Latest news with #women'sfootball
The Independent
2 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
FA approves radical change to Women's Super League
Plans for the Women's Super League to be expanded to 14 teams have been approved by the FA Board, passing its final hurdle. The news comes after WSL clubs voted to expand the top flight from 12 to 14 earlier in the week. FA approval was needed due to the 'golden share' which the association holds over the women's game. The plans will now come into place for the 2026/27 season, with the top two teams in the Women's Super League 2 promoted automatically at the end of the upcoming campaign. A relegation play-off between the bottom WSL side and third-placed WSL 2 outfit will decide the final spot of the enlarged division. A statement, published on the FA's website, read: 'The FA Board has approved proposals made by WSL Football to increase the size of the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) to 14 clubs. These approvals were made pursuant to The FA's rights under its special share in the leagues and also FA Rules.' From the 2026/27 onwards, one club will be automatically promoted into the WSL with the worst performing side in the top-flight relegated. Then, the 13th-placed side in the top tier will face the second-placed WSL 2 team in a play-off. The FA's statement added: 'There will be consequential changes to promotion throughout the remainder of the women's football pyramid for the 2025-26 season, which will be decided in due course. 'The growth of the WSL and the WSL 2 reflects the ongoing evolution of the women's professional game in England which we consider will be of benefit to all clubs.' Initial plans to remove relegation all together were scraped after backlash from supporters, with clubs instead approving the new 14-team arrangement.
Irish Times
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
The GAA's sceptical relationship with time keeping is not a new phenomenon
At last November's special congress, Jim Gavin's Football Review Committee (FRC) managed to have all of its provisions accepted for implementation in the 2025 season. It was a remarkable feat of persuasion in less than a year. Neither were there any cliffhangers. In fact, the least enthusiastically received idea was that of the match clock, which attracted the support of a relatively restrained 74 per cent of delegates. Since its introduction, it has been one of the most troublesome amendments. It triggered concerns that it would prove too expensive or too complicated in the requirement that it be synced with the time displays on broadcast coverage. A countdown clock was accepted in women's football in the mid-1990s. Following its largely seamless application, it wasn't long prompting the men's game to wonder if it might it be a worthwhile adoption. READ MORE Twice the idea, having been floated at congress, came to nothing – once defeated and the next time, accepted but never introduced, again for logistical reasons, after being trialled in third-level matches. Since 2015, things have changed. The whole area of time was reviewed and in response to rising concern about gamesmanship, a new set of guidelines were issued to referees. One of the main sources of disquiet was the use of strategic substitutions to run down the clock. It was accordingly decided that 20 seconds should be added for every replacement brought on during a match. That is why there is apparently more time in the second half of matches than in the first: it's when the bulk of the substitutions are made. Other issues to come under scrutiny were goalkeepers coming up the field for free-kicks and pauses for Hawk-Eye determinations. Eventually, the FRC motions 46 and 47, providing for clock/hooter use and the hand-signal protocol for referees to stop and resume play were passed and implemented – at least in broadcast matches. [ Ciarán Murphy: Keeping cool in front of goal is key to landing All-Ireland Opens in new window ] The GAA's apparently sceptical relationship with time keeping is not a new phenomenon. It is all of 87 years since an initial attempt was made to mechanise time keeping and remove it from a referee's duties. Maurice Bogue was the inventor of the eponymous Bogue Clock, a pioneering idea to display time at GAA grounds, which would be stopped and restarted as the referee indicated. The point was to ensure that a full hour would be played in matches. Display was on a large clock face with Roman numerals – according to one report, 'like a giant stopwatch' – and it was first used in a challenge match between Louth and Mayo in May 1938 at the Gaelic Grounds in Drogheda. Later that year, it was used to keep time at a league match between Louth and Meath, which ended in a draw. Attempts to incorporate the clock into the rule book in 1939 and 1940 were not successful and although Bogue, a businessman and inventor, who lived in Drogheda, was prepared to mount exhibitions of his timepiece in various grounds across the country, the matter did not return to congress for 10 years. In 1950, delegates declined to introduce the clock but did stipulate that it should be trialled the following year and evidence of that can be seen in PD Mehigan's report of the Railway Cup semi-finals on February 19th, 1951. 'The advent of the Bogue Clock as timekeeper instead of the referee was on trial and pleased the public, who were able to follow the different stages of the game,' the report said. At congress in 1951, the idea of the clock was buried despite the range of enthusiasts for the prospect of referees being able to concentrate on officiating rather than also keeping time. A report in The Irish Times Pictorial, a weekly published between 1942-1958, reflected on the fate of the Bogue Clock at congress. 'Opinions were divided on the wisdom of having a clock at all in Croke Park. The system of leaving the referee to keep an eye on the time and on the play, while making up broken time, appears to be the popular idea,' the report said. 'In support of the system [status quo] a Cork delegate said that Cork had lost five All-Irelands by a point, in each case near time and had never questioned the referee's ability to play full time.' This may have been in solidarity with the county's Paddy O'Keeffe, who was general secretary of the GAA at the time, and who had expressed the view that discussions on the Bogue Clock might be seen as an unwelcome reflection on the association's referees.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump asks Juventus players during White House visit whether a woman would make their team
