2023–24 Women's Super League

The 2023–24 Women's Super League season (also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th season of the Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010. It was the fifth season after the rebranding of the four highest levels in English women's football.^[1]

Women's Super League

Season	2023–24
Dates	1 October 2023 – 18 May 2024
Champions	Chelsea 7th title
Relegated	Bristol City
Champions League	Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal
Matches played	132
Goals scored	437 (3.31 per match)
Top goalscorer	Khadija Shaw (21 goals)
Biggest home win	Chelsea 8–0 Bristol City 5 May 2024
Biggest away win	Aston Villa 0–6 Chelsea 4 November 2023 Manchester United 0–6 Chelsea 18 May 2024
Highest scoring	Bristol City 3–7 Brighton & Hove Albion 3 March 2024
Longest winning run	14 games Manchester City
Longest unbeaten run	14 games Manchester City
Longest winless run	17 games Bristol City
Longest losing run	9 games Bristol City
Highest attendance	60,160 Arsenal 3–1 Manchester United 17 February 2024
Total attendance	971,977
Average attendance	7,363
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

Reigning champions Chelsea won their fifth consecutive and seventh overall title. Bristol City were relegated to the Championship.

Teams

Twelve teams contested the 2023–24 Women's Super League season. Bristol City were confirmed as 2022–23 Women's Championship champions on 3 April 2022, ensuring that they would return to the WSL for the first time since the 2020–21 season after a two-year absence.^[2] They replaced Reading, who were relegated after defeat on the final day to eventual WSL title winners Chelsea, ending a seven-season spell in the WSL dating back to 2016.^[3]

Arsenal

Aston Villa

Brighton & Hove Albion

Bristol City

Chelsea

Everton

Leicester City

Liverpool

Man. City

Man. United

Tottenham

West Ham United

Locations of the 2023–24 WSL teams

Team	Location	Ground	Capacity	2022–23 season
Arsenal	Borehamwood	Meadow Park[a]	4,500	3rd
Aston Villa	Walsall	Bescot Stadium[b]	11,300	5th
Brighton & Hove Albion	Crawley	Broadfield Stadium[c]	5,800	11th
Bristol City	Bristol	Ashton Gate	27,000	WC, 1st
Chelsea	Kingston upon Thames	Kingsmeadow[d]	4,850	1st
Everton	Liverpool	Walton Hall Park[e]	2,200	6th
Leicester City	Leicester	King Power Stadium[f]	32,212	10th
Liverpool	Birkenhead	Prenton Park[g]	16,547	7th
Manchester City	Manchester	Academy Stadium[h]	7,000	4th
Manchester United	Leigh	Leigh Sports Village[i]	12,000	2nd
Tottenham Hotspur	Leyton	Brisbane Road[j]	9,271	9th
West Ham United	Dagenham	Victoria Road	6,078	8th

1. Six matches moved to Emirates Stadium.
2. Three matches moved to Villa Park.
3. Two matches moved to Falmer Stadium.
4. Four matches moved to Stamford Bridge.
5. Match v Liverpool moved to Goodison Park.
6. Match v Aston Villa moved to Pirelli Stadium.
7. Match v Everton moved to Anfield.
8. Match v Manchester United moved to City of Manchester Stadium.
9. Two matches moved to Old Trafford.
10. Two matches moved to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Stadium changes

Ahead of the season, newly-promoted Bristol City confirmed the women's team's primary home ground would be the club's main stadium, Aston Gate. They moved from the Robins High Performance Centre in Failand after one season.^[4]

In addition, nine of the 10 clubs whose women's team played at secondary stadia moved select matches to the club's primary ground throughout the season. West Ham United were the only team not to do this. Leicester City moved one match, against Aston Villa on 19 January 2024, to their backup venue of Pirelli Stadium in Burton upon Trent, due to maintenance at the King Power.^[5]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor	Shirt sponsor (sleeve)	Shirt sponsor (back)	Shorts sponsor
Arsenal	Jonas Eidevall	Kim Little	Adidas	Fly Emirates	Visit Rwanda	None	None
Aston Villa	Carla Ward	Rachel Corsie	Castore	Cazoo	Trade Nation	None	None
Brighton & Hove Albion	Mikey Harris (interim)	Vicky Losada[6]	Nike	American Express	Snickers UK	None	None
Bristol City	Lauren Smith	Megan Connolly[7]	O'Neills	Hubbo	UWE Bristol	Thatchers Cider	Digital NRG
Chelsea	Emma Hayes	Millie Bright	Nike	Infinite Athlete	BingX	None	Singer Capital Markets
Everton	Brian Sørensen	Megan Finnigan[8]	Hummel	Stake.com	KICK	Christopher Ward	None
Leicester City	Jennifer Foster (interim)	Aileen Whelan	Adidas	King Power	Bia Saigon	Sekonda	None
Liverpool	Matt Beard	Niamh Fahey	Nike	Standard Chartered	Expedia	None	None
Manchester City	Gareth Taylor	Steph Houghton	Puma	Etihad Airways	OKX	Nissan	Joie
Manchester United	Marc Skinner	Katie Zelem	Adidas	TeamViewer	DXC Technology	None	None
Tottenham Hotspur	Robert Vilahamn	Bethany England[9]	Nike	AIA	Cinch	Tumi	None
West Ham United	Rehanne Skinner	Mackenzie Arnold[10]	Umbro	Betway	JD Sports	ZO Skin Health	Maldon Accident Repair Centre

