The 2024/25 Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) season kicks off this weekend in the UK, where 12 teams will launch campaigns to challenge seven-time league champions Chelsea for the season’s title.
Adding to the excitement are major roster shakeups and big name signings entering the pitch for the WSL’s 14th season.
Defending WSL champs Chelsea open post-Hayes era with a win
In front of a sold-out Kingsmeadow crowd on Friday, the Blues began their first campaign without now-USWNT boss Emma Hayes by defeating Aston Villa 1-0. Midfielder Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s first-half strike from distance secured Chelsea’s season-opening win.
Helmed by head coach Sonia Bompastor, who previously led France’s Lyon to three straight titles and a 2022 Champions League victory, Chelsea enters the season with a target on their backs after five straight years at the top of the WSL table.
With five members of the Blues staff following Hayes Stateside and multiple veteran players — like England national Fran Kirby — also departing the club, Bompastor is now tasked with building…
