the Sele??o Brasileira - a gesture only afforded to one other footballing figure in history: Pelé.?

"It is a feeling of inclusion, which we seek, to be able to see our history being told in the museum of the house of our football,” said Marta. “When you honour an athlete from the women's team, you honour all of them.”

Deep Dives

During Euro 2022, the England team made the collective decision to not see their family members for a full month to limit the number of people they came into contact with and prevent the spread of Covid-19. This was a particularly substantial decision for left back Demi Stokes, whose partner had given birth to their son just two months earlier.

Stokes spoke to 90min EN about this personal sacrifice, which she described as ‘the toughest thing I’ve ever done’.

Business Corner

Karen Carney is to lead the UK government’s review into the future of domestic women’s football which will assess how to deliver sustainable growth within the game. One of the three key pillars to be examined is the financial strength and sustainability of women’s football - including exploring opportunities for additional commercialisation and sponsorship. Carney explains in depth her motivations and methods for the review in her column in The Guardian.

Broadcast revenue is a particularly important factor to the financial sustainability of the women’s game, with the WSL securing a landmark broadcast deal ahead of the 2021/22 campaign - believed to be worth ￡8m per-season. The manner in which the league is marketed received praise from Ada Hegerberg, who called on other countries to follow in the WSL’s footsteps to ensure Euro 2022 momentum is not lost. Liga F have done just that, with DAZN securing a €35m deal to broadcast the Spanish top flight for the next five years.

Lighter Bites

On 31 July 2022, England beat Germany in the Euro 2022 final in front of over 87,000 people at Wembley Stadium. The Lionesses’ first game as European champions took place just over a month later, and saw them take on Austria at Stadion Wiener Neustadt - a ground with a capacity of 4,290 and a waterslide overlooking the pitch. Groups of children were pictured stopping mid-slide in the transparent section of the waterslide to watch the World Cup qualifier play out.

90min Highlights

The latest episode of Football Americana sees host Yael Averbuch West in conversation with USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski. The pair discuss building a roster ahead of an international tournament, and the pressure that comes with coaching the most successful side in women’s football history.

90min’s dedicated women’s football YouTube show 90min Talks returned ahead of the new WSL season. Host Shebahn Aherne was joined by FanSided’s Chris Deeley and Girls on the Ball to chat through the latest international break, the transfer window, and who they’re backing ahead of the 2022/23 WSL season.