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WSL, Women's FA Cup, WPL & lower leagues 2017-18

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    #26
    Women's FA Cup 3QR:
    1 Alnwick Town Juniors v Rotherham United
    2 Farsley Celtic v Hartlepool United
    3 Burnley v Wigan Athletic
    4 West Didsbury & Chorlton v MSB Woolton
    5 Brighouse Town v Wakefield
    6 Altofts v Chorley
    7 Chester-Le-Street Town v Barnsley
    8 Crewe Alexandra v Hull City
    9 South Shields v Norton & Stockton Ancients
    10 CMB v Bolton Wanderers
    11 Liverpool Marshalls Feds v Mossley Hill
    12 Steel City Wanderers v Morecambe
    13 Sheffield United v Leeds United
    14 Newcastle United v Carlisle United
    15 Redditch United v Solihull Moors
    16 Sporting Khalsa v Lye Town
    17 The New Saints v Shrewsbury Town
    18 Eastwood v Coventry Sphinx
    19 Long Eaton United v Leicester City Ladies
    20 Bedworth United v Birmingham & West Midlands
    21 Radcliffe Olympic v Loughborough Foxes
    22 Loughborough Students v Brereton Town
    23 Burton Albion v Nettleham
    24 Milton Keynes Dons v Actonians
    25 Cambridge City v Ipswich Town
    26 Maidenhead United v Luton Town
    27 Cambridge United v Norwich City
    28 Peterborough Northern Star v Acle United
    29 Harlow Town v Denham United
    30 Wymondham Town v Newmarket Town
    31 Enfield Town v AFC Sudbury
    32 Godalming Town v Haringey Borough
    33 Ashford Town (Middx) v London Kent Football United
    34 AFC Dunstable v Eastbourne Town
    35 New London Lionesses v Parkwood Rangers
    36 Leyton Orient v Billericay Town
    37 Hassocks v Stevenage
    38 Bedford v Royston Town
    39 Chesham United v Whyteleafe
    40 AFC Wimbledon v Woodley United or Alton
    41 Cheltenham Town v Southampton Saints
    42 FC Chippenham v Basingstoke Town
    43 Poole Town v Plymouth Argyle
    44 St Nicholas v Keynsham Town
    45 Downend Flyers v Buckland Athletic
    46 Winchester City Flyers v Southampton
    47 Forest Green Rovers v Larkhall Athletic
    48 Brislington v Torquay United

    Ties to be played on Sunday 8 October

    Comment


      #27
      www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41406980

      Confirmed: only full time professional clubs allowed in WSL1 next season. Teams will have to apply for licences.

      Comment


        #28
        This is the third rejig of the top league(s) in five seasons. Several times the clubs have been asked to draw up long-term projects in order to acquire their 'licences', but it's impossible to know what is working and what is not because the FA keeps fannying around with the structure.

        This decision to move to a full-time league is clearly driven by the petrodollar clubs who have invested wads of money only to find tv audiences are not enthralled by watching them win 7-0 each week against opponents who have to pay for their own petrol. More full-time teams should mean more competitive games, which – with a likely salary cap and (Brexit-aided?) limits on foreign signings – is also supposed to boost the national team. International tournaments are where the FA, probably correctly, envisages it can draw mass audiences. So this is very much a top-down initiative.

        If it succeeds, it is going to benefit a very small number of big clubs, broadly corresponding to the top men's premier league teams: I see West Ham are going to apply for a full-time licence, fresh off a 4-0 defeat by Chichester City and a 6-0 humbling by Charlton Athletic, from the cellar of the third tier of the women's game; and I've seen rumours that Manchester “women are not part of our brand” United might also be in the mix.

        The rest of the pyramid? It will no longer be possible to gain promotion to the top flight. The poaching of promising players from lower down the ladder – already a big issue – will intensify as Super League squads grow. Swathes of the country will have no top-tier team, and the folks that live there no prospect of getting to watch one.

        And there's still no sign of a policy to prevent owners from pulling the plug on their women's team when they feel like it.

        More immediately we now have, for a second time this year, a competition that is practically inconsequential. Whether your team wins WSL2, or finishes in the Super League's 'relegation' places, it doesn't matter. It's all about the licence bid. Results on the field do not count. Then why should anyone bother to play, to coach, to watch? The FA doesn't seem to have an answer to that question.

        My teams, Portsmouth and Reading, have both made noises about applying for a full-time licence. Probably neither would earn it on merit (Reading are among the favourites for relegation from WSL1). I'd love to see 'my' women get the chance to earn a living from football, rather than having to pay to play, but would any of the current roster be good enough? And would I be as involved in cheering for a squad made up of players poached from teams whose power-point presentation went down less well with the FA?

