World Soccer - UK (2020-10)

New season in Europe

These are strange times, but the

transfers of Rose Lavelle and Sam

Mewis to Manchester City still made

major waves. USA internationals

have moved from America’s NWSL to

England’s WSL before, but they have

usually either been winding down their

careers (Carli Lloyd at Manchester City,

Heather O’Reilly at Arsenal), or still

developing it (Crystal Dunn at Chelsea).

Lavelle, 25, is a star, arguably the best

player at the 2019 World Cup. At 27,

Mewis is in her prime, a starter in that

victorious USA side and a winner of

three of the last four NWSL

championships.

The pair’s switch may have been

prompted by the abbreviated NWSL

season, but they will not be back until

after next summer’s Olympics at the

earliest and the choice of destination

is significant. The WSL is fast emerging

as the main rival to the NWSL, with

Chelsea previously luring Australia

icon Sam Kerr across the Atlantic from

Chicago Red Stars. “The WSL is a great

league that keeps getting better every

year,” said Lavelle. “It is attracting a

lot of really great players.”

Part of the draw is the chance to play

at venues such as Wembley. In August,

Man. City took on Chelsea in the first

women’s Community Shield since the

WSL began, as part of a double-header

with the men’s version, Liverpool

v Arsenal – another first.

The deal proved that City, now under

former men’s player Gareth Taylor,

intend to wrest the title back from

Chelsea. They have also signed

England’s Chloe Kelly from Everton,

and brought England full-backs Lucy

Bronze (ex-City) and Alex Greenwood

(ex-United) back to Manchester

from Lyon.

Chelsea have strengthened in

midfield with Melanie Leupolz and

Jessie Fleming, Germany and Canada

internationals respectively. Arsenal, the

other member of WSL’s “Big Three”,

have added Australia’s Lydia Williams

and Steph Catley, and Switzerland duo

Noelle Maritz and Malin Gut. Among the

more notable moves elsewhere, Everton

have invested significantly to bring

in Valerie Gauvin from Montpellier,

England’s Lucy Staniforth has joined

Manchester United from Birmingham

City, and Danielle Carter seeks to revive

her injury-hit career at Reading after

11 years at Arsenal.

Another English striker on the move

isJodie Taylor, who joined Lyon on loan

from partner club OL Reign. She won

her first medal after five minutes,

coming on as a late substitute in the

delayed French Cup final victory over

Paris Saint-Germain. This was settled,

like several games between the teams

• including the 2017 Champions
  League final – by penalties. As in 2017,
  PSG’s goalkeeper missed the crucial
  kick, this time Christiane Endler.
  While Lyon and PSG will again duel
  the French title and Wolfsburg look set
  to maintain supremacy in Germany
  despite Eintracht Frankfurt’s merger
  with FFC Frankfurt, honours in Spain
  and Italy appear less clear-cut. Real
  Madrid’s move into the women’s game
  is complete, having now assumed
  CD Tacon’s name, and they will be
  expected to challenge Barcelona
  and Atletico Madrid.
  Similarly Milan, in their third season
  since buying the licence of Brescia, will
  hope to press triple championsJuventus
  much closer after successive third-place
  finishes. Much-travelled goalscorer
  Natasha Dowie is the marquee signing
  with France’s Laura Agard, Germany’s
  Julia Simic and Denmark’s Caroline
  Rask also joining.
  ACF Fiorentina, who launched the
  new era in Italian women’s football when
  they became the first Serie A club to
  field a female team in 2015, but have
  since been eclipsed byJuventus, have
  also invested. Claudia Neto (Wolfsburg),
  Louise Quinn (Arsenal) and Tessel
  Middag (West Ham) are their notable
  foreign signings. Napoli are back in
  the top flight after winning Serie B but
  the team is not formally associated
  with the men’s club.
  With no Italian clubs in the last
  eight of the Champions League, Calcio
  Femminile Serie A began on August 23,
  a fortnight earlier than the other major
  winter leagues.

Glenn Moore

Women’s Football

World Cup winner...

Lavelle celebrates

scoring against

Thailand at the

2019 finals

New WSL arrival...

Mewis has been a

regular for North

Carolina Courage

“The WSL is a great league that keeps getting better

every year. It is attracting a lot of really great players”

Rose Lavelle

USA internationals and World Cup winners Sam Mewis

and Rose Lavelle are among the many eye-catching

transfers ahead of the 2020-21 campaign