WSL Hall of Fame to mark league's 10-year anniversary

The Football Association (FA) has announced a Women's Super League Hall of Fame as it celebrates ten years of the competition.

A panel of experts is coming up with a list of nominees and the first footballers to be named in the hall of fame will be announced before the 2021-22 season.

The Hall of Fame will include players who have made a big impact while playing in the league during the last decade.

Tuesday 13 April marks the ten year anniversary of the league's first ever match, a 1-0 victory for Arsenal over Chelsea, a game watched by 2,510 fans at the home of non-league side Tooting and Mitcham FC in the London borough of Merton.

Eight years later and a WSL game was being watched twenty five miles across town, this time in front of a record 38,262 people, as Arsenal's women beat Spurs' women in the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, one of Europe's elite grounds.

It proved just how far the women's game had come and how its popularity continues to grow.

The FA's director of the women's professional game, Kelly Simmons is leading the panel creating the Hall of Fame and said: "I think it should be a source of pride, where we've got to, for everybody who's made that happen.

"Certainly I think since the (2019) Women's World Cup particularly, the development of the WSL has absolutely turbo-charged.

"We saw record attendances pre-Covid, and we can't wait to have fans back next season to continue to build on the great work by the clubs to really embrace and engage fans," she said.

The league, which now has 12 clubs, went fully professional in 2018 and although the coronavirus pandemic has prevented crowds watching teams play in iconic stadiums such as Old Trafford for the first time, a new broadcast deal means the women's game should have a bright future.

Last month the FA announced WSL matches will be shown on BBC One, BBC Two and Sky Sports over the next three seasons, clubs in the division - and in the Women's Championship - will receive a percentage of money from the deal.

"A couple of weeks ago we announced what is a landmark deal, without doubt I think, for women's sport and women's football with our new partnership with Sky and the BBC. So I think there is an awful lot to be proud of.

"We've been able to attract some of the world's best players alongside our best English talent, which has made it fantastic to watch and fantastic for those fans.

"That said, the work does not stop here, we've got lots to do. We want it to be the best women's football league in the world."

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