# 2018–19 FA WSL

The 2018–19 FA WSL was the eighth edition of the FA Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010. It was the first season after a rebranding of the four highest levels in English women's football. The previous FA WSL 2 became the Championship – eleven clubs competed in the 2018–19 FA Women's Championship.
Arsenal won their first WSL since 2012 with a 4–0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.

## Teams

Following restructuring of the women's game in order to provide for a fully professional Women's Super League (WSL), membership of both the first and second tier is subject to a licence, based on a series of off-the-field criteria. Yeovil Town estimated the budget needed for a WSL season at about £350,000. Existing WSL teams were first offered the opportunity to bid for licences, with all applying FA WSL clubs retaining their place in the first tier, with Brighton & Hove Albion from the WSL2 also offered a place in the WSL. From the first tier, Sunderland were unsuccessful in their license application.
This left up to two places in the WSL and up to five places in the Championship for applying clubs. Fifteen applications were received for both the top two tiers, and West Ham were given a licence in the second stage, so that the league is made up of 11 teams.
| Team | Location | Ground | Capacity | 2017–18 season |
| Arsenal | Borehamwood | Meadow Park | 4,502 | 3rd |
| Birmingham City | Solihull | Damson Park | 3,050 | 5th |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | Crawley | Broadfield Stadium | 6,134 | 2nd, WSL 2 |
| Bristol City | Filton | Stoke Gifford Stadium | 1,500 | 8th |
| Chelsea | Kingston upon Thames | Kingsmeadow | 4,850 | 1st |
| Everton | Southport | Haig Avenue | 6,008 | 9th |
| Liverpool | Birkenhead | Prenton Park | 16,587 | 6th |
| Manchester City | Manchester | Academy Stadium | 7,000 | 2nd |
| Reading | High Wycombe | Adams Park | 9,617 | 4th |
| West Ham United | Romford | Rush Green Training Ground | 3,000 | 7th, WPL South |
| Yeovil Town | Dorchester | The Avenue Stadium | 5,229 | 10th |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Bristol City | Willie Kirk | Signed with Manchester United | 29 May 2018 | End of season (8th) | Tanya Oxtoby | 4 July 2018 |
| West Ham United | Karen Ray | End of interim period | 7 June 2018 | Pre-season | Matt Beard | 7 June 2018 |
| Liverpool | Scott Rodgers | Sacked | 8 June 2018 | Pre-season | Neil Redfearn | 12 June 2018 |
| Yeovil Town | Jamie Sherwood | Appointed Director of Football | 14 June 2018 | Pre-season | Lee Burch | 14 June 2018 |
| Liverpool | Neil Redfearn | Resigned | 14 September 2018 | 11th | Vicky Jepson | 26 October 2018 |
| Everton | Andy Spence | Sacked | 7 November 2018 | 11th | Willie Kirk | 1 December 2018 |
| Birmingham City | Marc Skinner | Signed with Orlando Pride | 11 January 2019 | 4th | Marta Tejedor | 21 January 2019 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Arsenal (C) | 20 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 70 | 13 | +57 | 54 | Qualification for the Champions League |
| 2 | Manchester City | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 53 | 17 | +36 | 47 | Qualification for the Champions League |
| 3 | Chelsea | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 46 | 14 | +32 | 42 | |
| 4 | Birmingham City | 20 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 29 | 17 | +12 | 40 | |
| 5 | Reading | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 33 | 30 | +3 | 27 | |
| 6 | Bristol City | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 34 | −17 | 25 | |
| 7 | West Ham United | 20 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 25 | 37 | −12 | 23 | |
| 8 | Liverpool | 20 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 21 | 38 | −17 | 22 | |
| 9 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 20 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 38 | −22 | 16 | |
| 10 | Everton | 20 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 15 | 38 | −23 | 12 | |
| 11 | Yeovil Town (R) | 20 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 11 | 60 | −49 | −3 | Relegation to the Championship |
* ↑ Yeovil Town deducted 10 points for entering administration.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ARS | BIR | BRH | BRI | CHE | EVE | LIV | MCI | REA | WHU | YEO |
| Arsenal | — | 3–1 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 4–3 | 3–0 |
| Birmingham City | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 0–4 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–6 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Bristol City | 0–4 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 |
| Chelsea | 0–5 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 6–0 | — | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 |
| Everton | 0–4 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 0–4 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Liverpool | 1–5 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 5–2 | 0–4 | 3–1 | — | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Manchester City | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 7–1 | 2–1 |
| Reading | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–4 | — | 1–2 | 4–0 |
| West Ham United | 2–4 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 |
| Yeovil Town | 0–7 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–8 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 0–5 | 0–5 | — |

