Women's Super League

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Tottenham have confirmed midfielder Maite Oroz has ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee.

The 27-year-old, who has made one substitute appearance in the Women's Super League this season, suffered the injury during Sunday's 3-0 win over Birmingham in the League Cup.

It is the second time she has ruptured her ACL, having also suffered the injury to her left knee when she played for Athletic Club in 2018.

Spurs said the Spaniard would "undergo surgery in the coming weeks".

"Everyone at Tottenham Hotspur wishes Maite a full and speedy recovery," a statement added. "She will be have our love and support every step of the way."

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter

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Former Lioness Izzy Christiansen has been named assistant coach of the England Women's Under-23s squad.

The 34-year-old was capped 31 times for England and represented Birmingham City, Manchester City, Lyon and Everton during her career.

She retired in 2023 after making over 150 appearances in the Women's Super League and will join head coach Emma Coates and assistant Gemma Davies in her new role.

Christiansen's new position is in addition to her job as head coach of Manchester City Women's Under-21s, as well as various roles within media.

Speaking about Christiansen's appointment, Coates told BBC Sport: "Myself and Gemma [Davies] got into coaching really young but we haven't played at the top, top level.

"Izzy adds that angle. She has played in the games [the under-23s are] playing in and her experience speaks for itself.

"She's someone the players can connect to on a different level. She delivered the training session on Monday and it was brilliant.

"I'm excited for her to get her teeth into it. She's another great person to get involved with our coaching team for sure."

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Newcastle United and manager Becky Langley have parted company with the club in ninth place in WSL 2.

Langley was appointed in 2019 and led them from the fourth tier to the second.

Her final match was Sunday's penalty shootout defeat by Manchester City in the group stages of the League Cup after the match finished 3-3.

Newcastle, who went fully professional in 2023, finished fifth in their first campaign in the second tier last season.

A club statement said: "Everyone at Newcastle United thanks Becky sincerely for her service to the club and wishes her the very best in her future career.

"An interim coaching structure will be put in place while a successor is appointed."

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Brighton & Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom says a new designated stadium for their women's team remains "vitally important" to the club and the city but he "can't put a time on it".

Brighton hope to build a new purpose-built stadium for the women's team by 2027-28, having had proposals approved by the council in October 2023.

The Seagulls currently host the majority of their WSL matches at Crawley Town's Broadfield Stadium, with some games being played at the club's main Amex Stadium.

"We are really committed to bringing the women's team back to Brighton full-time with the stadium," Bloom told BBC Radio Sussex.

"We don't have a stadium outside of the Amex in the Brighton and Hove area to be able to play the games and unfortunately the Amex - the wonderful stadium that it is - can't host all of the games because of conflicts with the Premier League schedule.

"And it is too big of a stadium. We do it sometimes because we want to have games in Brighton but having four, five or six thousand in a 36,000 stadium isn't great for atmosphere."

In January, the club said it had identified a site for the new stadium but Bloom said there had been "delays" in making an announcement because of "things outside of our control".

"A designated stadium for women players, for the fanbase which is a very different demographic to people watching our men's team, I think it's vitally important to this football club and this city," Bloom added.

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter at Hill Dickinson Stadium

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Everton's first Women's Super League match at Hill Dickinson Stadium brought a sense of "pride" for Brian Sorensen despite the scoreline.

The Toffees lost 4-1 to Manchester United but welcomed 18,154 fans to the ground and midfielder Honoka Hayashi became the first female to score there in the WSL.

"I thought it was a great experience and those are the opportunities the new ownership are giving us. We're really grateful for it," said Sorensen.

"It's a day we'll think back to with a lot of pride. Of course we're gutted that we couldn't keep the performance [going] over the 90 minutes."

United boss Marc Skinner experienced the stadium for the first time and described it as "daunting" given its size and stature.

"It's massive. I've never been to Goodison Park either but it's a lovely stadium and the facilities are well-thought out," added Skinner.

"Playing at Wembley and Old Trafford and all of those places has helped us. That probably gave us an advantage."

The women's team made Goodison Park their home this season but opted to take advantage of the men's international break to host a game at Hill Dickinson.

It has also been a request from the league for clubs to attempt to host at least one game a season at their designated 'bigger' ground, to attract more fans.

Everton season ticket holder Marc Roche has been to the stadium to watch the men's team but brought his younger siblings Christine and Alfie Edwards for the first time on Sunday to support the women.

"I really enjoyed the game despite the scoreline and it was good to support the women's team and experience something different," Roche told BBC Sport.

"I've managed to catch a few of the women's games on TV this season and been impressed with the style of football, especially the derby [win against Liverpool].

Christine and Alfie added: "We wanted to see the new ground, support the women and start a new tradition. We're hoping we can make a lot of the Goodison Park games this year."