Women's Super League

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Millwall have apologised to their supporters club, fan advisory board and Millwall Lionesses after the scheduling of a London City Lionesses game at The Den on Saturday, 21 March (12:00 GMT)

The fixture between London City and Chelsea has been brought forward from the Sunday because of the latter's participation in the Champions League quarter-finals later that week.

And with Bromley, where London City usually play, also at home that day, the fixture has been moved to The Den under the Women's Super League's requirement that all clubs have a secondary stadium option for use as needed.

However, given London City were created after splitting from Millwall Lionesses in 2019, the club have recognised this arrangement has not been unanimously welcomed.

Last week, Millwall supporters club reacted to the news with a statement on social media, external, accusing London City of "stealing" Millwall Lionesses' position in the women's game and rejecting the deal, adding: "Some things are more important and worth more than money!"

With the game now confirmed, Millwall Football Club issued a statement, external of their own, acknowledging "more thorough consultation should have taken place" and saying they "sincerely apologise for the upset this caused".

They go on to say they are "fully aware" of the history between Millwall Lionesses and London City and understand "the strength of feeling".

While the game will take place as scheduled at The Den, Millwall say they currently have "no plans for further collaboration" with London City and pledge that all the revenue generated by the club from this fixture will be reinvested back into Millwall Lionesses.

They also make renewed commitments to their women's team, guaranteeing the fifth-tier side one game a season at The Den, enhancing marketing services and establishing a working group between the club, Millwall Lionesses and Millwall Community Trust.

Millwall's supporters club has welcomed the update, external, accepting the club's "acknowledgement that they were wrong not to have put [Millwall Lionesses] centre stage in their thoughts from the start".

They add: "From this, however, came an opportunity and we will work with our Lionesses and the club to ensure that the full potential of it is met."

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The draw for the Women's FA Cup fifth round will take place on Monday, 23 February about 19:00 GMT.

It is scheduled to run just before London City Lionesses host Tottenham in the final game of the fifth round.

Numbers for the draw are below:

1 Manchester City or Sheffield United

2 Liverpool or Everton

3 Chelsea or Manchester United

4 Oxford United or Charlton Athletic

5 West Ham United or Brighton & Hove Albion

6 London City Lionesses or Tottenham Hotspur

7 Birmingham City or Chatham Town

8 Arsenal or Bristol City

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Liverpool boss Gareth Taylor says his team "don't want a free weekend" next month as he plots a course to the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Standing in their way on Sunday (16:30 GMT) are local rivals Everton, who have won their past three games and beat Liverpool 4-1 at Anfield on opening day back in September.

Taylor insists his players are not out for revenge but instead are this time looking to maximise home advantage and book their place in the last eight.

"This is a good opportunity for us," he said. "Most competitions now are really difficult to win and even to get into the latter stages.

"We know the challenge in front of us - this is a good home tie with our fans right behind us and in the next period after the international break, we don't want a free weekend. We want an FA Cup quarter-final."

Having failed to win any of their opening 12 games, the Reds have beaten Tottenham and Aston Villa in recent weeks to climb off the bottom of the table.

Taylor is pleased with their improvement but recognises they remain just one point clear of the relegation play-off spot currently occupied by Leicester City and wants them to continue on an upwards trajectory.

"We have scored six goals in our past two home games," he said. "We are creating high standards in our workplace and on the training pitch, being demanding of who we are and what we want to do.

"We are really aware of our flaws but we feel in a better place to attack games and attack this opportunity.

"In the FA Cup, you have to earn the right to play and to be in the competition. It is magical and this is our opportunity to progress."

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Manchester United manager Marc Skinner says facing Chelsea in the fifth round of the FA Cup is "rough luck" but part of the competition's "beauty".

Sunday's game is the showpiece fixture of eight matches over the next four days, with the current Women's Super League champions hosting second-placed United at Kingsmeadow (13:30 GMT).

It is a repeat of last season's FA Cup final, won by Chelsea, and Skinner was speaking on the day proposals to revamp the competition's format in favour of seeding the biggest teams were put on hold.

"We play one of the best teams in English history on Sunday in an early round," Skinner said. "That's the draw and we will give it everything. To play Chelsea is rough luck but is part of the game and the beauty of the cup."

