Second-Placed Chelsea Declared Women’s Super League Champions, Relegated Liverpool “Disappointed”

Chelsea Women are champions of England despite lying second in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League table after The Football Association, following a majority decision by its Board, decided to employ a basic points-per-game method to decide who would win the women’s soccer league title in a season terminated due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Chelsea joins Arsenal as the only three-time winners of the modern league which was created in 2011. League leaders Manchester City, had won more points than any other team but having played one match more, had a lower points average per game.  This method contrasts with that employed in France’s Division 1 Féminine where the league standings at the point the season was stopped were taken to be the final positions despite the fact that leaders Olympique Lyonnais still had to play away to second-place Paris Saint-Germain. Manchester City said that “whilst disappointed that we are unable to complete the season, we understand the complexities of the situation and support The FA’s decision”.

Reigning champions Arsenal Women, in spite of having more home games to play than their rivals above them, were classified in third place and therefore out of the two Champions League qualifying positions. Already through to the quarter-finals of this season’s tournament, Arsenal’s only hope now of playing in the lucrative competition next season is to qualify as holders by going on to win it.

As they press on with “Project Restart”, their plan to finish the men’s Premier League season, The FA decided to terminate their women’s league season on 25 May, “following overwhelming feedback from the clubs, the decision to bring an end to the 2019/20 season was made in the best interest of the women’s game”. Spain is the only other major European country to cancel their women’s season while looking to resume their men’s campaign. Last week Germany became the first country to restart its women’s season financed by money generated by the top four men’s clubs. Yesterday, the Italian FA committed €700,000 from the €21m generated by its Salva Calcio (Save Football) fund to ensure their top flight women’s clubs can finish the current season.

It has taken The FA ten days to come to a decision over the final league positions. In a statement, they claimed “all decisions were made and finalized by The FA Board – and were based on the most appropriate sporting outcome for the 2019/20 season. The FA Board considered and analysed all of the recommendations made to them by the FA Women’s Super League & FA Women’s Championship Board, which were collated after full and thorough consultation process with the clubs”.

Two-time former champions Liverpool Women find themselves relegated to the second tier, the FA Women’s Championship as a result of today’s decision. In a statement they declared themselves “disappointed by today’s decision on how the 2019-20 Women’s Super League season has been concluded. As proud founder members of the WSL, our fans greatly value our position within the league and we hoped for the opportunity to secure our status on the pitch”.

They believed they were ready to resume the season. “As a club we believe we would have been able to meet the operational and financial obligations associated with a return to play, once detailed drafts and accurate protocols had been shared with clubs”.

The FA claimed that “supporting the welfare of the clubs and players will continue to be our primary concern throughout this process, which also involved a robust and thorough examination of the logistical, operational and financial challenges that the game currently faces”. Within two days of the decision, eleventh-placed Birmingham City joined fifth-placed Reading FC in furloughing its squad and financing 80% of their wages through Government grants.

In a statement, Birmingham City said “it is no secret that football, in general, faces considerable operational and financial challenges due to Coronavirus. As a consequence of this and the premature end of the WSL season, the Club has opted to apply to the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in respect of Blues Women players, except those on rehabilitation programmes. This is to help protect our players and ensure that when we come through this pandemic we will be in a stronger position to move forward. The Club’s commitment to Blues Women remains”.

Kelly Simmons, FA Director of the Women’s Professional Game, said today “our commitment to the women’s game is unwavering and we will continue to work closely with the clubs to ensure we come back even stronger for the 2020/21 campaign”.