This video can not be played
Manchester City lift WSL trophy after win at West Ham
Just ten months ago, England’s triumph at Euro 2025, where the Lionesses defeated Spain in a penalty shootout, ignited a nationwide fervor for women’s football.
This international victory, coupled with a lucrative new television deal for the Women’s Super League, injected significant momentum into the sport within the UK.
The 2025-26 WSL season unfolded against this backdrop of heightened interest and investment.
BBC Sport addresses five key questions arising from the season’s action.
Manchester City’s Khadija Shaw has been the WSL’s top scorer for the third successive season
After Chelsea’s six-year reign, the WSL trophy now bears a different name.
Manchester City clinched their first title in a decade prior to the final match.
Their triumph is well-deserved and signals a potential increase in the league’s overall competitiveness.
Andree Jeglertz’s squad boasts the most wins, the highest goal tally, and the second-best defense, while also featuring the league’s top scorer and arguably its best player, Khadija Shaw.
Under the Swedish manager’s guidance, they have risen from a fourth-place finish last season to claim the top spot, seizing control in week eight and maintaining it ever since.
“You can have success one year but if you want to build something for the future you need to create an environment where everyone says: ‘Wow, I don’t want to go home from work’,” he told BBC Sport.
“The best teams, that succeed, are ones that enjoy going to work.”
City’s players have evidently thrived this season – but can they sustain this success?
The absence of Champions League football helped reduce the strain on the squad, with Shaw, for instance, playing nearly 800 minutes fewer than Arsenal’s Alessia Russo.
Adapting to European competition next season will present a new challenge.
They should also anticipate a strong response from their rivals, particularly Chelsea, whose win total of 15 was their lowest in a full season since 2018-19.
Similarly, Arsenal’s participation in five competitions this season proved taxing, resulting in a challenging situation with numerous games in hand.
Moreover, Shaw’s future remains uncertain, with her contract expiring this summer and strong links to a move to Chelsea.
The 2026-27 season could see significant changes.
Inside Man City’s WSL title-winning season
Why summers of change beckon for WSL giants
This video can not be played
Spurs head coach Ho on improvement
After promising starts, both Manchester United and Tottenham fell out of contention for European spots before the end of the season.
For Spurs, manager Martin Ho oversaw significant improvement compared to 2024-25, moving them up from 11th place and achieving their highest-ever WSL points total.
The ambitious manager is not content with being ‘best of the rest’ behind the established top four in the WSL.
“We want this club to be recognised as not just one of the best in the UK, but in Europe,” said Ho.
At United, the pressure is greater.
Reaching the Champions League quarter-finals demonstrated their ambition, but the decline of their top-three challenge has placed long-serving manager Mark Skinner under scrutiny.
The squad’s depth has been tested, and reinforcements will be necessary to compete on all fronts next season.
How will Tottenham build on successful WSL season?
There have been some great games this season.
Manchester City’s dominant 5-1 victory over defending champions Chelsea felt like a shift in power, Tottenham’s 7-3 win at Villa Park was truly remarkable, and Chelsea’s 4-3 victory over Aston Villa, featuring six goals in a chaotic first half, was highly entertaining.
However, a broader view reveals a less encouraging trend.
Compared to the past five seasons, only 2021-22 had fewer goals (392 compared to 384). In fact, there have been more 0-0 draws (10) than in any season this decade.
This season’s shot count is also only better than that of 2021-22 (1,157 to 1,138).
However, teams did hit the woodwork more often this season than in all but one of the past five (118 v 109).
The lack of suspense in the title race was mirrored in the relegation battle.
With the WSL expanding to 14 teams next season, only the bottom-placed team risks relegation – and only if they lose a play-off against the third-placed team in WSL 2.
It has been evident for months that Leicester City were the weakest team in the WSL, despite a January spending spree that included signing Alisha Lehmann, and their fate was sealed mathematically with two games remaining.
Leicester City women face relegation play-off – what happened?
This season, the Sunday evening slot was discontinued in favor of focusing on noon kick-offs to accommodate television coverage.
However, the increased number of English men’s teams participating in European football has made this lunchtime slot even more competitive, with additional 14:00 kick-offs in the Premier League.
This timing also clashes with grassroots football, potentially reducing the size of the audience.
Additionally, showcase matches like the League Cup final suffered. The Chelsea versus Manchester United match could have been a major event, but the 14:15 kick-off conflicted with United’s men’s team playing Aston Villa at 14:00.
While the WSL rightfully highlighted the final weekend of March, which set an attendance record of 111,000 supporters across the 12 WSL and WSL 2 games, overall attendance figures have generally declined this season.
In fact, only Arsenal and Everton have higher average attendances compared to the past two seasons, with Everton’s increase aided by their move to Goodison Park.
Even Manchester City’s title-winning success has not translated into increased attendance. For this season’s derby against Manchester United, 17,520 fans were present, less than half of the 40,086 in 2023-24.
However, it is important to note that Arsenal’s average attendance of over 34,000 would place them 13th in the men’s Premier League (per Transfermarkt, external).
Similarly, Chelsea have decided to play all home games at Stamford Bridge next season, while the ambitious Brighton have pledged to create Europe’s first purpose-built stadium for their women’s team.
Brighton plan Europe’s first purpose-built £80m women’s stadium
Bespoke women’s football stadiums? Why US sides are making the move
Last year, Arsenal won the Champions League, but this year they will be spectators when Barcelona and Lyon compete in the final next Saturday (17:00 BST).
The Gunners reached the semi-finals but were defeated by the French giants in a one-sided second leg.
Chelsea exited in the previous round, losing to Arsenal, while Manchester United were eliminated by Bayern Munich.
The Ballon d’Or is likely to reflect this European dominance.
Nominations will be announced later this summer, and with no international tournaments this year, it will be interesting to see which WSL players make the shortlist.
Nine WSL players were among the top 30 last August – and this did not include anyone from Manchester City, for whom Khadija Shaw, Vivianne Miedema, and Yui Hasegawa, among others, have made strong cases.
Other players, such as Arsenal’s Alessia Russo and Mariona Caldentey, Chelsea’s Alyssa Thompson, and Manchester United’s Jess Park, have also had exceptional seasons and may be considered.
However, when the most prestigious award is presented, it is likely to be dominated by players from elsewhere. After all, a Barcelona player has won the award for the past five years.
Until Champions League success becomes more common, the leading WSL clubs may have to accept a secondary status compared to Europe’s other powerhouses.
However, with Georgia Stanway, Ona Batlle, and even Alexia Putellas linked with moves to England this summer, the balance of power could shift sooner than anticipated.
Listen to Ben Haines, Ellen White and Jen Beattie on the Women’s Football Weekly podcast. New episodes drop every Tuesday on BBC Sounds, plus find interviews and extra content from the Women’s Super League and beyond on the Women’s Football Weekly feed
Get the latest WSL news on our dedicated page