FA WSL trophy | |
| Season | 2019–20 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 7 September 2019 – 5 June 2020 |
| Champions | Chelsea 3rd title |
| Relegated | Liverpool |
| Champions League | Chelsea Manchester City |
| Matches | 87 |
| Goals | 259 (2.98 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Vivianne Miedema (16 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Arsenal11–1Bristol City (1 December 2019) |
| Biggest away win | Birmingham City 0–6 Chelsea (24 November 2019) |
| Highest scoring | Arsenal 11–1 Bristol City (1 December 2019) |
| Highest attendance | 38,262 –Tottenham Hotspur 0–2 Arsenal (17 November 2019) |
2020–21 → | |
The2019–20 FA WSL season (also known as theBarclays FA Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth edition of theFA Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010.[1] It was the second season after the rebranding of the four highest levels in English women's football and the twelve teams contesting the season was the greatest number in the league's history to date, following a steady increase from the original eight.[2] It is the first under the new Barclays title sponsorship following a landmark multi-million pound investment.[3]
On 13 March 2020, in line with the FA's response to thecoronavirus pandemic, it was announced the season was initially suspended until at least 3 April 2020.[4][5] After further postponements, the season was ultimately ended prematurely on 25 May 2020 with immediate effect.[6] On 5 June 2020,Chelsea were named as champions, moving them up one place ahead ofManchester City on sporting merit after The FA Board's decision to award places on a points-per-game basis. Manchester City were awarded the secondChampions League place andLiverpool were relegated using the same method.[7][8]
After the WSL's restructure going into the2018–19 season, membership of the league returned solely to performance in the previous season, though the league expanded from eleven teams to twelve asManchester United andTottenham Hotspur were bothpromoted after finishing first and second respectively in theChampionship during the2018–19 season,[9] while onlyYeovil Town wererelegated.[10][11]
| Team | Location | Ground | Capacity | 2018–19 season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | Borehamwood | Meadow Park | 4,502 | 1st |
| Birmingham City | Solihull | Damson Park | 3,050 | 4th |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Crawley | Broadfield Stadium[a] | 6,134 | 9th |
| Bristol City | Filton | Stoke Gifford Stadium[b] | 1,500 | 6th |
| Chelsea | Kingston upon Thames | Kingsmeadow[c] | 4,850 | 3rd |
| Everton | Liverpool | Walton Hall Park[d] | 2,200 | 10th |
| Liverpool | Birkenhead | Prenton Park[e] | 16,587 | 8th |
| Manchester City | Manchester | Academy Stadium[f] | 7,000 | 2nd |
| Manchester United | Leigh | Leigh Sports Village | 12,000 | WC, 1st |
| Reading | High Wycombe | Adams Park[g] | 9,617 | 5th |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Canons Park | The Hive Stadium[h] | 6,500 | WC, 2nd |
| West Ham United | Romford | Rush Green Stadium[i] | 3,000 | 7th |
In response to the record viewing figures during the2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, three select fixtures were initially moved toPremier League grounds: TheManchester derby at theCity of Manchester Stadium,Chelsea v Tottenham atStamford Bridge and theNorth London derby atTottenham Hotspur Stadium.[12][13] In total, eight of the twelve teams have moved FA WSL fixtures to the larger grounds of their men's affiliate teams:Bristol City later announced their opening game would be played atAshton Gate,[14]Reading moved one of their league fixtures (as well as all threeLeague Cup games) to theMadjeski Stadium[15] andWest Ham announced they would host Spurs at theLondon Stadium.[16]Brighton & Hove Albion moved their match againstBirmingham to theFalmer Stadium to coincide with the FA's Women's Football Weekend, held during a men's international break.[17]Liverpool later moved theirMerseyside derby, held on the same weekend, toAnfield andEverton scheduled the reverse fixture in February atGoodison Park[18][19] (the match was ultimately left unplayed when the season was suspended and then cancelled).
