Key events
Speaking of ‘goalkeeper timeouts’ in football – across the men’s and women’s game – what are your thoughts on them? Do you think they should be prevented in some way? If so, what would be the best way to go about doing that? Let me know!
Charles Antaki has messaged in to say:
“The choice of Stéphanie Frappart to referee the final looks a good one; she’s become a fairly familiar figure in Champions League games, and has certainly done a good job so far here in the games I’ve seen. A couple of other refs have seemed rather pedantic at times. She has the appropriate don’t-mess-with-me glare but seems willing to just get on with it. Sadly, though, neither she or any of the other refs are going to be able to stop goalkeepers feigning injury to get their team some emergency coaching…”
Son Heung-min is a target for Los Angeles FC and they have made their interest in him known to Tottenham. The London club have yet to receive any bids for Son but they can expect one from LAFC, which would leave their highest-profile player with a decision to make.
Speaking of transfers, you can keep up to date with all the latest moves in the top leagues with our transfer interactives.
Some transfer news for you now as multiple reports are claiming that Viktor Gyökeres will undergo his Arsenal medical tomorrow. It has also been reported that he is expected to wear the iconic No14 shirt, previously held by the likes of Thierry Henry, Theo Walcott and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Tom Garry
A trial that allows fans to drink alcohol while in the stands is being expanded to include 14 Women’s Super League and WSL 2 clubs from the new season, including all of the top-flight’s ‘big four’ teams.
Every club across both divisions was offered the chance to take part. The full list of clubs whose home games will be included in the trial are:
It follows a four-club trial that began in the second half of last season, enabling fans to drink from the stands the second-tier clubs Birmingham City, Bristol City, Newcastle United and Southampton, which saw 19 league fixtures included. No safety incidents were reported from any of those games. A subsequent fan survey found that 66% were in support of the trial going forwards, the league have said.
Drinking in view of the pitch is prohibited in men’s professional football in England and Wales, under the Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc.) Act of 1985, but the women’s professional game is not covered by that legislation.
The WSL clubs included are:
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Arsenal (Emirates Stadium)
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Chelsea (Kingsmeadow & Stamford Bridge)*
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Everton (Goodison Park)
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Liverpool (St Helens & Anfield)
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London City Lionesses (Hayes Lane)*
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Manchester City (Joie Stadium)
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Manchester United (Leigh Sports Village & Old Trafford)
The WSL2 clubs included are:
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Birmingham City (St Andrew’s)
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Bristol City (Ashton Gate)
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Crystal Palace (Sutton United)
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Newcastle United (St James’ Park)*
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Sheffield United (Bramall Lane)
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Sunderland (Stadium of Light)
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Southampton (St Mary’s Stadium)
The latest edition of our Moving the Goalposts newsletter dropped yesterday. Be sure to give it a read.
If you haven’t already, be sure to subscribe to our Moving the Goalposts newsletter for regular updates on women’s football. You’ll receive stories, features and interviews straight to your inbox twice a week. If there’s any time to sign up, it’s now!
Jonathan Liew
“There is a counterfactual history of England’s Euro 2025 to be written in which Chloe Kelly does not post her astonishing social media tirade against Manchester City at the end of January. In which she does not get the move to Arsenal that rescues her career, does not win back her England place, does not rescue the quarter-final against Sweden or score the winning goal against Italy. And – quite frankly – it is a history in which England’s players are watching Sunday’s final from their sofas…”
The officials for Sunday’s final were announced last night:
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Referee: Stéphanie Frappart
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Assistant referees: Camille Soriano, Francesca di Monte
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Fourth official: Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi
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Reserve assistant referee: Susanne Küng
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VAR: Willy Delajod
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Assistant VAR: Christian Dingert
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VAR supervisor: Dennis Higler
Keira Walsh has said she hopes Spain’s players are able to “just enjoy the game of football” when they face England in the Euro 2025 final on Sunday after their World Cup final victory two years ago was overshadowed by Luis Rubiales’s actions afterwards.
Reflecting on England’s 2023 World Cup final defeat to Spain, Keira Walsh said: “Obviously it was a massive disappointment. From a collective we probably feel like we didn’t have our best performance that day. But as a football player you can become too emotional and if you pull too much on that then you can be too emotional. This is a new game, new team, we know what we bring in this tournament so we’re going to keep doing that and focus on the positives, not try and draw on that too much.
“Obviously we think about it a little bit but, for us, we’ll put it to the side and focus on Sunday. As I said, we’ve got so many new players in this team who are really confident and can bring so many new things to this team which is exciting, so we can just focus on the positives.”
On the rivalry between England and Spain, Keira Walsh said: “It is a rivalry. There is respect between the teams and they play incredible football. We know that we can do on our day as well so it’s going to be an exciting game and hopefully it’s a good one for the fans to watch.”
England midfielder Keira Walsh spoke to the media yesterday to preview Sunday’s final. She said: “There’s a lot of respect between both the teams. I think the most important thing for them is that they can enjoy this final. There’s no controversy surrounding it. The girls deserve to be there, they play incredible football. So first and foremost, for them as human beings is that they can go out there and actually enjoy this game.”
England will have had one recovery day more than Spain when Sunday’s final arrives. Could that increase their chances of winning the European title again?
Tom Garry has looked into it…
WSL2 fixtures announced
The 2025-26 fixtures for the WSL2 – formerly known as the Women’s Championship – have also been released. Here are the games taking place on the opening weekend of the campaign, starting September 5:
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Sheffield United v Sunderland (5/9)
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Southampton v Ipswich (6/9)
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Birmingham v Bristol City (7/9)
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Charlton v Crystal Palace (7/9)
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Nottingham Forest v Newcastle (7/9)
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Portsmouth v Durham (7/9)
Here are the WSL games scheduled for the final week of the season, set to take place on the 16th or 17th May 2026:
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Brighton v Tottenham
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Chelsea v Manchester United
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Everton v Leicester
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Liverpool v Arsenal
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London City Lionesses v Aston Villa
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West Ham v Manchester City
Tom Garry
Sky Sports is intending to schedule the majority of its live Women’s Super League matches at noon on Sundays in the new season, the Guardian understands, as the division seeks to establish a new regular slot.
WSL fixtures announced
The WSL fixtures for the 2025-26 season have been announced this morning. Here are the games taking place on the opening weekend of the campaign, starting September 5:
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Chelsea v Manchester City (5/9)
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Arsenal v London City Lionesses (6/9)
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Brighton v Aston Villa (7/9)
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Liverpool v Everton (7/9)
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Manchester United v Leicester (7/9)
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Tottenham v West Ham (7/9)
Preamble
The countdown to the Euro 2025 final is on. There are just two days to go before England take on Spain in Basel. Preparations for the showpiece event are underway with both teams set for their penultimate training sessions. I’ll be bringing you all the latest from Switzerland throughout the day, along with news and transfer updates from the wider football world.
Join me!
