2021–22 FA WSL

The 2021–22 FA WSL season (also known as the Barclays FA Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the FA Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010.[2] It was the fourth season after the rebranding of the four highest levels in English women's football.

FA WSL
Season2021–22
Dates3 September 2021 – 8 May 2022
ChampionsChelsea
5th title[1]
RelegatedBirmingham City
Champions LeagueChelsea
Arsenal
Manchester City
Matches played132
Goals scored384 (2.91 per match)
Top goalscorerSam Kerr
(20 goals)
Biggest home winArsenal 7–0 Aston Villa
1 May 2022
Biggest away winLeicester City 0–9 Chelsea
27 March 2022
Highest scoringLeicester City 0–9 Chelsea
27 March 2022
Manchester City 7–2 Brighton & Hove Albion
30 April 2022
Longest winning run9 matches
Chelsea
Manchester City
Longest unbeaten run13 matches
Chelsea
Longest winless run10 matches
Birmingham City
Reading
Longest losing run9 matches
Leicester City
Highest attendance20,241
Manchester United 3–1 Everton
(27 March 2022)
Lowest attendance298
Birmingham City 0–3 Reading
(7 November 2021)

On 4 May 2022, Birmingham City were relegated following a 6–0 defeat away at Manchester City with one game remaining. Members of the WSL since it was founded in 2011, it ended Birmingham's twenty-year stint as a top-flight club having last been promoted as the 2001–02 FA Women's Premier League Northern Division champions.[3]

Chelsea successfully defended the title by beating Manchester United 4–2 in the final matchday, winning their third consecutive and fifth overall WSL title.[4]

Teams

Twelve teams contested the 2021–22 FA WSL season. At the end of the previous season, Bristol City were relegated after four seasons in the WSL while Leicester City were promoted for the first time.[5]

Locations of the 2021–22 FA WSL teams
TeamLocationGroundCapacity2020–21 season
ArsenalBorehamwoodMeadow Park4,5023rd
Aston VillaWalsallBescot Stadium11,30010th
Birmingham CityBirminghamSt Andrew's29,90211th
Brighton & Hove AlbionCrawleyBroadfield Stadium5,8006th
ChelseaKingston upon ThamesKingsmeadow4,8501st
EvertonLiverpoolWalton Hall Park2,2005th
Leicester CityLeicesterKing Power Stadium32,212WC, 1st
Manchester CityManchesterAcademy Stadium7,0002nd
Manchester UnitedLeighLeigh Sports Village12,0004th
ReadingReadingMadejski Stadium24,1617th
Tottenham HotspurCanons ParkThe Hive Stadium5,4198th
West Ham UnitedDagenhamVictoria Road6,0789th

Stadium changes

Two teams changed home ground prior to the start of the season: Birmingham City relocated from Damson Park to St Andrew's, home of the team's male affiliate since 1906.[6] Leicester City prepared for their maiden WSL season by moving to their parent club's main stadium, King Power Stadium, with Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium serving as backup when fixtures clash with Leicester's men's side.[7]

Personnel and kits
Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Arsenal Sweden Jonas Eidevall Scotland Kim Little Adidas Fly Emirates
Aston Villa England Carla Ward Germany Marisa Ewers Kappa Cazoo
Birmingham City England Darren Carter (interim) Republic of Ireland Louise Quinn Nike SmartMeds
Brighton & Hove Albion England Hope Powell England Danielle Bowman Nike American Express
Chelsea England Emma Hayes Sweden Magdalena Eriksson Nike Three
Everton England Chris Roberts (interim) Scotland Lucy Graham Hummel MegaFon[lower-alpha 1]
Leicester City England Lydia Bedford England Sophie Barker Adidas FBS
Manchester City Wales Gareth Taylor England Steph Houghton Puma Etihad Airways
Manchester United England Marc Skinner England Katie Zelem Adidas TeamViewer
Reading England Kelly Chambers Wales Natasha Harding Macron YLD
Tottenham Hotspur England Rehanne Skinner Canada Shelina Zadorsky Nike AIA
West Ham United New Zealand Olli Harder England Gilly Flaherty Umbro Betway
  1. On 2 March 2022, Everton suspended the sponsorship deal with MegaFon and removed the logos from their shirts in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine due to Alisher Usmanov's close ties to Vladimir Putin.[8]

