Four Four Two - UK (2020-11)

56 November 2020 FourFourTwo

knownforwinning.That’snotspecifictothe

menorwomen’steams.”

TheToffeesreshuffledtheirmanagement

structurebackinMarchtofurtherintegrate

thewomen’sside.ChiefexecutiveDenise

Barrett-Baxendalenowdoublesasthechair

ofEvertonWomen,whiledirectorSasha

Ryazantsevhasbecometheclub’smanaging

director,andSarvarIsmailov– nephewof

RussianoligarchAlisherUsmanov– became

thewomen’sfirstsportingandcommercial

director.TheirplayersusethesameFinch

Farmfacilitiesasthemen,andinFebruary,

EvertonfinallyopenedtheirownWaltonHall

Parkstadium,onemilefromGoodisonPark.

Uptothatpoint,theMerseysidershadbeen

hostinggamesatSouthport,some 16 miles

away.“Inthematchesagainstthelikesof

ManchesterUnitedandCity,wehadfewer

homefansthanawayones,”lamentsLittle.

Theimpactofthosechangeswasinstant.

InAugust,Evertonpulledoffa majorcoup

bylandingMontpellierandFranceforward

Gauvin,followingmonthsofnegotiations.It

wasa landmarkdealfortheToffees,shoved

overthelinebyIsmailov.

LittletellsFFT, “Weidentifiedprettyquickly

thatif wewantedtobea teamthatcould

challengeforthethirdChampionsLeague

spot [a new addition to the WSL in 2020-21],

we needed an out-and-out No.9. But, as in

the men’s game, strikers cost money. Around

April, the deal was looking unlikely. But now

we have a sporting director in Sarvar who is

100 per cent committed to making this team

competitive. He was so persistent in getting

a deal done. While the fee was quite high for

Everton – we wouldn’t necessarily pay one,

usually – it felt relatively fair in the long run.

She’s on a four-year contract.”

It felt a little better than ‘fair’ to Little & Co

during Gauvin’s full debut last month, when

she headed home a second-half winner to

knock WSL champions Chelsea out of the FA

Cup quarter-finals. The league’s established

elite will have to get used to the idea of not

having everything their own way.

“Having conversations with the key figures

within the club on a weekly basis, sometimes

daily, has allowed us to put plans in place,”

notes Little. “It’s excelled our strategy. We

were originally looking to challenge over the

next three to five seasons, but now we’re

looking at one to two.”

BRIGHTON IN BLOOM

The women’s transfer market is undoubtedly

shifting. Soon, moves such as Gauvin’s switch

to Everton may be more common, as English

clubs continue to invest time and energy into

their female setups.

But, unsurprisingly for a sport that the FA

banned for half a century from 1921 to 1971,

there’s a lot of catching up to do. According

to FIFA’s 2019 Global Transfer Market Report,

only 3.7 per cent of international transfers

(that is, those to other countries) involved

WSL

“ PEOPLE ARE WAKInG

UP TO THE FACT THAT

WOMEn’S FOOTBALL

IS AT A HIGH LEVEL”

“Going professional formed part of our
Gameplan For Growth in wanting to develop
a successful England side and transform the
game,” Kelly Simmons MBE, the FA’s director
for women’s football, explains to FFT. “From
our perspective, it was about helping to take
our game to the next level. It was giving girls
the chance to be professional, which they’d
never had before. It was something I could
only have dreamed of when I was sent off to
play netball and hockey at school.”
Some clubs didn’t need the nudge to go pro.
Manchester City were the first to relaunch,
in January 2014, committing to giving their
female players access to the same facilities
and club resources as the men. They’ve led
the way ever since.
“This club was founded with community
roots, so it always felt right,” reveals Gavin
Makel, City’s head of women’s football. “The
owners have always been really supportive
and feel it’s the next area of growth for the
game overall. The next challenge is sustaining
that, then going one better. I want us to be
considered pioneers – not solely of women’s
football, but women’s sport in general.”
Everton’s Aaron Little sings from the same
hymn sheet. “I’ve always felt that investment
comes in a couple of forms,” he tells FFT. “In
the women’s game it’s always referred to as
money, and while of course you need that to
run a side, you also need investment in other
areas of the club. There’s no point bringing
in France’s No.9 if you don’t have a sports
science team that’s good enough to support
her. The message here is the same: Everton’s
target is to win trophies and be a club that is

Above Gauvin was

a coup for Everton

Below Brighton

recruited Kaagman

this summer after

extensive scouting