Thriving on four fronts this season, United also face the Blues next month in the League Cup final at Ashton Gate (Sunday, 15 March) and Skinner recognises the improvements his team have made to compete at the highest level.

"The reality is that over many, many years, Chelsea have spent a lot of money and we're catching up," he said. "They have exceedingly high standards and have had more depth and ability to change games.

"We just haven't had that as we've grown. But we want to win the game and not worry too much about them. It doesn't do you any good in games if you respect them too much.

"We lost to them in the final last year so we want to try and resurrect that and get through to the next round."

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Tottenham manager Martin Ho says he does not want to "keep scoring more and more" every week as that will mean his defence is not doing its job.

Spurs were scintillating going forward in their 7-3 victory at Aston Villa on Sunday but Ho criticised the nature of the goals they allowed.

"I don't want to concede three goals, we shouldn't be conceding three goals," he said on Thursday, before the FA Cup fifth-round tie against London City Lionesses on Monday (19:30 GMT).

"If you do that the top level, you've got to always outscore and I don't want to have to be scoring more and more every single week, just to outscore an opponent."

Having threatened to break up the status quo in the Women's Super League this season, Ho is targetting similar in the FA Cup, although he knows London City pose a significant hurdle to his hopes of going further in the competition.

It is 14 years since a team other than Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United won the tournament.

"You want to be amongst it - you want to get to those latter stages of the competition," he said.

"We want to make sure that it's not just seen as a team from the top four that has always won it over the last period. We need to make sure that we can upset that.

"We don't want to be here just to take part. We want to make sure that we can be successful and get ourselves through to the final."

We asked WSL fans on Reddit for their hot takes on the women's game this season.

• Do Manchester City "have the best attack in the world"?

• Is the squad-building at London City Lionesses "makes no sense"?

• Should fans follow teams rather than players?

BBC Sport pundits and former England internationals Fara Williams and Ellen White give their reaction.

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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Manchester United coach Marc Skinner has revealed defender Anna Sandberg will be out for up to eight weeks with the knee injury she sustained in the Champions League play-off first leg tie with Atletico Madrid in Spain last week.

Sandberg had to go off at half-time in United's 3-0 victory.

It was initially felt the Sweden full-back had suffered a calf problem.

However, looking ahead to the return game at Leigh, Skinner confirmed it was a knee-related issue that will keep Sandberg out for at least four weeks and possibly quite a bit longer, ruling her out of the FA Cup trip to Chelsea on 22 February and next month's League Cup final against the same opposition.

"There's a little bit of a tidy up that needs to be done around Anna's meniscus," he said.

"From the time frame we've been given, the best is four, the middle is six and obviously the worst case is eight.

"If it was eight, she would probably be back three or four games before the end of the season.

"We're hopeful we can get it to six but won't take any risk. She's a young player so we'll make sure she's rehabbed effectively."

The 22-year-old joined United in 2024 and has become one of the key figures in Skinner's side.

She was replaced by experienced former Everton player Gabby George for the Women's Super League victory over London City Lionesses on Sunday.

Sandberg will also miss Sweden's World Cup qualifiers with Italy and Serbia next month.

Alex Howell
Football reporter

Image source, High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom

The High Commission of Canada hosted an event alongside Show Racism the Red Card to mark Canadian Black History Month and to highlight the country's role as a co-host of the Fifa World Cup.

The event which was held at Canada House in London featured a panel of past and present players including former Tottenham player and Brighton manager Chris Hughton, former Arsenal player Paul Davis, former Arsenal and England player Rachel Yankey and the first £1m player in women's football, Arsenal and Canada international Olivia Smith.

The panel covered topics about diversity in sport with Smith also discussing her move to Arsenal last summer.

"I don't think I have actually stayed in a place longer than a year." Smith said when speaking about her move to Arsenal from Liverpool following a stint playing in Portugal.

"Then to get a massive opportunity from Arsenal there was no passing up on that.

"I just wanted to be challenged and take my career to the next level. To be at Arsenal is where you want to be.

"I look forward to calling this my home for a bit." Smith added.

The £1m fee that Arsenal paid to sign Smith from WSL rivals Liverpool has already been surpassed but the Canada forward says that it is a positive thing as it shows the growth of the women's game.

