GW18: A Not So New Venue

What you should know from gameweek 18 of the Barclays Women's Super League...

A NOT SO NEW VENUE

Of all the various storylines from the 2025/26 WSL season, London City Lionesses’ inaugural year in the league is certainly among the most fascinating.

Sitting comfortably in the middle of the table, accruing victories against big name opponents, and signing impressive names, the club, owned by Michele Kang, can consider this gameweek another to note down in their history book.

Obviously, a draw against defending WSL champions (and recent Women’s League Cup victors) Chelsea is quite the moment to remember – Issy Goodwin secured the result in the 82nd minute, levelling the scoreline against Johana Rytting Kaneryd’s goal in the first half.

But, perhaps more interesting, is the site of the fixture. Due to a scheduling clash, London City, the home side for this match, could not host at Hayes Lane which they share with Bromley FC. So far, Hayes Lane has been a stable home for London City who recorded their first sell out at the ground last gameweek when they welcomed Arsenal.

Ultimately, London City moved to The Den, the home of Millwall who was, once upon a time, the club’s owners. London City did not emerge out of thin air when purchased by Kang in 2023. In fact, the team was Millwall Lionesses for many decades until, in May 2019, the women’s team split from it’s parent club. Thus, London City Lionesses were born.

After separating, becoming an independent entity, operating under a new name, new management, and new ownership, returning to The Den sends quite the message, does it not? With genuine investment, strong leadership, and impressive talent, a lot can change in the span of a few years.

HAT-TRICKS GALORE

Who doesn’t love a game with goal, after goal, after goal, after goal? Certainly, for Arsenal and Manchester City fans, this was one of those weekends.

The Gunners have now solidified eight WSL home games unbeaten with this 5–0 conquest over West Ham. In front of a crowd of 24,711, it was Chloe Kelly who brought three of the five golden moments (Stina Blackstenius’ early opener was ultimately awarded to the England international), with fellow Lionesses Alessia Russo and Beth Mead completing the scoresheet.

Sitting fourth in the table, and with two games in hand, the second half of this season is shaping up nicely for the North Londoners – their last WSL defeat was back in October against current league leaders Manchester City.

And speaking of The Blues, a characteristically superb performance from Bunny Shaw resulted in the fastest hat-trick in WSL history – and incase that, for some reason, wasn’t impressive enough, it’s her fourth successive hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur at home.

The London visitor’s did manage to net two, courtesy of Olivia Holdt and Bethany England, but the power of City (and Shaw) is seemingly impossible to contain this season. With only a handful of fixtures remaining, and eight points ahead of the pack, City don’t need to put on these sorts of performances. Instead, they want to.

OTHER GAMES ACROSS THE WEEKEND

Manchester United V Everton

2–1

Brighton V Liverpool

0–0

Leicester City V Aston Villa

1–2