WSL TITLE RACE FRENZY 🏆️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

It’s May 6, 2024. Give us four minutes, we give you everything The Women’s Game.

Happy Monday, TWG readers! Sam here, writing to you after a whirlwind weekend visiting my friends in New Jersey and going to the Gotham vs. North Carolina Courage game live and in person. I admit I had to snooze my alarm a few times this morning, but I am so glad that I had some time with Lynn Williams, Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, and Kelley O’Hara. I stayed in Lynn’s guest bedroom on the most comfortable futon in the world (seriously, will try to find a link for you - I’m not joking, it’s amazing.)

On Friday night, we did some carb-loading at a local Italian restaurant, Porta. On Saturday, Lynn and I crushed Season 3 of Selling the OC before she headed off to her game at Red Bull Arena. I followed closely behind and proceeded to have the most fun going down to the field pregame with my media pass. The entire Gotham organization was extremely hospitable and welcoming, and I was so happy to see them get the win with Lynn scoring the game-winning goal, her first of the season. Of course, the Courage part of me was sad to see NC lose, but I caught up with Ashley Sanchez, Merri Speck, Kerolin, and Ryan Williams a little bit after the game. The Courage will be back, mark my words.

As I recover from the weekend, I am getting ready to record GVFC with Becky Sauerbrunn for your enjoyment tomorrow. And then, big news: on Thursday we have 16-year-old Lily Yohannes joining us on Friendlies. She updates us on her status as a USWNT player, her preference of Marvel or DC, and we talk about what it was like for her to move to the Netherlands at just 10 years old. You can listen to it wherever you get your podcasts, but don’t forget, you can also watch the whole thing on YouTube. Just subscribe to our Youtube channel, womensgamemib.

Have questions that you want Becky, Lynn, and I to answer on an episode? Email me at [email protected].

Love,

Sam

PS: You all asked so WE HAD TO DO IT. We're happy to launch our The Women's Game merch today: shirts, hoodies, longsleeves, and even a mug for your beverage of choice (ours is Olipop). You can use code TWG20 for 20% off your first order at drinkolipop.com/TWG20. Thank you SO MUCH for the support. And just wait till you see what else we've got cooking 👀

I. Emma Hayes plays one last Chelsea home game and ends with a resounding 8-0 win; WSL Title Race is alive heading into final matchday as Arsenal top City 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

a. One minute, league leading Manchester City were cruising courtesy of Lauren Hemp’s strike, the next, they were stunned as Arsenal delivered one of the most sensational comebacks at the death to turn the title-race on its head. Arsenal’s Swedish striker Stina Blackstenius delivered two goals to hand City a 2-1 defeat in their penultimate match of the season. The fact the goals were in the 89th minute and the 92nd minute  made the turnaround all the more jawdropping. City’s loss handed Chelsea a lifeline with three games in hand. 

b. Emma Hayes received a standing ovation at Kingsmeadow as the decorated manager walked out with her five-year-old son Harry to begin her last home match as manager of Chelsea Women. Hayes later told the media she had followed along with City’s shock defeat on the drive to the game, thanks to Lauren James’ commentary!  With the title race alive again, the Blues proceeded to slam a remarkable 8 goals past Bristol City, turning the goal differential in their favor in a single match. Before kick-off, Chelsea had been six points behind and seven goals behind on goal difference. After the 8-0 win, with Norway’s Guro Reiten scoring four goals, Chelsea were suddenly in control of the title race they thought they had let slip when losing sensationally to Liverpool last Wednesday. With two games to go, Hayes had a speech that was borderline Churchillian for the delirious Chelsea fans post-game. 🤣

The Title Comes Down to this: Chelsea have two games to play, one at 6th place Tottenham who are playing in this Sunday’s FA Cup Final vs. Manchester United - and one on the final matchday of the season, May 18th, against Man United. If they win both and maintain a better goal difference than City, they will be Champions again. 

More: ‘Blackstenius hits dramatic double as Arsenal shake City’s WSL title hopes’

Also: Two-time Chelsea player of the year, 30-year-old Fran Kirby, has announced she’ll depart Chelsea at the end of this season. Kirby leaves after nine years with the Blues as Chelsea’s record goalscorer, having notched 115 goals in 205 games. She departs with 12 trophies including the WSL title, FA Cup and Continental Cup. Her emotional farewell video is heart-wrenching to watch.