"The biggest thing is that I think it is a compliment as I think it shows where the women's game is going.

"And obviously that is going to continue now. I'm privileged and honoured to have that to my name of course. I think it is just great to see that women's football is going in that direction."

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Katie McCabe currently plays left-back for Arsenal and is captain of the Republic of Ireland.

McCabe's contract is up at the end of this season with Arsenal which means she is likely to leave on a free transfer.

McCabe has been at Arsenal for just over 10 years and helped them become the inaugural Champions Cup winners and European champions.

When asked about the future McCabe, Republic of Ireland manager, Carla Ward said:

"I speak to the players about their futures and where they are at. I've spoken to Katie, and I've said this pre-coming in, she's one of the best left backs in the world.

"I think she will have a lot of options and I think a lot of people will want to speak to her and want her signature.

"The beauty of it is when you are one of the best in the world you will not be short of options.

"Wherever she moves, in my opinion, it will be a top club getting a very top player."

Another action-packed Sunday in the Women's Super League saw plenty of goals and the top teams beat those down near the bottom.

It was a magnificent seven goals for Tottenham Hotspur who beat Aston Villa 7-3 in a hugely entertaining game at Villa Park.

A sluggish Manchester United recorded a seventh straight victory in all competitions with a hard-fought 2-1 win over London City Lionesses.

Millie Turner scored late to complete the turnaround after Jess Park had cancelled out Nikita Parris' early goal.

Victory over Liverpool helped Chelsea put an "emotional" week behind them, according to boss Sonia Bompastor.

The departure of Paul Green, head of women's football, was not felt on the pitch as Sjoeke Nusken and Lauren James scored to leave the visitors one point off bottom spot and keep Chelsea in the hunt for Champions League qualification.

Finally, Everton scored early to see off West Ham and make it three straight wins in the Women's Super League before a Merseyside derby at Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round next weekend.

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London City Lionesses forward Nikita Parris says boos from the crowd do not affect her as she is "used" to it now.

The striker was jeered by fans of old side Manchester United during London City Lionesses' 2-1 defeat but Parris claims the attitude towards her soon changes after the full-time whistle.

"They boo me then at the end of the match they want to hug me and ask for me to sign stuff!" the 31-year-old joked afterwards. "It quickly changes in 90 minutes.

"I'm used to the booing now - I get it every week to be honest. They don't affect me."

Parris put her side in the lead on the day after just five minutes with a well-taken header but goals from Jess Park and Millie Turner turned the game on its head.

The forward says she was pleased to get on the scoresheet but believes her side need to make more of their chances in front of goal when they come.

"It's always nice to score goals as a forward," she said. "That's what they want me to do - create and score goals but we do need to put more chances away that we do get.

"I felt we played some great football for 60-70 minutes. It's turning that pressure into goals."

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter at Kingsmeadow

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Sonia Bompastor says Chelsea have been through a "tough" and "emotional" period following the departure of head of football Paul Green, but praised her players for their "focus" on Sunday's game against Liverpool.

The Blues head coach was speaking after goals from Sjoeke Nusken and Lauren James secured a 2-0 home win and sealed back‑to‑back victories after suffering consecutive defeats a fortnight ago.

Those poor results coincided with Green's surprise exit. He left earlier this week after overseeing 19 title wins in 13 years, while Bompastor had extended her contract just a week earlier.

Bompastor reiterated she "feels the support" from the current leadership, including chief executive Aki Mandhar and sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.

"I think everyone can see that we are facing a transition right now, which is normal," she said. We are maybe in a second year of transition. When you reflect on Emma [Hayes] being here for 12 years and building the club from nothing, it's normal.

"But I am really confident about the future. When I came here, I could feel the ambition and the mentality to win games. I still feel that, and that's why I believe the future is bright for Chelsea. I feel that with the CEO and the sporting directors."

Bompastor also revealed she held "a lot of individual conversations" with players about Green's exit, adding: "Paul did an amazing job for this club and built it with Emma. It was good to hear the fans singing his name."

Chelsea supporters had planned a protest over Green's departure before the match, but it was called off because of heavy rain and may be revisited at a future fixture.