It has been mentioned a lot recently but the standard of women's football is just getting better and better, young players are bursting onto the scene making a name for themselves whilst players who have been around a lot longer are finally being drawn to fans attention rather than them slipping under the radar like they may previously have done. We saw at he summers World Cup just how the standard has grown with teams who might have previously been written off stepping up to cause plenty of upsets. There was a nice mix of young and experienced players in the tournament who stood out and no doubt their market value will have massively increased due to their performances. There is a lot of potential out there at the moment to really build upon existing squads which got us thinking about which players we would love to see join a team over here in the WSL. 

It was very difficult to narrow it down to a handful of players we would love to see playing week in week out in the WSL but these are the players we would really love to see tearing up the league which with their skill levels no doubt they would make a huge impact in any team over here (at the time of posting these players currently aren't playing in the WSL but who knows miracles can happen and one day the might end up over here)....

Well the new WSL is fast approaching, the FAWNL & Championship is in full swing and here at Edge of the Area we are looking forward to posting a whole lot more content than usual, this is the season where coverage is taken up a notch and posts become a lot more frequent. It is definitely going to be a busy season as not only have we renewed our season tickets at Manchester United Women but we are also hoping to get to more games from the FAWNL and even the Championship if there are no game clashes. I am also back playing again which takes up a fair bit of time however, we are hopeful that with a little bit of planning and more organisation we can balance playing and watching and produce even more content than we have previously. 

There is plenty of content in the works and the plan is to be posting to the blog every Monday through to Friday, who knows there might be the occasional weekend post too if it does get really busy with content building up. So here is the type of content you can expect to be seeing..

Match previews

If there are any particular games that we are going to or are planning on watching via the TV coverage then we will be aiming to get a preview up for those games. One preview per week is the aim however, who knows if it is a particular good week for accessibility to games there may be more than one preview going live that particular week. These posts will just give a little snap shot and background of the game before it takes place.

Match reports

The games that have been previewed will be followed up with a match report too with the full low down of how each of those games went. Match reports have been a long time favourite of ours so we are definitely looking forward to increasing the amount of these we write this season. We will definitely be writing reports of those games we go to watch but also any we manage to catch on the TV so we should be doing plenty of these.

Interviews

The interviews are finally coming back. We are finally at the stage where we can carry out more interviews so keep an eye out for them coming to the blog across the course of the season. There will be a nice mix of interviews too from players and managers, if all goes to plan there will be a nice mix of levels of the game being highlighted too. We are definitely looking forward to getting stuck into these interviews.

Opinion pieces are back

Another type of content that is coming back are the opinion pieces. It has been a while since we have done these types of posts as they are definitely time consuming however, we are ready to bring them back and thankfully the game recently has led to plenty of ideas being put in place for future topics. No doubt there will be plenty more goings on throughout the season too to add to the growing list of topics.

International as well as domestic games

We have neglected the International game in recent years in all honesty however, this year we are planning to provide a lot more International coverage as well as the coverage of the domestic game. This might be a big focus on the Lionesses however, we will try bring other nations in too when it is needed. There is actually a fair bit of Lionesses content planned this month so keep an eye out for that. 

Halifax Friendly Belles content

It would be rude for me not to include the team I am playing for in my content wouldn't it. With the season now underway you can expect to see plenty of Belles related content on the blog and definitely on social media. The main posts will be match reports from games I have played in but no doubt other topics will crop up as the season goes on too. 

So there you have it those are the main pieces of content you can expect to see over the course of this season which is bound to keep us busy. With how teams are building their squad there should be plenty of topics for us to cover, we are now just at that stage where we want the WSL to kick off so we can see what this season has in store for us. Alongside more blog content get ready for plenty more social media content too with live tweeting of games and plenty of Instagram & TikTok content in the works.

Now lets get this seasons content underway...

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.

New Zealand 1-0 Norway

This was always going to be a good game to see how New Zealand would do on home soil and how Norway would bounce back on the big stage after a disappointing Euros campaign last summer. Granted the game didn't get off to the best start with a bit of a scrappy first half but both sides really started to grow into the game, maybe the pressure was on both teams shoulders but they soon settled down and started to play some good football. The first half didn't really have anything to write home about however, as soon as the game restarted for the second half it is safe to say the teams were out fighting to try get those first points of the tournament. It didn't take long for New Zealand to score the opening goal with a brilliant strike from one of our ones to watch Hannah Wilkinson. It just had to be Wilkinson to open the scoring and no doubt we will see her name on the score sheet a few more times this tournament. 