        One team that does deserve to be playing in the top flight is Yeovil, which has won its promotions on merits, and attracts some of the biggest crowds in the sport. But it doesn't have the funds to go full-time. I'm going to try to watch them at Huish Park this season, while I can. I sense I'll be looking at the end of an era.

        tl;dr: fuck the FA.

        Comment


          #29
          laverte! I've not seen you in ages.

          Which isn't to say you've not been around but it's good to see you.

          Comment


            #30
            Thanks. I do still pop by, especially when prodded by the FA.

            Here's Fara Williams' pretty goal against Liverpool from Friday night.

            Comment


              #31
              First round proper, Sunday 12 November at 1pm

              Alnwick Town Juniors v Burnley
              Liverpool Marshalls Feds v Bolton Wanderers
              Hull City v Steel City Wanderers
              Norton & Stockton Ancients v Chorley
              Hartlepool United v West Didsbury & Chorlton
              Newcastle United v Sheffield United
              Brighouse Town v Chester-Le-Street Town
              Bedworth United v The New Saints
              Redditch United v Loughborough Foxes
              Nettleham v Loughborough Students
              Sporting Khalsa v Eastwood CFC
              Cambridge United v Long Eaton United
              Enfield Town v Wymondham Town
              Harlow Town v Royston Town
              Stevenage v Acle United
              Ipswich Town v Leyton Orient
              Ashford Town (Middx) v Milton Keynes Dons
              Chesham United v New London Lionesses
              AFC Wimbledon v Godalming Town
              AFC Dunstable v Luton Town
              Larkhall Athletic v Southampton
              Buckland Athletic v Brislington
              Plymouth Argyle v Basingstoke Town
              Southampton Saints & v Keynsham Town
              Last edited by Kevin S; 17-10-2017, 12:09.

              Comment


                #32
                I should add that normal service is in operation in WSL1, with Chelsea and Man City both on three wins from three.

                Comment


                  #33
                  Reading's Fara Williams scores directly from a kick off in their win over Arsenal.
                  https://twitter.com/ReadingFCWomen/s...25756886937602

                  Comment


                    #34
                    She's a one-woman goal of the season competition.

                    Comment


                      #35
                      I was at St Andrews yesterday for Birmingham City v Doncaster Rovers Belles... decent game. Finished 3-2 to City and Birmingham had the majority of the chances, but pleasing to see the Belles keep at it, where in the past they've sometimes rolled over after going behind to FAWSL1 opposition. Had Birmingham not equalised on first half stoppage time to make it 1-1, might've been a different outcome.

                      This Belles squad probably needs another season before they look likely to go up... which is a shame, because by then they won't be able to afford to and will once again have been leapfrogged by some men's-club-bankrolled big name, making it all ultimately pointless, and they'll lose their better players. Thanks, FA. For the good of the game and that.

                      Comment


                        #36
                        A dick move, from Watford.

                        http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/f...-a8044106.html

                        Comment


                          #37
                          Arsenal are shipping out Jodie Taylor. She's off to play in the NWSL for Seattle Reign. But in the meantime they've sent her off to Australia to play in Melbourne. Judging from the comments on this, it seems her defence of Mark Sampson has caused serious unrest in the Arsenal camp. Seattle fans on Twitter are very divided about signing her.

                          Comment


                            #38
                            Here are the FA Cup results:


                            Plymouth Argyle LFC (walkover) v Basingstoke Town LFC (withdrew)
                            Hull City LFC 4 - 1 Steel City Wanderers LFC
                            Liverpool Marshalls Feds LFC 1 - 0 Bolton Wanderers LFC
                            Norton & Stockton Ancients LFC 0 - 4 Chorley LFC
                            Farsley Celtic Ladies 6 - 4 West Didsbury & Chorlton LFC
                            Brighouse Town LFC 6 - 1 Chester-Le-Street Town LFC
                            Redditch United Ladies FC 2 - 4 Loughborough Foxes LFC
                            Cambridge United Women's FC 0 - 1 Long Eaton United LFC
                            Enfield Town LFC 3 - 2 Wymondham Town LFC
                            Stevenage LFC 4 - 1 Acle United LFC
                            Ashford Town (Middx) LFC 0 - 6 Milton Keynes Dons LFC
                            Chesham United LFC 1 - 2 New London Lionesses LFC
                            Alnwick Town Juniors LFC 0 - 4 Burnley FC Ladies
                            Newcastle United LFC 3 - 0 Sheffield United LFC
                            Bedworth United LFC 0 - 2 The New Saints LFC
                            Nettleham LFC 3 - 0 Loughborough Students LFC
                            Sporting Khalsa LFC 5 - 1 Eastwood Ladies CFC
                            Harlow Town Ladies FC 2 - 1 Royston Town LFC
                            Ipswich Town LFC 4 - 2 Leyton Orient WFC
                            AFC Wimbledon Ladies 5 - 0 Godalming Town Ladies FC
                            AFC Dunstable Ladies 0 - 4 Luton Town LFC
                            Larkhall Athletic LFC 2 - 3 Southampton Women FC
                            Buckland Athletic LFC 1 - 4 Brislington LFC
                            Southampton Saints LFC 1 - 3 Keynsham Town LFC

