Friday Ramble: Two up, two down
The FA has announced a much-needed change to the women's football pyramid for next season. Plus, I answer your questions...
I wrote extensively a few weeks ago about my thoughts on expanding the BWSL and BWC to aid the development of the leagues and to bring up both North and South champions from the FA WNL, and in the midst of writing this week’s Friday Ramble it appears The FA hasn’t listened, partly.
From next season, both regional champions will be promoted to the Championship, with two teams going down, adding some extra peril to the second tier, but still no expansion of either league.
Why the continuous avoidance of expanding either the BWSL or the BWC is unknown, but it’s at least a start and a positive step, but holds off any extra games until at least the 2024/25 season.
It does feel somewhat pertinent for me this week though given less than 24 hours ago I was at Watford vs Oxford United at Vicarage Road in a huge game in the southern league.
Watford, it has to be said, were superb, but their dramatic second half comeback and two stunning goals captured the home crowd, which was strong for a Tier 3 game, and showed the quality the lower divisions have to offer.
It did though as Watford celebrated to a chorus of Sweet Caroline with their fans, feel somewhat empty by the fact whoever wins the southern league this season, and it could yet be Oxford or even Ipswich Town, isn’t guaranteed promotion to the Championship.
The more you say it out loud, the more wrong it gets.
At least it is changing, but it may be too late for some teams. Those who suffered from voided leagues during COVID-19 have slipped down the order, with Ipswich in particular being affected in their rise up the pyramid. Now they have only a slim chance of making the national play-off after Watford’s comeback.
The FA WNL Cup final between the Hornets and Nottingham Forest last week was a thriller and could very well be a repeat in the national play-off final next month, and both teams wouldn’t look out of place in the second tier, with Watford looking to bounce back from last season’s heartache.
The fact one of them will have gone through 22 games and won their league with no reward is unacceptable and can’t be changed, but at least sense has finally prevailed for the 2023/24 season.
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Answering your Questions
Michael Scoates
I note the top 2 of the Nations League Finals (excluding France, as the Olympics are in Paris in 2024) qualify for the 2024 Olympics. The Nation's League Finals are also in 2024. Has the risk of burn out been lessened or increased by this new qualifying format?
Hard to say just yet. I prefer it as a qualifying format for the Olympics than the World Cup, and it’s essentially replacing meaningless friendlies with competitive games against teams at a similar level, which teams stretching from England to Luxembourg need to varying degrees, so currently I’m all for it.
Has Leah Williamson got an operation date yet? Haven't seen her post on Instagram for the last few days so like the rest of the planet just hoping she's OK :)
Not a clue, but from experience they would generally happen within a week of the injury, so I would guess so.
This week I saw a suggestion that Women's goalkeepers should be replaced by 15 year old schoolboys to help the game. Is it legal to euthanise trolls? ;)
Well…
My Name Goes Here
News came out a couple of weeks ago that Evie Rabjohn would be joining United from Villa in the summer. United aren't the first club to take advantage of this situation (and they won't be the last) but given there's now more money in the game, especially at the top, should some type of compensation system be in place for clubs losing promising youngsters?
100%. It’s something I’ve mentioned before. At Sheffield United, we lost Lucy Watson to Chelsea last summer and got nothing, and I know even Chelsea felt bad about it, but them’s the rules. The problem is players in the women’s game aren’t on professional deals until they turn 18, so legally no money can be exchanged. Why that is I’m not sure, the game is professional enough now for that to happen and it needs to change soon because those lower down the pyramid are missing out on valuable income for developing players.
Ross
What’s the compromise to come between federations and the ECA? Found it interesting that the NWSLPA negotiated for ALL internationals to be released on June 26 league wide. However that’s one league plus 12 player representatives in negotiation, so it didn't have to drag on & they settled the issue well before the season kicked off... but the ECA represents a lot more than 12 clubs.
Could this get ugly or was the ECA statement this week more than anything just some good PR?
Hard to say right now. I have my own view on what I think SHOULD happen, but that means little. I think the ECA are setting their stall out and saying ‘come on then, what do you have?’ My issue is these windows are set well in advance and I’m sure clubs will have been consulted, so these stance now is dangerous given the timeframe. I completely understand their point, and clubs will always look after clubs. If you’re a club manager, you want your players away as little as possible, if you’re a national team head coach you want them away as much as possible, everyone looks after number one.
The key issue for me is, and I’m not a medical expert, but I don’t think withholding them from going to camp before July 10th is actually healthy. The tournament starts on the 20th, that’s 10 days to meet up, go straight into intense training sessions and games AND fit in a 24-hour flight and the jet lag and acclimatisation that comes with it. Does that sound like a perfect 10 days for a professional athlete?
A sensible outcome would be players being released at the end of June or very start of July, so let’s see if they can all work together.
What you missed
As ever during a normal week, WFC published two big interviews this week and two interesting stories they were to listen to too. Ellie Maybury, USWNT Head of Performance, gave a fascinating insight into working with the number one team in the world, while it was powerful hearing Brooke Chaplen talk about the bone tumour which ended her playing career.
We also published the second ‘My Best XI’ with Sweden legend Lotta Schelin, which was also fascinating to listen to.
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