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
West Ham United	Paul Konchesky	Mutual consent	28 May 2023[11]	End of season (8th)	Rehanne Skinner	20 July 2023[12]
Tottenham Hotspur	Vicky Jepson	End of interim period	30 June 2023[13]	End of season (9th)	Robert Vilahamn	7 July 2023[14]
Brighton & Hove Albion	Melissa Phillips	Sacked	1 February 2024[15]	10th	Mikey Harris (interim)	1 February 2024[15]
Leicester City	Willie Kirk	Sacked[a]	8 March 2024[17]	7th	Jennifer Foster (interim)	8 March 2024[16][17]

1. Kirk was suspended on 8 March 2024 following allegations of a relationship with a player with Foster assuming the role of interim manager.^[16] He was sacked on 28 March.^[17]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Chelsea (C)	22	18	1	3	71	18	+53	55	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Manchester City	22	18	1	3	61	15	+46	55	Qualification for the Champions League second round
3	Arsenal	22	16	2	4	53	20	+33	50	Qualification for the Champions League first round
4	Liverpool	22	12	5	5	36	28	+8	41
5	Manchester United	22	10	5	7	42	32	+10	35
6	Tottenham Hotspur	22	8	7	7	31	36	−5	31
7	Aston Villa	22	7	3	12	27	43	−16	24
8	Everton	22	6	5	11	24	37	−13	23
9	Brighton & Hove Albion	22	5	4	13	26	48	−22	19
10	Leicester City	22	4	6	12	26	45	−19	18
11	West Ham United	22	3	6	13	20	45	−25	15
12	Bristol City (R)	22	1	3	18	20	70	−50	6	Relegation to the Championship

Source: Women's Super League Table
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	AVL	BHA	BRI	CHE	EVE	LEI	LIV	MCI	MUN	TOT	WHU
Arsenal		2–1	5–0	5–0	4–1	2–1	3–0	0–1	2–1	3–1	1–0	3–0
Aston Villa	1–3		1–0	2–2	0–6	1–2	2–2	1–4	1–2	1–2	2–4	1–1
Brighton & Hove Albion	0–3	0–1		3–2	0–3	1–2	2–2	0–1	1–4	2–2	1–3	0–2
Bristol City	1–2	0–2	3–7		0–3	0–4	2–4	0–1	0–4	0–2	0–1	1–2
Chelsea	3–1	3–0	4–2	8–0		3–0	5–2	5–1	0–1	3–1	2–1	2–0
Everton	1–1	1–2	1–2	2–2	0–3		0–1	0–0	1–4	0–5	2–2	2–0
Leicester City	2–6	0–1	2–3	5–2	0–4	1–0		0–4	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–1
Liverpool	0–2	2–0	4–0	1–1	4–3	0–1	2–1		1–4	1–0	1–1	3–1
Manchester City	1–2	2–1	0–1	5–0	1–1	2–1	2–0	5–1		3–1	7–0	5–0
Manchester United	2–2	2–1	2–0	2–0	0–6	4–1	1–1	1–2	1–3		2–2	5–0
Tottenham Hotspur	1–0	1–2	1–1	3–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–2	0–4		3–1
West Ham United	2–1	2–3	0–0	2–3	0–2	0–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	3–4

Source: Women's Super League Results and Fixtures
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[18]
1	Khadija Shaw	Manchester City	21
2	Lauren James	Chelsea	13
	Elisabeth Terland	Brighton & Hove Albion
4	Alessia Russo	Arsenal	12
5	Aggie Beever-Jones	Chelsea	11
	Lauren Hemp	Manchester City
7	Amalie Thestrup	Bristol City	9
8	Rachel Daly	Aston Villa	8
	Beth Mead	Arsenal
	Sjoeke Nüsken	Chelsea
	Nikita Parris	Manchester United

