The existential threat facing women’s football

An hour before the Premier League announced its revised fixture list the decision was taken to end the Women’s Super League season, writes Mark Critchley. It is unclear how and when the league will return

Chelsea have won the 2019/20 Women's Super League (Getty)

Only an hour before the Premier League announced its revised fixture list as part of the hotly-anticipated ‘Project Restart’, the women’s football season reached a final conclusion. The Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship had been decided on a points-per-game basis, the Football Association announced on Friday morning.

Chelsea leapfrogged Manchester City to be crowned champions, Liverpool were relegated and Aston Villa were promoted from the second tier to take their place. With that, despite there being more than a quarter of matches still to play, a season of record attendances and unprecedented publicity had ended in a boardroom.

Though disappointing, it’s hardly a surprise. The decision to curtail the season came as a relief to the many women’s clubs who winced at the cost of restarting. The financial imperatives driving ‘Project Restart’ do not yet exist in the women’s game. Finishing the season would cost money, not save it. For that reason alone, restarting was always unlikely.