Chelsea Women 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur Women
Emma Hayes got her Chelsea Women's season off to a flying start at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, inspiring the team to her first opening-day victory in four years.
The 2-1 win against Spurs wasn't without its edgy moments. Especially when Tottenham striker Martha Thomas clawed a goal back with a quarter of an hour remaining. But goals either side of half-time from Mia Fishel (making her league debut for the Blues) and Lauren James were enough to give the champions the start they craved.
Sam Kerr was rested to save her weary legs after the summer's World Cup, but Hayes aims to bring her back this weekend when Chelsea travel to Manchester City's Academy stadium for what promises to be an early cruncher. The game is at 12.30pm on Sunday – and is live on the Beeb.
Hayes was pleased that her players were able to launch their season at Stamford Bridge, rather than Kingsmeadow, because she believes it shows the right intent as interest in the women's game grows. She wants the main Fulham Road stadium to be known as Chelsea's home, rather than the home of Chelsea's men... but the turnout last weekend proved disappointing after all the World Cup ballyhoo and hype.
Fans in stands
While Arsenal Women were able to pack the Emirates stadium with 54,000 fans for the visit of Liverpool, Chelsea Women only attracted 14,776 for their London derby.
Chelsea put a huge effort into promoting the Spurs game at the Bridge, with spectators at the first four men's home games being regularly urged to support the women... but a baseline ticket price of £12 deterred many from bringing a shoal of youngsters with them. Arsenal's cheapest ticket for kids was £4.50 by comparison.
Hayes makes the point that £12 is still good value for a top football match compared to, say, a cinema ticket, but behind the scenes at Chelsea there's a lot of soul-searching about pricing.
The usual crowd at Kingsmeadow is between 2,000 and 3,000, and there simply isn't the critical mass yet to switch many games to Stamford Bridge. Even if prices were to be pegged at Kingsmeadow's 'affordable' rates.
Home games
The bold experiment continues with a lunchtime match against Liverpool on Sunday 19 November at the Bridge. Before that come home games against West Ham and Brighton, when Kingsmeadow will be the venue.
Lauren James's goal against Spurs last weekend will go down in Chelsea history as a real oddity. On 51 minutes, in front of the Matthew Harding stand, Fishel had an initial shot blocked before Guro Reiten followed up and prodded the ball over the line.
She wheeled away in delight, but ref Tom Kirk glanced across at his assistant, whose view had been obstructed and, without confirmation that a goal had been scored, waved play on.
Fortunately for the Blues, cool-headed James continued to play rather than remonstrate with the man in black, and when Niamh Charles revived the attack and crossed, James fired the ball into the goal for a second time!
Although goal line technology and VAR are installed at the Bridge, the systems are still undergoing trials for the women's game and aren't officially adopted. Mind you, after the furore around VAR's perverse decision to deny Liverpool's men a perfectly good goal at the weekend, there's still a question mark over its use.
Whether Lauren James's strike goes down in Blues folklore as the goal that was scored twice, the crucial outcome for Hayes was the three points, meaning the club isn't having to play catch-up this season.
From the Cottage to Burnley
Meanwhile Chelsea's men travel to Burnley on Saturday after hushing the noisy neighbours with a deserved 2-0 win at Craven Cottage on Monday night.
Fulham lacked their usual adventurous spirit, and two quick-fire first-half goals from Armando Broja and Mykhailo Mudryk in the space of a minute knocked the stuffing out of the home side. Mauricio Pochettino is still plotting to bring in yet more talent early in the January transfer window.
For Emma Hayes, however, the rapid way in which defender Ash Lawrence and striker Fishel have adapted to the pace of the Women's Super League means there's no urgent need to go shopping.
As well as Kerr, defender Kadeisha Buchanan will be available for selection at Man City; a match which – even at this early stage – could have a bearing on the final league table.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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