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Aston Villa England Marcus Bignot (interim) End of interim period[9] 10 May 2021 End of season (10th) England Carla Ward 20 May 2021[10]
Birmingham City England Carla Ward Resigned[11] 16 May 2021 End of season (11th) Scotland Scott Booth 30 June 2021[12]
Arsenal Australia Joe Montemurro Resigned[13] 16 May 2021 End of season (3rd) Sweden Jonas Eidevall 28 June 2021[14]
Manchester United England Casey Stoney Resigned[15] 16 May 2021 End of season (4th) England Marc Skinner 29 July 2021[16]
Everton Scotland Willie Kirk Sacked[17] 16 October 2021 8th France Jean-Luc Vasseur 29 October 2021[18]
Birmingham City Scotland Scott Booth Sacked[19] 18 November 2021 11th England Tony Elliott (interim) 18 November 2021
Birmingham City England Tony Elliott (interim) End of interim period[20] 21 November 2021 11th England Darren Carter[lower-alpha 1] 21 November 2021[20]
Leicester City England Jonathan Morgan Sacked[22] 25 November 2021 12th England Emile Heskey (interim) 25 November 2021[22]
Leicester City England Emile Heskey (interim) End of interim period[23] 6 December 2021 12th England Lydia Bedford 6 December 2021[23]
Everton France Jean-Luc Vasseur Sacked[24] 2 February 2022 10th England Chris Roberts (interim) 2 February 2022[24]
  1. Carter was initially appointed as interim manager, but the move was made permanent on 30 May 2022.[21]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Chelsea (C) 22 18 2 2 62 11 +51 56 Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2 Arsenal 22 17 4 1 65 10 +55 55 Qualification for the Champions League second round
3 Manchester City 22 15 2 5 60 22 +38 47 Qualification for the Champions League first round
4 Manchester United 22 12 6 4 45 22 +23 42
5 Tottenham Hotspur 22 9 5 8 24 23 +1 32
6 West Ham United 22 7 6 9 23 33 −10 27
7 Brighton & Hove Albion 22 8 2 12 24 38 −14 26
8 Reading 22 7 4 11 21 40 −19 25
9 Aston Villa 22 6 3 13 13 40 −27 21
10 Everton 22 5 5 12 18 41 −23 20
11 Leicester City 22 4 1 17 14 53 −39 13
12 Birmingham City (R) 22 3 2 17 15 51 −36 11 Relegation to the Championship
Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results
Home \ Away ARS ASV BIR BHA CHE EVE LEI MCI MNU REA TOT WHU
Arsenal — 7–0 4–2 2–1 3–2 3–0 4–0 5–0 1–1 4–0 3–0 4–0
Aston Villa 0–4 — 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–1 2–1 0–3 0–0 1–1 1–2 1–2
Birmingham City 2–0 0–1 — 0–5 0–1 0–0 1–2 2–3 0–2 0–3 0–2 0–1
Brighton & Hove Albion 0–3 0–1 1–3 — 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–6 0–2 4–1 2–1 2–0
Chelsea 0–0 1–0 5–0 3–1 — 4–0 2–0 1–0 4–2 5–0 2–1 2–0
Everton 0–3 0–2 3–1 0–1 0–3 — 3–2 0–4 1–1 1–2 2–2 1–1
Leicester City 0–5 1–2 2–0 1–0 0–9 0–1 — 1–4 1–3 0–0 0–2 3–0
Manchester City 1–1 5–0 6–0 7–2 0–4 4–0 4–0 — 1–0 2–0 1–2 0–2
Manchester United 0–2 5–0 5–0 1–0 1–6 3–1 4–0 2–2 — 2–0 3–0 3–0
Reading 0–4 3–0 3–2 2–0 1–0 0–3 1–0 0–4 1–3 — 0–0 1–2
Tottenham Hotspur 1–1 0–1 1–0 4–0 1–3 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 — 1–1
West Ham United 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–4 3–0 4–0 0–2 1–1 2–2 1–0 —
Source: The FA
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological progress, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 13, but then postponed and played between rounds 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for round 16.

Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122
Chelsea7643222222222222211111
Arsenal4211111111111111122222
Manchester City1789979766555655444433
Manchester United3364455654433343333344
Tottenham Hotspur6422334433344434555555
West Ham United10875667577887778677666
Brighton & Hove Albion2157543345778887866777
Reading111111121098888666566788888
Aston Villa55367861010101010999910109999
Everton1212988101099999101010109910101010
Leicester City891010121212121211121111111111111111111111
Birmingham City9101211111111111112111212121212121212121212
Leader and Champions League group stage
Champions League second round
Champions League first round
Relegation to Championship
Source: FA WSL

Results by round
Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122
ArsenalWWWWWWDWWLDWDDWWWWWWWW
Aston VillaWDWLLLWLLLLWLWLLLDWDLL
Birmingham CityLLLLDLLLLLWLLLLLLDWLLW
Brighton & Hove AlbionWWLLWWWLLLLDLLWWLWLLLD
ChelseaLWWWWWWWLDWWDWWWWWWWWW
EvertonLLWWLLDWDLLLLWWLLLDLDD
Leicester CityLLLLLLLLLWLWLWWLLLLLDL
Manchester CityWLLLDWLWWWWDLWWWWWWWWW
Manchester UnitedWWLWDDDLWWWWDLWWDWWDWL
ReadingLLLLWWDWWWWWLLDLLDLLDL
Tottenham HotspurWWWWLDDLWWDLWWDLLLLDLW
West Ham UnitedLDWWDLDWDDWLWLLWDWLWLL
Source: The FA
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lose

Season statistics

Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals[25]
1 Australia Sam Kerr Chelsea 20
2 Netherlands Vivianne Miedema Arsenal 14
3 England Beth Mead Arsenal 11
4 England Lauren Hemp Manchester City 10
5 England Alessia Russo Manchester United 9
Jamaica Khadija Shaw Manchester City
7 England Bethany England Chelsea 8
England Leah Galton Manchester United
England Georgia Stanway Manchester City
10 England Ella Toone Manchester United 7
Norway Guro Reiten Chelsea

Top assists
RankPlayerClubAssists[26]
1 England Beth Mead Arsenal 8
Netherlands Vivianne Miedema Arsenal
England Ella Toone Manchester United
4 England Lauren Hemp Manchester City 6
England Fran Kirby Chelsea
Republic of Ireland Katie McCabe Arsenal
7 England Hannah Blundell Manchester United 5
South Korea Ji So-yun Chelsea
Norway Guro Reiten Chelsea
Scotland Caroline Weir Manchester City
England Katie Zelem Manchester United

Clean sheets
Rank Player Club Clean
sheets[27]
1 Austria Manuela Zinsberger Arsenal 13
2 England Mary Earps Manchester United 10
3 Germany Ann-Katrin Berger Chelsea 9
4 England Ellie Roebuck Manchester City 8
5 Republic of Ireland Grace Moloney Reading 7
Sweden Zećira Mušović Chelsea
7 Republic of Ireland Megan Walsh Brighton & Hove Albion 6
8 Jamaica Rebecca Spencer Tottenham Hotspur 5
9 England Hannah Hampton Aston Villa 4
England Demi Lambourne Leicester City
England Sandy MacIver Everton

Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDate Ref.
Australia Sam Kerr Chelsea Birmingham City 5–0 (H) 21 November 2021 [28]
Jamaica Khadija Shaw (4) Manchester City Brighton & Hove Albion 7–2 (H) 30 April 2022