After originally planning to permanently relocate to their new Walton Hall Park stadium in October 2019 following their opening two home games, delays meant Everton had to postpone the move until February 2020 and eventually scheduled six of their 11 home league games atHaig Avenue inSouthport.[20][21][22]
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | Adidas | Fly Emirates | ||
| Birmingham City | Adidas | Maple from Canada | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Nike | American Express | ||
| Bristol City | Bristol Sport | Yeo Valley | ||
| Chelsea | Nike | Yokohama Tyres | ||
| Everton | Umbro | SportPesa | ||
| Liverpool | New Balance | BetVictor | ||
| Manchester City | Puma | Etihad Airways | ||
| Manchester United | Adidas | Chevrolet | ||
| Reading | Macron | YLD | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | Nike | AIA | ||
| West Ham United | Umbro | Betway |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | Signed withNew York City FC[23] | 2 February 2020 | 1st | 3 February 2020 | ||
| Birmingham City | Mutual separation[24] | 3 March 2020 | 11th | 3 March 2020 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea(C) | 15 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 47 | 11 | +36 | 39 | 2.60 | Qualification for theChampions League knockout phase |
| 2 | Manchester City | 16 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 9 | +30 | 40 | 2.50 | |
| 3 | Arsenal | 15 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 40 | 13 | +27 | 36 | 2.40 | |
| 4 | Manchester United | 14 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 24 | 12 | +12 | 23 | 1.64 | |
| 5 | Reading | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 24 | −3 | 21 | 1.50 | |
| 6 | Everton | 14 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 19 | 1.36 | |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 24 | −9 | 20 | 1.33 | |
| 8 | West Ham United | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 19 | 34 | −15 | 16 | 1.14 | |
| 9 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 30 | −19 | 13 | 0.81 | |
| 10 | Bristol City | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 38 | −29 | 9 | 0.64 | |
| 11 | Birmingham City | 13 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 23 | −18 | 7 | 0.54 | |
| 12 | Liverpool(R) | 14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 20 | −12 | 6 | 0.43 | Relegation to theChampionship |
| Home \ Away | ARS | BIR | BHA | BRI | CHE | EVE | LIV | MCI | MNU | REA | TOT | WHU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | — | 2–0 | 4–0 | 11–1 | 1–4 | – | 1–0 | 1–0 | – | – | – | 2–1 |
| Birmingham City | – | — | – | 0–1 | 0–6 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | – | – | 1–1 | – |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 0–4 | 3–0 | — | – | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | – | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 |
| Bristol City | – | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 0–4 | – | 0–1 | 0–5 | – | – | 1–2 | – |
| Chelsea | 2–1 | 2–0 | – | 6–1 | — | – | – | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 8–0 |
| Everton | 1–3 | – | 2–0 | 2–0 | – | — | – | 0–1 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 3–1 | – |
| Liverpool | 2–3 | – | – | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | – | – | 0–1 | – | 1–1 |
| Manchester City | 2–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | – | – | 5–0 |
| Manchester United | 0–1 | – | 4–0 | 0–1 | – | 3–1 | 2–0 | – | — | 2–0 | 3–0 | – |
| Reading | 0–3 | 1–0 | – | 3–3 | – | 3–2 | – | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 0–2 | – | 1–0 | – | – | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 0–3 | – | — | 2–1 |
| West Ham United | – | 1–0 | 2–1 | – | 1–3 | – | 4–2 | – | 3–2 | 2–3 | 0–2 | — |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 16 | |
| 2 | Chelsea | 14 | |
| 3 | Manchester City | 10 | |
| 4 | Everton | 9 | |
| 5 | Manchester United | 6 | |
| Chelsea | |||
| Manchester City | |||
| 8 | Arsenal | 5 | |
| Liverpool | |||
| Manchester City | |||
| West Ham United | |||
| Arsenal | |||
| Arsenal | |||
| Chelsea | |||
| Bristol City | |||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | |||
| Reading | |||
| Manchester United |
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 10 | |
| 2 | Arsenal | 6 | |
| 3 | Manchester United | 5 | |
| 4 | Chelsea | 4 | |
| Everton | |||
| Tottenham Hotspur | |||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | |||
| 8 | Bristol City | 3 | |
| 9 | Birmingham City | 2 | |
| Reading | |||
| Arsenal | |||
| Chelsea |
Thematch between Arsenal and Bristol City on 1 December 2019 ended 11–1, setting a new WSL record scoreline, surpassing the 9–0 win ofLiverpool Ladies overDoncaster Rovers Belles in 2013.[25]
| Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | ||
| September | Tottenham Hotspur | Everton | [26][27][28][29] | ||
| October | Chelsea | Manchester United | [30][31] | ||
| November | Everton | Chelsea | [32][33] | ||
| December | Arsenal | Arsenal | [34][35] | ||
| January | Chelsea | Chelsea | [36][37] | ||
| February | Chelsea | Chelsea | [38][39] | ||
| Award | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Barclays FA WSL Player of the Season | Chelsea | |
| Barclays FA WSL Manager of the Season | Chelsea | |
| PFA Players' Player of the Year | Chelsea | |
| PFA Young Player of the Year | Manchester City | |
| FWA Footballer of the Year | Arsenal |
| PFA Team of the Year[44] | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||
| Defenders | ||||||||||||
| Midfielders | ||||||||||||
| Forwards | ||||||||||||
An FA WSL prize fund was put in place for the first time, following the new Barclay's sponsorship deal, with the entire pot totaling £500,000. The money was awarded in decreasing increments with the champions winning £100,000 and the last placed team being awarded £6,000.[45][46]
| Finish | Prize money |
|---|---|
| 1st | £100,000 |
| 2nd | £67,000 |
| 3rd | £60,000 |
| 4th | £55,000 |
| 5th | £49,000 |
| 6th | £43,000 |
| 7th | £36,000 |
| 8th | £30,000 |
| 9th | £24,000 |
| 10th | £18,000 |
| 11th | £12,000 |
| 12th | £6,000 |