Juventus players and staff were involved in an awkward encounter at the White House when Trump asked the team players and managers if women could make it into their team. In response, Juventus general manager Damien Comolli highlighted the strength of their women's team
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Rose Lavelle returns as Emma Hayes names domestic-heavy roster for US friendlies
With US coach Emma Hayes giving many of her Europe-based players a break, there were several new faces on the national team Wednesday for a trio of upcoming matches against Ireland and Canada. Lindsey Heaps, Catarina Macario and Emily Fox were among the players given time off after the European season. One exception was defender Naomi Girma, who is working her way back from a calf injury. The United States plays Ireland on 26 June in Commerce City, Colorado, and again on 29 June in Cincinnati. The team plays Canada on 2 July in Washington DC. The roster includes four players who have been called up to the national team for the first time: defenders Jordyn Bugg, Lilly Reale and Izzy Rodriguez, and midfielder Sam Meza. Six players on the 25-player roster have not yet appeared in a game for the senior national team. Hayes, who took over as national team coach last year, has been looking at new players as she prepares the team for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil. She has given 27 players their first national team call-ups. 'We want to continue to improve our understanding of how we want to play and widen the player pool, and those are some of the key goals of this three-game window,' Hayes said in a statement Wednesday. 'On this roster, we have players with a varied amount of experience, and my priority is to deepen the exposures required for international soccer. These are three challenging matches and as always, we want to win, but also to make sure we are ready for the next steps.' One veteran player who is on the roster is midfielder Rose Lavelle, who hasn't played for the national team in more than six months after having ankle surgery. Lavelle recently returned to play for her club team, Gotham FC, in the National Women's Soccer League. Goalkeepers: Angelina Anderson (Angel City), Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign) Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals) Sign up to Moving the Goalposts No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football after newsletter promotion Defenders: Kerry Abello (Orlando Pride), Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign), Naomi Girma (Chelsea), Lilly Reale (Gotham FC), Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash), Izzy Rodriguez (Kansas City Current), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC), Gisele Thompson (Angel City) Midfielders: Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC), Sam Meza (Seattle Reign), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns) Forwards: Lynn Biyendolo (Seattle Reign), Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City)
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
USWNT's Latest Roster Features New Players While Europe-Based Stars Take a Break
With US coach Emma Hayes giving many of her Europe-based players a break, there were several new faces on the national team Wednesday for a trio of upcoming matches against Ireland and Canada. Lindsey Heaps, Catarina Macario, and Emily Fox were among the players given time off after the European season. One exception was defender Naomi Girma, who is working her way back from a calf injury. The US plays Ireland on June 26 in Commerce City, Colorado, and again on June 29 in Cincinnati. The team plays Canada on July 2 in Washington, D.C. The roster includes four players who have been called up to the national team for the first time: defenders Jordyn Bugg, Lilly Reale, and Izzy Rodriguez, and midfielder Sam Meza. Six players on the 25-player roster have not yet appeared in a game for the senior national team. Hayes, who took over as national team coach last year, has been looking at new players as she prepares the team for the 2027 Women's World Cup in Brazil. She has given 27 players their first national team call-ups. 'We want to continue to improve our understanding of how we want to play and widen the player pool, and those are some of the key goals of this three-game window,' Hayes said in a statement Wednesday. 'On this roster we have players with a varied amount of experience, and my priority is to deepen the exposures required for international soccer. These are three challenging matches, and, as always, we want to win, but also to make sure we are ready for the next steps.' One veteran player who is on the roster is midfielder Rose Lavelle, who hasn't played for the national team in more than six months after having ankle surgery. Lavelle recently returned to play for her club team, Gotham FC, in the National Women's Soccer League. Goalkeepers: Angelina Anderson (Angel City), Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign), Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals) Defenders: Kerry Abello (Orlando Pride), Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign), Naomi Girma (Chelsea), Lilly Reale (Gotham FC), Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash), Izzy Rodriguez (Kansas City Current), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC), Gisele Thompson (Angel City) Midfielders: Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC), Sam Meza (Seattle Reign), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns)
