Facebook post about daughter’s struggle with dyslexia showed one of Sunday’s assistant referees at Wembley she is not alone When Sunday’s Women’s FA Cup final assistant referee Sophie Dennington heard her phone pinging while she was in a strength and conditioning session, she was curious but ignored it. Once finished, she saw three missed calls from her mum, Shelley, and called straight away. “She says: ‘Soph, I posted something on Facebook. All it is is a little grassroots page. I’ve seen loads of kids posting that they’re referees and starting their GCSEs. Posts normally get three or four li ..read more

The outgoing manager deserves another WSL title but her replacement will inherit a lot of quality young players Many will look at Emma Hayes’s 12 years as Chelsea manager and think her lasting legacy is six – potentially seven – Women’s Super League titles, five FA Cups and two League Cups but for me her impact has been felt far beyond west London. By turning Chelsea into the benchmark for others to follow, she has forced up standards throughout the women’s game. People forget that the early years were difficult for Hayes, with Chelsea narrowly avoiding relegation in her first full season, but ..read more

Spurs manager Robert Vilahamn talks about his hopes of ending the season in north London with silverware Moving the Goalposts: sign up for our free newsletter “It doesn’t end if we don’t win,” says Robert Vilahamn before his Tottenham side play Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Sunday. It is that mindset and the aura around the club that has fans so excited, because, at the end of the Swede’s first season in charge, it feels as if there is so much more to come. If anything, as Vilahamn points out, reaching a Cup final so soon into his tenure and after a relegation battle la ..read more

Faye and Suzy are joined by Anita Asante and Jenna Schillaci to round up a dramatic weekend in the WSL, check in on what’s happening lower down the pyramid and preview the Women’s FA Cup final Chelsea lost, then Manchester City lost then Chelsea won – that’s the week in a nutshell. After Emma Hayes waved the white flag on Wednesday, by Sunday she declared “it’s not over!” The panel also preview Sunday’s FA Cup final between Manchester United and Tottenham ..read more

The competition latched on to the Matildas’ success but some feel that more could have been done to move the game forward Moving the Goalposts: sign up for our free newsletter Was the 2023-24 A-League Women (ALW) season the best in the competition’s history? Possibly. There were certainly enough standout games, players, narrative, and intrigue to provide enough fuel to carry a long pub debate. What can be said more definitively, though, is that the campaign just concluded with Sydney FC edging Melbourne City to win a record fifth title was one of, if not the most consequential since the leag ..read more

Two female WSL managers are leaving for reasons of work-life balance. When it comes to sacrifice, it’s not the same for men Famously, when Emma Hayes was agonising last autumn over whether to leave Chelsea and take the US national team job, she sought the advice of her son, Harry, at bedtime. “Let’s go to the USA, Mummy!” came the reply, a moment that Hayes later described as the “endorsement” she needed. And so we must at least brook the extremely funny possibility that an entire era of modern women’s football – from this season’s enthralling WSL title race, to the trajectory of Chelsea, Lyon ..read more

Chelsea made hay to reignite their title hope while Manchester City ran out of steam against the Gunners Manchester City’s second-half collapse against Arsenal seemed unthinkable at half time. City’s pressing had been relentless, forcing errors from their opponents and denying them room to breathe, let alone move. That pressure dissipated after the interval, however, with City manager Gareth Taylor blaming “a mixture of energy [levels dipping] and a dropping off to protect what you have got.” Maintaining that intensity for 90 minutes against a top rival is never going to be easy, but the issue ..read more

Guro Reiten scores four as Chelsea grab goal difference edge Liverpool 1-0 Manchester United; West Ham 1-1 Leicester Guro Reiten’s four-goal salvo helped Chelsea turn up the heat on Women’s Super League leaders Manchester City with a 8-0 thrashing of Bristol City on a dramatic day when the title race was blown open. A midweek loss for Chelsea at Liverpool put Manchester City in the driving seat, with Emma Hayes saying she thought her side’s challenge was over, but the pacesetters were stunned by Arsenal in a 2-1 home defeat on Sunday. Victory for Gareth Taylor’s team over Arsenal would have ..read more

Updates from the 6.45pm BST kick-off at Kingsmeadow Man City 1-2 Arsenal: Late turnaround shakes up title race Want to share your thoughts? Send Sarah an email Chelsea manager Emma Hayes told Sky: “Of course it is emotional but I have to do my best to make sure I put that at bay until the end of the game because thinking about my life here with these fans and the journey I have had at Kingsmeadow I’d like to think it’s not the end, it’s merely a goodbye and I’ll see you soon.” The title race run-in is as close as ever and here are the fixtures that are left for Chelsea and Manchester City, t ..read more

Arsenal put the Women’s Super League title race on a knife edge and handed Emma Hayes’s Chelsea a lifeline, coming from behind to earn a thrilling 2-1 win away at Manchester City. Stina Blackstenius’s double cancelled out Lauren Hemp’s first-half opener to leave the home team –hoping for their first league title since 2016 – six points clear of Chelsea, who have two games in hand. Goal difference will come into play should Chelsea win their three remaining games and City beat Aston Villa on the final day ..read more