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets[19]
1	Khiara Keating	Manchester City	9
2	Mary Earps	Manchester United	7
3	Hannah Hampton	Chelsea	6
4	Courtney Brosnan	Everton	5
	Rachael Laws	Liverpool
	Manuela Zinsberger	Arsenal
7	Zećira Mušović	Chelsea	4
8	Teagan Micah	Liverpool	3
9	Mackenzie Arnold	West Ham United	2
	Sophie Baggaley	Brighton & Hove Albion
	Ann-Katrin Berger	Chelsea
	Sabrina D'Angelo	Arsenal
	Daphne van Domselaar	Aston Villa
	Anna Leat	Aston Villa
	Rebecca Spencer	Tottenham Hotspur

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Women's Super League hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref.
Martha Thomas	Tottenham Hotspur	Aston Villa	4–2 (A)	21 October 2023	[20]
Sjoeke Nüsken	Chelsea	Brighton & Hove Albion	4–2 (H)	22 October 2023	[21]
Lauren James	Chelsea	Liverpool	5–1 (H)	18 November 2023	[22]
Khadija Shaw	Manchester City	Tottenham Hotspur	7–0 (H)	26 November 2023	[23]
		Everton	4–1 (A)	17 December 2023	[24]
Lauren James	Chelsea	Manchester United	3–1 (H)	21 January 2024	[25]
Khadija Shaw	Manchester City	Liverpool	5–1 (H)		[26]
Guro Reiten4	Chelsea	Bristol City	8–0 (H)	5 May 2024	[27]
Leanne Kiernan	Liverpool	Leicester City	4–0 (A)	18 May 2024	[28]

Notes

⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Discipline

	Most yellow cards	Total	Most red cards	Total	Ref.
Player	Hawa Cissoko (West Ham United) Katie McCabe (Arsenal)	8	12 players	1	[29]
Club	Liverpool	41	Manchester City	4	[29]

Attendances

#	Football club	Average attendance[30]
1	Arsenal	29,999
2	Manchester United	10,957
3	Chelsea	9,266
4	Manchester City	7,108
5	Bristol City	6,974
6	Aston Villa	5,100
7	Liverpool	4,668
8	Tottenham Hotspur	4,317
9	Brighton & Hove Albion	3,553
10	Leicester City	2,656
11	Everton	2,071
12	West Ham United	1,892

Awards

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month		Goal of the Month		Ref.
	Manager	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club
October	Willie Kirk	Leicester City	Martha Thomas	Tottenham Hotspur	Cloé Lacasse (vs. Manchester United)	Arsenal	[31][32][33]
November	Jonas Eidevall	Arsenal	Lauren James	Chelsea	Rachel Daly (vs. West Ham United)	Aston Villa	[34][35][36]
December	Matt Beard	Liverpool	Khadija Shaw	Manchester City	Danielle Turner (vs. Manchester City)		[37][38][39]
January	Emma Hayes	Chelsea	Lauren James	Chelsea	Vivianne Miedema (vs. Liverpool)	Arsenal	[40][41][42]
February	Gareth Taylor	Manchester City	Khiara Keating	Manchester City	Aurora Galli (vs. West Ham United)	Everton	[43][44][45]
March			Jess Park		Khadija Shaw (vs. Liverpool)	Manchester City	[46]
April	Brian Sørensen	Everton	Alessia Russo	Arsenal	Ella Toone (vs. Leicester City)	Manchester United	[47][48][49]

Annual awards

Award	Winner	Club
Barclays WSL Player of the Season[50]	Khadija Shaw	Manchester City
Barclays WSL Manager of the Season[51]	Matt Beard	Liverpool
Barclays WSL Goal of the Season[52]	Danielle Turner (vs. Manchester City)	Aston Villa
PFA Players' Player of the Year[53]	Khadija Shaw	Manchester City
PFA Young Player of the Year[54]	Grace Clinton	Tottenham Hotspur
FWA Footballer of the Year[55]	Khadija Shaw	Manchester City

PFA Team of the Year[56]
Goalkeeper	Khiara Keating (Manchester City)
Defenders	Laia Aleixandri (Manchester City)			Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal)			Alex Greenwood (Manchester City)			Niamh Charles (Chelsea)
Midfielders	Grace Clinton (Tottenham Hotspur)				Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea)				Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City)
Forwards	Lauren James (Chelsea)				Khadija Shaw (Manchester City)				Lauren Hemp (Manchester City)