Women's Super League is here – and it already has winners and losers

England’s top football league is fully professional for the first time, but some clubs have suffered from the new rules

Women’s football in England has quietly recorded a series of landmarks this year: the FA Cup final was attended by a record 45,000 people while nearly 2m people tuned in to watch the game live on the BBC, and Manchester United’s women’s team debuted to record crowds.

This weekend the English game passes its biggest milestone yet, when its top division becomes fully professional. From the reigning champions, Chelsea, to newcomers Brighton and West Ham, the teams competing in the Women’s Super League will for the first time be facing opponents who are all paid full-time salaries and train as long and hard as they do.

Continue reading...