Liverpool Football Club Women haven’t won the Women’s Super League since their second title back in 2014. In recent years, the WSL has been dominated by clubs from London. But as one of the founding members of the Women’s Super League, should Liverpool not be looking to do better?
Liverpool is not in the running to win again in 2023/23
Currently, the team isn’t doing as well as it could in the WSL. In the 2022/23 season, Matt Beard’s team could only manage seventh. The club's top scorer in the last campaign was Katie Stengal, with nine goals.
As a result of the domination of the London clubs in the women’s game, Liverpool is not in the running to win the title again in the 2023/24 season. The front runners with the bookmakers are Chelsea at 11/10, with Arsenal at 7/4. Liverpool are 1500/1, and that’s where Liverpool are at these days. In the latest women’s world cup odds, Stengal’s USWNT is favoured to win at 5/2. But Stengal, one of Liverpool’s star players, can’t even get into the US World Cup squad. In fact, she has never been capped by the senior team.
We can confirm Katie Stengel has joined NJ/NY Gotham FC on loan.
— Liverpool FC Women (@LiverpoolFCW) July 5, 2023
The 31-year-old will return to the NWSL during the break in the @BarclaysWSL season, with the loan concluding on September 3.
Stengal has headed back to the US on loan at NJ/NY Gotham FC. This is to cover for Gotham players who have been selected for the 2023 US Women’s World Cup squad. This, along with no Liverpool representation in the England Women's World Cup squad, suggests the club is now playing catch-up in the women’s game.
The Reds should be aiming higher in the women’s game
Katie Stengal’s non-selection for the US World Cup squad alone isn’t evidence that Liverpool isn’t trying or investing in women’s football. But it could and should serve as a wake-up call.
The club as a whole is better than this. They should be aspiring to do better than they are in the Women’s Super League. Liverpool Women has an esteemed history within the female game. The team dates back to 1989. Back then the club was known as Newton LFC, although it wasn’t until 1994, and after two rebrands, that they became the official women’s team of Liverpool Football Club.
In 2011, Liverpool Women were one of the founding members of the WSL, and in 2012 they became the first English club to offer full-time professional contracts to all its female players. Liverpool was one of the original trailblazers of the women’s game. But this no longer seems to be the case.
Investment is overdue
After the Gillett and Hicks era, the club needed rebuilding on and off the pitch, which involved a lot of money and a lot of planning.
Full story as Jurgen Klopp agrees to become Liverpool manager - Sky sources: http://t.co/2Xf03xeoSG pic.twitter.com/5BV4O9KAYL
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 8, 2015
This has successfully happened with the men’s team. The shrewd acquisition of Jurgen Klopp has seen them bounce back to once again become one of the top teams in England and Europe.
But this hasn’t been replicated in the Liverpool women’s team. And things need to change at Prenton Park if this team is to be restored to its former glory.
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