## Position by round

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| Arsenal | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Birmingham City | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Bristol City | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Chelsea | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Everton | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Liverpool | 7 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Manchester City | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Reading | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| West Ham United | 11 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Yeovil Town | 8 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
* Qualification to Champions League
* Relegation to Championship

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

Top scorers :
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Vivianne Miedema | Arsenal | 22 |
| 2 | Nikita Parris | Manchester City | 19 |
| 3 | Bethany England | Chelsea | 12 |
| 3 | Fara Williams | Reading | 12 |
| 5 | Georgia Stanway | Manchester City | 11 |
| 5 | Daniëlle van de Donk | Arsenal | 11 |
| 7 | Courtney Sweetman-Kirk | Liverpool | 10 |
| 8 | Fran Kirby | Chelsea | 9 |
| 8 | Jordan Nobbs | Arsenal | 9 |
| 10 | Erin Cuthbert | Chelsea | 8 |
| 10 | Kim Little | Arsenal | 8 |

## Awards
### Monthly awards

Awards by month :
| Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Ref |
| Month | Manager | Club | Player | Club | Ref |
| September | Tanya Oxtoby | Bristol City | Sophie Baggaley | Bristol City | |
| October | Joe Montemurro | Arsenal | Vivianne Miedema | Arsenal | |
| November | Kelly Chambers | Reading | Courtney Sweetman-Kirk | Liverpool | |
| December | Nick Cushing | Manchester City | Georgia Stanway | Manchester City | |
| January | Tanya Oxtoby | Bristol City | Erin Cuthbert | Chelsea | |
| February | Hope Powell | Brighton & Hove Albion | Sophie Harris | Brighton & Hove Albion | |
| March | Joe Montemurro | Arsenal | Beth Mead | Arsenal | |
| April | Marta Tejedor | Birmingham City | Beth Mead | Arsenal | |

### Annual awards

Awards :
| Award | Winner | Club |
| FA WFA Players' Player of the Year | Sophie Baggaley | Bristol City |
| FA WFA Goal of the Year | Beth Mead | Arsenal |
| FA WFA Save of the Year | Megan Walsh | Yeovil Town |
| LMA Manager of the Year | Joe Montemurro | Arsenal |
| PFA Players' Player of the Year | Vivianne Miedema | Arsenal |
| PFA Young Player of the Year | Georgia Stanway | Manchester City |
| PFA Merit Award | Steph Houghton | Manchester City |
| FWA Footballer of the Year | Nikita Parris | Manchester City |
PFA Team of the Year :
| Goalkeeper | Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) | Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) | Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) | Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) | Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) | Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) | Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) | Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) | Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) | Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) | Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) | Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) |
| Defence | Hannah Blundell (Chelsea) | Hannah Blundell (Chelsea) | Hannah Blundell (Chelsea) | Aoife Mannion (Birmingham City) | Aoife Mannion (Birmingham City) | Aoife Mannion (Birmingham City) | Steph Houghton (Manchester City) | Steph Houghton (Manchester City) | Steph Houghton (Manchester City) | Demi Stokes (Manchester City) | Demi Stokes (Manchester City) | Demi Stokes (Manchester City) |
| Midfield | Ji So-Yun (Chelsea) | Ji So-Yun (Chelsea) | Ji So-Yun (Chelsea) | Ji So-Yun (Chelsea) | Kim Little (Arsenal) | Kim Little (Arsenal) | Kim Little (Arsenal) | Kim Little (Arsenal) | Lia Wälti (Arsenal) | Lia Wälti (Arsenal) | Lia Wälti (Arsenal) | Lia Wälti (Arsenal) |
| Attack | Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal) | Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal) | Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal) | Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal) | Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea) | Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea) | Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea) | Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea) | Nikita Parris (Manchester City) | Nikita Parris (Manchester City) | Nikita Parris (Manchester City) | Nikita Parris (Manchester City) |