Discipline
Most yellow cardsTotalMost red cardsTotalRef.
Player France Maéva Clemaron (Tottenham Hotspur)
Republic of Ireland Katie McCabe (Arsenal)		 7 France Hawa Cissoko (West Ham United) 2 [29]
Club Tottenham Hotspur 39 West Ham United 2 [30]

Awards

Monthly awards
Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Goal of the Month Ref.
Manager Club Player Club Player Club
September Sweden Jonas Eidevall Arsenal England Beth Mead Arsenal Denmark Pernille Harder (vs Manchester United) Chelsea [31][32]
October Sweden Jonas Eidevall Arsenal Republic of Ireland Katie McCabe Arsenal Republic of Ireland Katie McCabe (vs Aston Villa) Arsenal [33][34]
November England Kelly Chambers Reading Canada Jessie Fleming Chelsea England Alessia Russo (vs Tottenham Hotspur) Manchester United [35]
December England Marc Skinner Manchester United England Ella Toone Manchester United England Georgia Stanway (vs Birmingham City) Manchester City [36][37]
January England Marc Skinner Manchester United England Leah Galton Manchester United England Natasha Dowie (vs Leicester City) Reading [38][39]
February England Lydia Bedford Leicester City England Ashleigh Neville Tottenham Hotspur Scotland Caroline Weir (vs Manchester United) Manchester City [40][41]
March England Emma Hayes Chelsea England Alessia Russo Manchester United England Katie Zelem (vs Leicester City) Manchester United [42][43][44]
April England Darren Carter Birmingham City Australia Sam Kerr Chelsea Japan Yui Hasegawa (vs Reading) West Ham United [45][46]

Annual awards
Award Winner Club
Barclays FA WSL Player of the Season Australia Sam Kerr[47] Chelsea
Barclays FA WSL Manager of the Season England Emma Hayes[47] Chelsea
PFA Players' Player of the Year Australia Sam Kerr[48] Chelsea
PFA Young Player of the Year England Lauren Hemp[49] Manchester City
FWA Footballer of the Year Australia Sam Kerr[50] Chelsea
PFA Team of the Year[51]
Goalkeeper Germany Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea)
Defenders Spain Ona Batlle (Manchester United) England Millie Bright (Chelsea) England Leah Williamson (Arsenal) England Alex Greenwood (Manchester City)
Midfielders Norway Guro Reiten (Chelsea) Scotland Caroline Weir (Manchester City) Scotland Kim Little (Arsenal)
Forwards Netherlands Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal) Australia Sam Kerr (Chelsea) England Lauren Hemp (Manchester City)

