Manchester City lead the way in Karen Carney's 2025-26 Women's Super League review

Manchester City Women's title win has them atop the end of season honours Getty Images Share articleThe 2025-26 Women’s Super League season came to a close over the weekend, concluding a campaign that saw Chelsea’s domestic dominance end and Manchester City claim a first league title in a decade. Starting a season off the back of a major summer tournament is always tough as a player. You have exerted so much energy for your country and must still perform for your club. Still, this campaign delivered entertainment, drama and plenty of storylines — and I’ve loved covering it. With a World Cup next summer in Brazil and potentially as many as three teams coming up from WSL2, next season promises to be really special. But for now, it’s time to reflect on the campaign we’ve just enjoyed. Here are my highlights from the 2025-26 WSL season. It has to be Shaw. The Manchester City striker won a third WSL golden boot after scoring 21 goals in 22 league appearances, firing City to their first title since 2016. She has scored important goals — from the late brace to see City past Leicester in December, to the 86th-minute winner against London City Lionesses in January — and has broken records along the way too, including the fastest hat-trick in WSL history at 12 minutes and 37 seconds against Tottenham Hotspur in March. What has impressed me about this season is her consistency: she has proven herself time and time again to be a difference maker. Shaw demonstrated this again during last Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final comeback win against Chelsea, dragging City from the cusp of elimination and into the final at Wembley Stadium with two crucial goals. It’s going to be interesting to see where she ends up with her contract situation. Her deal expires at the end of the season, and she hasn’t reached an agreement with City, while The Athletic has reported she has had a big offer from Chelsea. Her performances this season have put her in a great position to go wherever she wants. She may have only joined the club in January, but that speaks to the impact Signe Gaupset has made in such a short period that she has my young player of the year pick. The 20-year-old midfielder moved to Spurs from Molde, and I’ve liked watching her play because she is strong, powerful, has very good feet and has shown she has a goalscoring pedigree. Like any young player, I am excited to see her keep improving. She has the potential to be one of the top players in the WSL. What Andree Jeglertz has done in his first season at City is so impressive. He masterminded a 13-match winning streak between September and February, which took City to the top of the table, and kept them there to win a first WSL title in 10 years. He’s got the group playing some really good football: dynamic, versatile and fast-paced. Again, the FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea demonstrated the qualities he has shown across the season. With his side 2-0 down, he made some tactical changes and brave substitutions, bringing on Iman Beney, Aoba Fujino and Mary Fowler, and changed the game. City have been very consistent this season, and Jeglertz has not made too many changes to his starting XI, but a sign of a good manager is when you call on your bench and bring on players who, although they might not have played that much, still feel valued, still feel hungry, and can still make a big difference. Jeglertz has managed the squad well, and next season will be a test with Champions League football to contend with. After his impact in his debut season, I’m intrigued to see where he can take this team next. Maybe I’m just getting excited because she is a strong English talent and we have a World Cup to look forward to next year… but Aston Villa’s signing of midfielder Lucia Kendall from Southampton is my pick. She has made the step up from the second tier and forced her way into the England squad during her first season at Villa — and she’s still only 21. Kendall has got quality in possession; she’s physical and versatile. When she was out of the team in January due to injury, Villa really missed her. A shoutout to forward Freya Godfrey, too, who joined London City Lionesses from Arsenal in the summer, and has impressed me with her creativity. Her goal against Manchester City in January was special. And Liverpool’s January business also deserves an honourable mention. The club were in trouble at the turn of the year, bottom of the WSL and facing a relegation play-off. However, they were ambitious and brought in six key signings, which helped push them away from the drop. Although City’s title win didn’t come via a dramatic on-pitch moment for them — instead, without them kicking a ball and through Arsenal dropping points — it did signify a massive moment. It marked two significant records coming to an end: Chelsea’s run of six consecutive WSL titles, and City’s 10-year wait to be crowned league champions. For such a big club to have not won a league title in a decade is huge; City had finished as runners-up on five occasions in that time. This season, they finally got over the line. Your 2025/26 @BarclaysWSL Champions 🏆 pic.twitter.com/5rwvRy8eIp — Manchester City Women (@ManCityWomen) May 16, 2026 The challenge for City next season is: how do they make sure they don’t go that long again without winning the title? It can’t be 10 years until they next win it. How do they make sure they’re up there challenging consistently? It also offers a warning to Chelsea ahead of an important summer as they transition the squad. The club have to get the rebuild right, because City have shown how long it can take to get back to the top. … seeing Birmingham impose themselves on the WSL after they secured promotion back to the top flight. It is a club close to my heart, the team I grew up supporting, where I came through the academy and made my senior debut. We came so close to winning the WSL with Birmingham in 2014, so it’s great to see the club back competing with the country’s best. It’s going to be interesting to see how the promoted teams get on next season, especially after London City Lionesses stopped the trend of the league’s newbies struggling and going straight back down (aided by their ambitious transfer window). It’s the first season since 2019-20 that we’ll have at least two teams coming up from WSL2, and with just one relegation spot. It’s exciting to have more teams join the league and, hopefully, it adds even more jeopardy. Spot the pattern. 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