Last weekend no less than three Swedish national team players made their debut in the Women’s Super League (WSL).
Smilla Holmberg and Hanna Lundkvist were both substituted in the goalless meeting between Arsenal and Manchester United last Saturday, where a total of six Swedes got playing time.
The following day, Jennifer Falk made her first game between the posts as one of three Swedes in Liverpool, who drew 0–0 against Kosovare Asllanis and Julia Roddar’s London City.
Seventeen Swedish players were on the field in total when the English women’s league restarted in January. Another handful sat on the bench or are injured.
When Tony Gustavsson calls this year’s first national team squad, over half will be from England.
It is a paradigm shift which shows two things:
The Women’s Super League has great confidence in the Swedish workforce.
A long line of Swedish players get matches of the highest European class every week.
Perhaps the WSL’s greatest attraction is the one that should guide all sports: You don’t (anymore) know in advance who will win.
Because even if there is a quality gap between the best and worst clubs in the English top flight – it is now somewhere in the middle of the table – the battle for the top is more uncertain here than in comparable leagues in Europe.
– When I went to Chelsea, there were still some teams that didn’t invest at the highest level. But now it is a high-class league and Swedish players are highly respected for their mentality and professionalism. We are loyal to idea and coach and tactically schooled. Defensive play is important in Sweden and we have come a long way compared to many other countries, says Zecira Musovic, who left Chelsea after five seasons last year and moved home to the Allsvenskan when she became pregnant.
The London club has something for everyone part have won the last six league titles, but the distance to the runner-up has only on one occasion been more than two points. Both Arsenal and Manchester City have won the League Cup in recent years.
Hard-hitting newcomers London City Lionesses showed their muscle this summer when they signed French national team star Grace Geyoro from PSG in a deal in the region of £1 million.
Last spring, Chelsea won the league, while Stina Blackstenius brought home the Champions League final to Arsenal with the only goal of the match against Barcelona. Halfway into the current league season, Manchester City are tableless, six points ahead of Chelsea.
– Even during my years, the league developed a lot. I went to a big club, but I remember the first away game: it was a bad arena and the changing rooms were horrible, much worse than in the women’s league. Then I understood that there was a gap between the three top clubs and the rest. But what was good was that we tried to push the development of lower ranked teams. It was to raise our standard when we compete in Europe, says Musovic.
Club football in England has of course, helped by the national team, which won the European Championship twice in a row and played in the World Cup final in 2023. Homegrown stars such as Alessia Russo and Beth Mead have become well-known faces in the British Isles and the average audience for the WSL is by far the highest in Europe.
Arsenal Women, who play their home games at the Emirates Stadium, have averaged close to 30,000 supporters per match over the past two seasons.
Since the summer of 2024, the Women’s Super League 1 and 2 have been run independently from the English FA, with the clubs as co-owners of the league.
Last week, Mercedes signed a new sponsorship deal with the top two women’s leagues in England. It was the third in a short time, after Apple and Nike did the same in the fall.
Zecira Musovic chose to move home last year. This summer she gave birth to a daughter and right now she is pre-season training with Malmö FF.
She “had a great time” at Chelsea, but still advises young Swedish talents courted by the English league to keep a cool head.
– If you are attracted by a big club, then England maintains a good standard. But it can also be a big brand and the grass isn’t that much greener anyway. The top clubs in the women’s league are very classy. If you have that environment, you shouldn’t rush too much.
