First & Records

While the NWSL is one of the fastest-growing leagues in women’s football , offering opportunities and structures different from those in Europe, its player pool is still largely dominated by Americans. Close behind are players from Mexico and Brazil, alongside a handful of notable Europeans, such as German goalkeeping legend Ann-Katrin Berger or Norway’s Guro Reiten, who recently arrived from Chelsea. But when it comes to Italian players, the league had to wait.

It was a season of broken records. Women’s football is growing, and one of the clearest signs is the ever-increasing amount of money being invested in the women's game. Chelsea set a new benchmark in 2025, Arsenal topped it that summer, and then both London clubs were surpassed by an NWSL side.

Our focus this April is on equity and equal opportunity: a conversation that remains at the very heart of women’s football. All too often, the women’s game is viewed solely through the lens of its male counterpart, ignoring a fundamental truth: the starting lines were never the same.

As Alexia Putellas recently pointed out with stinging clarity, men were competing on the World Cup stage while women were still fighting for the right to vote. Below, we examine the defining milestones that shattered barriers and shaped the modern era of the women’s football.

Equal pay. Equal conditions. Equal respect. Finally. Women’s football has reached full equality. Clubs are investing equally. Salaries are fair. Medical care is consistent. Careers are sustainable.A long-awaited shift. A milestone moment for the game.

The Women’s Super League (WSL) is widely considered the fastest-growing and most followed women's football league in the world. Over the past decade, attendances have risen dramatically, with the league now attracting the world’s best talent and boasting 103m followers globally.

From working shifts at a bank to deciding a Champions League final: Fridolina Rolfö’s journey is anything but ordinary. By the time she signed for Barcelona in 2021 as the club’s first-ever Swedish female player, she was already on an upward trajectory. In Catalonia, she etched her name into history.

It is 2020. While much of the world is still grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, history is being made in London. Chelsea sign Danish forward Pernille Harder from Wolfsburg for a reported fee of around £300,000 - a figure unprecedented in women’s football at the time.

"I am just happy to be the inspiration," said the goalkeeper known for her all time smiley face. And she really is an inspiration, especially for little girls in England. She became England's first ethnic minority goalkeeper.