                            Comment


                              #39
                              Women's FA Cup, second round proper

                              Ties to be played Sunday 3 December

                              Middlesbrough v Farsley Celtic
                              Sporting Khalsa v New Saints
                              Derby County v Hull City
                              Huddersfield Town v West Bromwich Albion
                              Nettleham v Liverpool Marshall Feds
                              Nottingham Forest v Newcastle United
                              Bradford City v Long Eaton United
                              Blackburn Rovers v Loughborough Foxes
                              AFC Fylde v Guiseley AFC
                              Stoke City v Burnley
                              Brighouse Town v Wolverhampton Wanderers
                              Chorley v Leicester City
                              Keynsham Town v Southampton
                              MK Dons v Cardiff City
                              Lewes v Enfield Town
                              Charlton Athletic v Queens Park Rangers
                              Gillingham v Plymouth Argyle or Basingstoke
                              Brislington v Swindon Town
                              AFC Wimbledon v Portsmouth
                              New London Lionesses v Crystal Palace
                              Luton Town v Harlow Town
                              Coventry United v West Ham United
                              Chichester City v C & K Basildon
                              Stevenage v Ipswich Town

                              Comment


                                #40
                                Cheers, will probably pencil Charlton v QPR in the diary, in case I'm too hungover to get to Oxford for the Belles' FAWSL game.

                                Anyone know what the story with New London Lionesses is? - breakaway group from Millwall, or just a coincidental choice of name?

                                Comment


                                  #41
                                  They appear to be independent; the About Us part of their site suggests they have only been going for two years.
                                  https://www.newlondonlionessesfc.com/club
                                  They are also - perhaps unwittingly after googling for blue lions related to football - appropriating a trademark of an organisation estimated to be worth $1.7 billion. We'll say no more about that though.
                                  Last edited by Kevin S; 22-11-2017, 13:42.

                                  Comment


                                    #42
                                    Women’s FA Cup 5th Round Draw

                                    Ties to be played on Sunday 18th February


                                    Chichester V Liverpool
                                    Durham V Plymouth/Leicester City WFC
                                    Sunderland V Aston Villa
                                    Lewes V Everton
                                    Cardiff V Charlton
                                    Birmingham V Man City
                                    Arsenal V Millwall
                                    Chelsea V Doncaster Belles

                                    Comment


                                      #43
                                      Well the Belles' FA Cup dream was nice whilst it lasted.

                                      Comment


                                        #44
                                        Only just noticed that Arsenal v Liverpool was on a Facebook stream. Bah. Couple of minutes to go, Arsenal three up.
                                        https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...80805138628010

                                        Comment


                                          #45
                                          Women's FA Cup quarter final draw
                                          Ties to be played Sunday 18 March

                                          Sunderland v Man City
                                          Liverpool v Chelsea
                                          Arsenal v Charlton
                                          Durham v Everton

                                          This year, for the first time, the BBC will be showing both semi finals live - one on a main channel and one on the red button, I believe.

                                          Comment


                                            #46
                                            Tonight's WSL match between Birmingham and Man City will be live on Facebook here from 1945:
                                            https://www.facebook.com/FAWSL/videos/1847312655310575/

                                            The two sides also met on Sunday in the FA Cup; Manchester City won 1-3 after extra time.
                                            Last edited by Kevin S; 21-02-2018, 14:21.

                                            Comment


                                              #47
                                              I was at Belles' latest annual fifth round FA Cup defeat to Chelsea on Sunday.

                                              The difference between the top end FAWSL1 teams and the top FAWSL2 sides is really starting to bite now. Belles hung in well 'til half-time to be only 1-0 down at the break; they were a whisker away from an equaliser in the second half only for Chelsea to go down the other end and double their lead, and then it was just a matter of how many they scored.