II. NWSL Week 7-8: Portland on fire 🌹; USA’s Rodman and Williams first goals of ‘24 🇺🇲; Barbra Banda continues to impress 🇿🇲

a. Portland collected their fourth straight win of ‘24 against Washington Spirit on Saturday after a historically poor start to their season (1 draw 3 losses in first four games), with a banger from the pride of Penn State, Sam Coffey, and a second from Canada’s living legend, Christine Margaret Sinclair. As The Athletic’s Alex Abnos pointed out, Sinclair’s been working magic since before many of her teammates were born. The Thorns now sit a remarkable fourth in the standings. What a difference a coaching shake-up and a few weeks can make. 🌹

b. Zambia’s Barbra Banda, who made history as the second-highest women’s football transfer fee in the world when she signed for Orlando this March, has made an immediate mark on the NWSL after her much-anticipated debut on April 19. After 4 games and just 3 starts, including two starts this past week, Banda has registered 4 goals and 2 assists. Her latest came last evening in a 1-0 victory over Racing Louisville and last Wednesday, when she bagged a brace in a 4-1 win over North Carolina Courage. Orlando now sits at the top of the NWSL table as one of just two undefeated teams alongside Kansas City Current. 🇿🇲

c. USWNT forwards Trinity Rodman and TWG’s own Lynn Williams collected their first goals of 2024 for the Spirit and Gotham respectively over the course of the past week. Rodman also collected a league leading fourth assist, and is now tied with rookie teammate Croix Bethune for most in the league. (ICYMI: Sam was on the scene at Gotham this week with reporting from the stadium and in the press room) 

III. This Weekend is FA Cup Final Weekend! 🏆️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Next Sunday at a sold out Wembley Stadium in London, Manchester United and Tottenham are set to face-off in a historic 54th edition of the Women’s FA Cup Final. While Manchester United will appear in their second straight (and second all-time) final after defeating Chelsea in a seismic semi final clash, Tottenham will make their first-ever appearance in the FA Cup trophy match. Neither team has ever lifted the prized domestic trophy, ensuring a first-time winner no matter what. (Sunday, May 12, 9:30 AM ET, ESPN+)

IV. US withdraws 2027 World Cup bid 🏆😢

a. The US Soccer Federation has withdrawn their bid to co-host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, and will instead focus on bidding for the 2031 edition. The US originally submitted a joint bid with Mexico for the looming edition, which follows just one year after the 2026 Men’s World Cup is hosted stateside alongside Mexico and Canada. US Soccer announced their 2031 bid will pledge to provide equal investment as the men’s tournament, maximizing commercial opportunities for the women’s game. 🇺🇲🇲🇽 

b. With the official host set to be confirmed on May 17, there are two remaining bids in the running. That includes a bid from Brazil as well as a joint plan from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. 🇧🇷🇩🇪🇳🇱🇧🇪

More: ‘US, Mexico withdraw bid to host 2027 World Cup, focus on 2031’

Also: Sam and Rog discuss the US withdrawing from their bid to co-host the 2027 World Cup. 

V. News and Notes 📰🗞️

a. Zambia could be removed from the 2024 Olympics if FIFA intervenes, enacting punishment on the federation as the president is linked to alleged money-laundering. 🇿🇲 

b. Kelley O’Hara has announced her retirement from football. The two-time FIFA World Cup Champion and Olympic gold medalist will hang up her boots at the close of 2024 as a true American original and one of the best to play the game. Watch: The Making of an American Football Hero, and Sam’s tribute. 🇺🇲

c. PSG lifted the fourth Coupe de France in club history this weekend with a win over Fleury, with dynamic Dutch winger Lieke Martens scoring the lone goal in the affair. 🇫🇷

d. In Germany, Bayern München clinched the Frauen Bundesliga title for the second straight season with a 2-1 victory over Leverkusen. England’s Georgia Stanway opened the scoring in the 18th minute with Germany’s Linda Dallmann providing the second blow in the 27th minute. 

e. Spanish giants Barcelona collected their fifth straight Liga F title over the weekend. The celebration looked like the most fun wedding of all time.  🇪🇸

VI. Parting Shots 🥃

Sports Business Journal reporter, Mollie Cahillane, captured the essence of this moment in women’s sport as she told the Business of Women’s Sports Conference in April: "I'm just going to say it. The viewership for the women's [NCAA Basketball] tournament was 4 million more than the men's ... and you're getting 4 million more viewers for a quarter of the price. It's just smart business."

VII. Good Reads

a. From Louise Taylor in The Guardian, ‘Project ACL: WSL clubs to take part in pioneering injuries research’

b. From Calvin Chikenge in The Guardian, ‘Why Zambia’s sharp-shooting Copper Queens won’t leave the military behind’

c. From Jeff Kassouf in ESPN, ‘The NWSL has more billionaires than ever. So what?’

d. From Julia Ranney in The Guardian, ‘How the NWSL became the world’s most innovative league’

e. From Jelisa Castrodale in Food and Wine, ‘Olipop released a Barbie-inspired soda, and it’s reportedly outselling eggs’

f. From Emma Sanders in The BBC, ‘Women’s football clubs to receive guidelines for supporting mums’