VAR has been brought into the World Cup this time around and we saw it in action for the first time in the second half of the game when it was needed to determine if New Zealand should be awarded a penalty, in the end nothing was given however, not long after we did see VAR back in use and this time New Zealand got a penalty after a handball inside the area, the addition of VAR could prove to be useful but let's just hope we don't see lots of added time on games due to it's use. Unfortunately for New Zealand though the penalty they were awarded didn't find its way to the back of the net, instead Percival's shot ended up rattling the cross bar before finding its way out of play keeping the score line at 1-0. Both teams definitely kept pushing to change this score line and both teams had there chances to do so with the best chance falling to Norway however, a brilliant strike ended up hitting the cross bar before being cleared out of danger. Norway never sat back and admitted defeat though even when a player was down with cramp they literally picked her up and carried her to the physio on the touchline for treatment rather than slow down the game, they believed they could try get a goal back but unfortunately ran out of time.

Norway were definitely pushing but to be honest it felt like it did back in the summer of 2022 at the Euros, they just don't seem to be the brilliant Norway we were all so used to seeing, key players can't get into the game and they just can't seem to find the back of the net. New Zealand on the other hand really impressed especially in the second half when they settled into the game and found their rhythm. It is going to be interesting to watch them in this group as they really do have the potential to provide us viewers with some fantastic football to watch. 

The result is not only a victory for New Zealand on home soil in the World Cup opening game but it also a bit of a historic moment as it is the nations first World Cup win, showing just how far they have progressed since their last World Cup.

Australia 1 - 0 Republic of Ireland

The second game of the day saw joint hosts Australia take on the Republic of Ireland. This World Cup is the Republic of Ireland's debut in the competition and I think with the strength of the group a lot of people had already written them off however, we found out today they can hold their own and we could see a few surprises from them. A lot of people had them written off before a single ball was kicked, people were expecting a huge scoreline but Ireland held their own and kept Australia to a 1-0 score line, one that they had to fight for. The goal came from a second half penalty after Raso was brought to ground, captain Catley stepped up and riffled the ball into the top corner leaving Brosnan no chance of reaching it. The fact the only goal came from a penalty for Australia just goes to show how strong Ireland were with there defence, they had their own chances too but just couldn't quite hit the target. 

Both teams played really well throughout the full game which turned into a very physical game which I think everyone was expecting before kick off with those players you expect to throw in a challenge doing exactly that but credit to the referee she kept it flowing when she could although a lot of fouls were eventually called with just the one yellow card given all game. Let's hope a lot of referees throughout the competition have this mindset and we don't see cards handed out for the sake of it and games aren't constantly stop start. Ireland looked good on the attack but just need to work on the play in the final third where as Australia looked like a really strong side overall once they settled into the game and started moving the ball around a bit more freely. 

The game was a bit of the Sam Kerr show with the English commentary having to reference her injury far too many times but the 1-0 victory even with her on the sidelines just goes to show that Australia have grown in recent years and it is no longer just the Kerr show, other players are going to step up when needed and those players are more than capable of getting a result without Kerr on the pitch.

With both hosts recording 3 points in their opening fixtures and competition being quite tight with their opposition I think it is safe to say day one was some great viewing which has left us looking forward to just what is in store for us this summer. 

That might be day one over and done with but day two should be another great day of football with three more games to be played between some great teams.

Here we go, we are back again with some more players to watch throughout the World Cup. Last time we took a look at groups A & B so we are moving onto groups C & D which once again hosts a lot of talent with some players getting the chance to really stand out for their nation and play a key part in any progression. There are a nice mix of teams in these groups which host players that fans may be well aware of and also players that have a chance to really make a name for themselves. So here are those players to keep watch in groups C & D...

Group C

Shen Mengyu - China

Mengyu is another young player has the potential to have a big impact for her country this summer. At 21 Mengyu is still developing as a player but is already making a name for herself. Playing her club football in Scotland for Scottish giants Celtic she has a taste for goals and has helped Celtic win multiple trophies since joining the club.  Another midfielder who can score goals as well as create them with a strong versatility of playing positions, she usually operates centrally but can also sit deep or head out wide if required which again will help with China's progression and if they pick up any points from the group. 

Both groups C & D are going to be very interesting to watch with the teams in the groups but these are the 8 players we will be keeping a close eye on as we think they could really make a difference to their nations progression throughout the competition. There are certainly a lot of youngsters in these groups and it is going to be interesting to see how they do on the big stage. 

Don't forget if you haven't read group A & B yet you can do so here, and check back soon for the rest of the tournaments groups.