                                              The Belles can't - and never will be able to - hang on to their better players because they can't go anywhere from their division. So the top teams hoover them up (see Millie Bright, Mary Earps, Kasia Lipka, Beth England, Courtney Sweetman-Kirk) and the Belles and other FAWSL2 sides have to blood through teenagers. And if those teenagers are any good, they'll naturally want to progress, and as they can't do it at their own clubs who can't be promoted, they will be duly hoovered up by the FAWSL1 sides.

                                              The future of women's football in this country for anyone who looks beyond England, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool really is fucking bleak.

                                              Comment


                                                #48
                                                I think I'm a dissenting voice: I can see the logic to this. Only so many clubs can afford to be full-time professional clubs. We've had a structure like this in the men's game before, with the Football League elections of the past. That effectively marked out the divide between the professional and the part-time clubs.

                                                Now the men's game can support over 100 professional teams. There are teams in the sixth tier with four-figure attendances. It makes sense not to have a barrier between tiers 4 and 5 because the difference between the sides is not as great as it once was. So yes, teams can go all the way up and down the men's pyramid now, and it's a wonderful thing.

                                                But you still get poaching. Fleetwood somehow came across an international-quality striker once upon a time. Did he try to take them all the way up the pyramid? No - he went to Leicester, earned millions of pounds, and won the Premier League. Is that bleak for Fleetwood? Is it any different from how football has always been?

                                                At the moment there aren't the resources in the game to support lots of full-time women's teams in England. Even the US only has nine of them. (Should there be the resources? is a whole other question and, given the money the men's teams and broadcasters have available the answer is surely yes.) If the FA can get enough clubs to commit to running full-time professional women's teams then that gives young players something to aim at. Pick up the game as a youth, play amateur football, in the WPL if you're good enough and hope to get scouted by a pro team. And then as the pro teams improve by playing each other and tweaking their squads, yes, they might win the WCL and England might win the World Cup. And if the 21 year old who Arsenal's scouts spotted playing for Ipswich against Crystal Palace when she was 18 is on the pitch, then there's your story that gets thousands more girls putting on football boots.

                                                (edit - there could even be a drafting process, with amateur players directly applying to the WSL for trials each year)
                                                Last edited by Kevin S; 22-02-2018, 12:49.

                                                Comment


                                                  #49
                                                  The difference for teams like the Belles, and indeed the others in FAWSL2, is that 'til now they could've held onto their players for a little longer as there was chance for those players to progress with their club up to the top flight. In the past decade players have moved on from Doncaster, and but least we got to see them playing for our club before they did so. Now that can't happen, so naturally they move on quicker to progress. Was losing Vardy bleak for Fleetwood? No, because they could still try and follow him up the divisions.

                                                  The question the FA haven't addressed is once you remove the chance for clubs to progress from their own division, or compete in the cups, how do you expect those clubs to retain the interest of spectators, or sponsors - especially when those same spectators and sponsors have already seen two and a half recent seasons rendered effectively meaningless by the FA's pissing about with formats - and without those things, how do they expand the professionalism they want without relying on the money of big name men's teams?

                                                  The FA continue to run under the idea that the ultimate goal for everyone is seeing England women do well at a major tournament. Some of us just want to support our local team and see local girls and women given the chance to represent their community at the highest stage. That shouldn't be dependent on someone else's wallet.

                                                  Comment


                                                    #50
                                                    Meant to thank you for that, UP.

                                                    The FA announced the names of the leagues for next season. The renaming of the WPL to the WNL is a sensible move; the word Premier has been a misnomer since the WSL came along in the first place. The new naming is quite reminiscent of the Rugby League set up (in fact if they'd chosen the name 'National Conference' instead of 'National League' it would be pretty much identical) - another sport where there has been much to-ing and fro-ing about whether or not the top flight should be a closed shop.

                                                    Tier 1 – FA Women’s Super League
                                                    Tier 2 – FA Women’s Championship
                                                    Tier 3 – FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division / Southern Premier Division
                                                    Tier 4 – FA Women’s National League Division 1 North / Midlands / South East / South West

                                                    Licenses to participate in tier 1 and tier 2 were granted in December to current FA Women’s Super League (FA WSL) clubs who applied.

                                                    The application process has now moved to an open application phase where applications from clubs outside of The FA WSL or from those who didn’t apply in the first phase are being accepted for both tiers until Friday 9 March 2018.

                                                    Comment

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