It is safe to say that here at Edge of the Area we are really happy to see there is only 1 month to go until the WSL returns. We aren't sure why but it seems like we haven't seen a WSL game in ages and we are definitely missing it so the countdown to the 1st of October is on. 

One reason we might be missing the WSL so much is because we were spoiled with an absolutely brilliant summer of women's football. A lot of you may agree that this summers World Cup was the most fascinating and exciting yet. Previous World Cups you could call the results and the way the game would go before the first ball was kicked however, this time around you couldn't call a single game as those teams that were considered outsiders or underdogs were making an impact on the pitch and showing us they are more than capable of putting in a great performance on the World stage and we saw a lot of upsets over the month of football being played. 

The lack of being able to call those results really carried on from last seasons WSL which again showed some shock results and those teams you wouldn't expect taking points of those big teams that weren't used to dropping points. Seeing these results at both domestic and interantional level just goes to show how the womens game is developing overall and fingers crossed the 2023/24 WSL provides us with plenty more upsets and entertaining football. 

The 2022/23 season was absolutely fantastic with the table being so close at both ends, there was very close competition between the top 3 teams, with Chelsea just beating Manchester United to the title by a single point on the final day of the season and the bottom two teams going down to the wire too. It was nice to see the league being so competitive for a change and Chelsea not having won it with plenty of games left, it just showed the progression of the league and how things are really starting to change in the women's game. Fingers crossed we see this happening again in the 2023/24 season and teams continue to push for those champions league spots and avoid relegation. With the way the transfer window is going at the moment all the teams are strengthening their ranks and looking at who some teams have added we could be for an interesting season which could go either way. The transfer window has been a good one so far but more on that in a whole post of its own, with a few weeks left of it too we could easily see teams add even more strength to their squads but we could also see some teams lose some big names if rumours turn into reality.

The players we are seeing come into the league have the potential to make a huge impact if they gel quickly alongside new team mates and they could very easily help their teams improve on last seasons results. Aston Villa in particular have done yet more fantastic business this transfer window and we saw how well they did after the January window so are we going to see them really trying for a Champions League spot? They certainly have a good chance if last season is anything to go by.

Last season was also full of injuries for a lot of teams, poor Arsenal were one of the worst effected so it is going to be interesting to see how the new season will play out for those returning from injury. Arsenal's team is definitely going to be boosted once those big players return and we could see them really start to pick up pace and get back into a title race. Last time around we saw league newcomers Liverpool do well and cause a few upsets so are this seasons new arrivals Bristol City going to have the same impact? It is going to be interesting to see. 

The competition is definitely going to be tight between those 12 teams this season however, here at Edge of the Area we are still wishing that we had an expansion to allow more teams into the top flight to make competition even closer and also have less breaks in the league due to more fixtures needing to be filled however, once again there is a whole separate post coming on this topic very soon as we have been thinking about if this happened for a while now.

As for the season though we will once again be back at Manchester United but are hoping to watch plenty of other games over the course of the season too through either FA Player or those games that are being shown live on TV, let's hope there are plenty more of those this season too so fans of the league can get their fix every weekend. 

Now bring on the 1st of October for hopefully more entertaining football, more growth of the game and some more shock results. Us fans could really be in for a treat.