References
  1. "A fifth #BarclaysFAWSL title for @ChelseaFCW". Barclays FA WSL Twitter. 28 May 2022.
  2. "The History of Women's Football". Football Association. The Football Association. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  3. Garry, Tom; McElwee, Molly (4 May 2022). "Birmingham relegated from WSL after being hit for six by rampant Manchester City". The Telegraph.
  4. "Sam Kerr's stunning volleys help Chelsea to Women's Super League title as Arsenal finish a point behind in second". Sky Sports. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  5. "Chelsea Women win 2020/21 Women's Super League title with Man City Women second, Bristol City Women relegated". Sky Sports.
  6. "Birmingham Women to play at St Andrew's". BBC Sport.
  7. Garry, Tom (25 August 2021). "Leicester City Women to play eight matches at King Power Stadium in debut WSL campaign". The Telegraph.
  8. Burhan, Asif. "Everton Women Suspend Sponsorship With Alisher Usmanov-Owned MegaFon". Forbes.
  9. "Aston Villa Women can confirm that Marcus Bignot's term as Interim Manager has ended following the completion of the season". Aston Villa Football Club.
  10. "Ex-Birmingham boss Ward joins Villa". BBC Sport.
  11. Garry, Tom (14 May 2021). "Carla Ward resigns as Birmingham City Women manager". The Telegraph.
  12. "Scott Booth named Blues Women Head Coach". Birmingham City Football Club.
  13. "Arsenal Women manager Joe Montemurro to leave at end of season". The Guardian. 31 March 2021.
  14. "Jonas Eidevall named new Arsenal Women head coach". Arsenal FC. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  15. "Casey Stoney to leave role as Man Utd Women Head Coach". Manchester United. 12 May 2021.
  16. "Man Utd appoint Skinner as head coach". BBC Sport.
  17. "Everton sack Kirk after poor WSL start" – via www.bbc.com.
  18. "Everton appoint ex-Lyon manager Vasseur". BBC Sport.
  19. Garry, Tom (18 November 2021). "Birmingham City Women sack manager Scott Booth after just four months in charge". The Telegraph.
  20. "Blues Women Interim Head Coach: Darren Carter". Birmingham City Football Club. Archived from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  21. "Darren Carter named as Blues Women Head Coach". Birmingham City Football Club.
  22. "Jonathan Morgan Leaves LCFC Women". Leicester City.
  23. "LCFC Women Appoint Lydia Bedford As First Team Manager". Leicester City.
  24. Garry, Tom (2 February 2022). "Everton sack manager Jean-Luc Vasseur after just 10 games in charge of women's side". The Telegraph.
  25. "The FA Women's Super League Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  26. "The FA Women's Super League Top Scorers - Top Assists". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  27. "Women's Super League Goalkeeper Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  28. "%competition_name% (Sky Sports)". Sky Sports. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  29. "Yellow cards - WSL 2021/2022 stats". FotMob. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  30. "FA Women's Super League Discipline Stats 2021-22". ESPN. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  31. "Arsenal forward Beth Mead wins WSL Player of the Month and Jonas Eidevall named Manager of the Month". Sky Sports. 14 October 2021.
  32. "Pernille Harder September Goal of the Month". Barclays FA WSL Twitter. 14 October 2021. Archived from the original on 14 October 2021.
  33. "Katie McCabe wins WSL player of the month as head coach Jonas Eidevall wins manager award for October". Sky Sports. 4 November 2021.
  34. "Katie McCabe October Goal of the Month". Barclays FA WSL Twitter. 4 November 2021. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021.
  35. "Chelsea's Jessie Fleming named WSL Player of the Month for November as Reading boss Kelly Chambers wins manager award". Sky Sports.
  36. "WSL awards for Marc and Ella". www.manutd.com.
  37. "Georgia Stanway December Goal of the Month". Barclays FA WSL Twitter. 12 January 2022. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
  38. "Man Utd forward Leah Galton and manager Marc Skinner win monthly award". Sky Sports. 10 February 2022.
  39. "Natasha Dowie January Goal of the Month". Barclays FA WSL Twitter. 10 February 2022. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022.
  40. "Ashleigh Neville & Lydia Bedford win Barclays WSL player & manager of the month awards". 90min.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  41. "February Barclays FA Women's Super League monthly awards". Sky Sports. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  42. "Emma Hayes wins Barclays WSL manager of the month for March". 90min.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  43. "Alessia Russo crowned WSL Player of the Month". www.manutd.com.
  44. "Katie Zelem March Goal of the Month". Barclays FA WSL Twitter. 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022.
  45. "Sam Kerr & Darren Carter win Barclays WSL awards for April". 90min.com. 7 May 2022. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  46. "WSL April Goal of the Month | Yui Hasegawa". SkySports. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  47. "Hayes and Kerr win Barclays FA WSL Manager, Player and Goal of the Season awards". Chelsea FC.
  48. "Sam Kerr takes home PFA Player of the Year Award". www.thepfa.com.
  49. "Lauren Hemp makes history with fourth PFA Young Player of the Year Award". Sky Sports.
  50. "Chelsea Women striker Sam Kerr crowned FWA Women's Footballer of the Year". Sky Sports.
  51. "2021–22 PFA WSL Team Of The Year". www.thepfa.com.
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