Legacy Players: Five Players Who Defined the BWSL Era
When the Barclays Women's Super League launched in 2011, it represented a significant structural shift in English women's football. The FA Women's Premier League had served its purpose, but professionalism or at least semi-professionalism, as it was back then, demanded a new model.
Eight clubs were granted licenses, and a generation of players suddenly found themselves playing in a league with the potential to compete with the best in Europe, but first, it needed to find its feet.
Fifteen years later, the BWSL is almost unrecognisable from its modest beginnings. The stadiums are bigger, the broadcast deals are more lucrative, and the league is the go-to destination for the biggest international stars.
The BWSL was built by players who committed to developing English football from within. They saw the potential of a league that could compete with Europe's best and chose to be part of building it.
These players are among those who helped establish professional standards and consistently raised the level of competition, proving that English football could develop world-class talent without players having to leave for established leagues abroad.
Most have retired by now, their careers spanning the entire arc of the league's development. A few left for spells abroad, but their legacies remain rooted in English football.
Here are five who shaped the league, from its inception to the present day.
Kelly Smith
There’s no better place to start than one of England’s greatest ever players. When we think of women’s football in England, it's impossible not to think of Kelly Smith. Her name has become synonymous with Arsenal, with 130 goals across three stints in North London.
Her final return, in 2012, wasn't inevitable. Kelly Smith didn't need to come back to England. By then, she had already proven herself as one of the best forwards in the world.
Smith's Arsenal career actually spanned the three distinct eras of English women's football, each marking a different stage in the game's evolution. She first joined the Gunners back in 1996 as a teenager from Wembley Ladies, immediately making an impact by helping secure the Premier League title in her debut season.
Her second spell, from 2005 to 2009, coincided with Arsenal's domestic dominance. She was instrumental in the club's quadruple-winning 2006-07 season, scoring 30 goals in 34 games across all competitions, writing her name in the club’s history books before heading across the pond.
When the Women’s Professional Soccer league folded, Smith found herself without a club. Resisting offers from prominent clubs in Sweden and Germany, the England international chose to return ‘home’, to Arsenal.
Her signing gave Arsenal and the fledgling league a statement signing. Here was a genuine star of women’s football, and her presence demonstrated to many that the BWSL was the place for elite talents.
For Smith, though, her return wasn't about sentiment, nor was it the fairytale homecoming she might have imagined. The Arsenal legend made only seven BWSL appearances in 2012 but still netted five goals, proving she still had the lethal touch in front of goal that had defined her career as the Gunners lifted the title for a second time.
Over the next five years, Smith combined playing with coaching responsibilities, mentoring younger players while continuing to perform. By the time she finally retired from playing in 2017, she had cemented her status as one of the greats. Her performances set benchmarks that Arsenal's attacking players still aspire to meet.
Her journey took her across the Atlantic and back multiple times, but Kelly Smith’s legacy remains as one of the greatest players to play on the BWSL stage.
Karen Carney
They called her ‘The Wizard’, and if you ever watched Karen Carney receive the ball in a tight space, you'd understand why. She had this habit of gliding past her opponent through sheer technical superiority. For anyone playing against her, it must have been maddening. If you were watching, though, it was art.
Carney’s BWSL career began in 2011 when she returned to her hometown club, Birmingham City, after a stint with Chicago Red Stars in the American WPS. She had been named FA Young Player of the Year twice and was an established England international.
The pinnacle of Carney’s Blues career came in 2012 when she won the FA Women's Cup, beating Chelsea on penalties. Carney was Player of the Match, providing the assist for Rachel Williams' equaliser to make it 1-1, before scoring in the 112th minute to level things for a second time and force the game to penalties.
Carney then stepped up and netted one of the penalties in the shootout. For a kid from Birmingham who joined the club at 11, it was the stuff of childhood dreams. She stayed until 2015, writing her name in the club history books before joining Chelsea.
Under Emma Hayes, Carney was named Chelsea Player of the Season in 2016 and added another FA Cup winners' medal to her collection in 2018. Perhaps more importantly, she helped establish the roots that would see Chelsea become the dominant force they remain today.
She was the ultimate modern attacking midfielder, incredibly technically gifted, tactically intelligent and capable of operating across multiple positions. She could play wide or through the middle and excel at both. More than that, she made every team she played in better.
Carney retired in 2019 with 144 England caps and 32 international goals, having played at four World Cups and four European Championships. She's now a familiar face as a pundit, and in 2025, she put on her dancing shoes to claim the Strictly Come Dancing title. Her BWSL legacy extends beyond individual clubs; she remains one of the best players the league has ever seen.
Fara Williams
If you're looking for the most capped player in English football history, you're looking at Fara Williams. One hundred and seventy-two appearances for England. Forty international goals. A career that spanned over 20 years at the top level.
By the time the BWSL launched in 2011, Williams was already established at Everton, where she made over 120 appearances and helped win the FA Cup in 2010. In Mo Marley’s team, she was the midfielder who controlled tempo, and a goalscorer who made difficult finishes look routine.
When she moved to local rivals Liverpool, the club had just finished bottom of the league. The Reds were looking to build a team capable of rivalling Arsenal and challenging for silverware. Williams' addition helped turn their fortunes immediately, as her performances were pivotal in their back-to-back WSL titles in 2013 and 2014.
As a player, Williams showcased exceptional vision on the pitch, her delivery from dead balls, and her ability to score from positions that shouldn't yield goals made her indispensable. She was the type of player who made everyone around her better; she was the one you built your midfield around because she'd dictate games with her passing range and positional intelligence.
In 2016, she made the move to Arsenal; by then, she had become England's most-capped player. During her time in North London, Williams added another FA Cup to her collection before finishing her career at Reading, where she played until 2021.
Her legacy extends beyond the numbers, though the numbers are pretty staggering. Fara Williams was the midfielder who saw passes before anyone else, and could control a game's rhythm with her tactical positioning and decision-making. She set the standard for professionalism in an era when it was still being defined.
Back-to-back domestic titles with Liverpool, FA Cups with Everton and Arsenal, and that extra-time winner against Germany in the 2015 World Cup third-place playoff. Williams’ career personifies longevity and what it means to stay at the top.
She was appointed MBE in 2016 for services to football and charity, and inducted into the BWSL Hall of Fame in 2021. She's now a BBC pundit, breaking down the game with the same tactical intelligence that made her one of the best for over two decades.
Rachel Yankey
When we talk about legacy in the BWSL, we have to mention Rachel Yankey. Much like Smith, when you hear her name, you immediately think Arsenal.
Yankey was 16 when she made her Gunners debut in 1996. She was a winger with the kind of pace and trickery that made fullbacks reconsider their career choices. She could beat you on the outside, cut inside, deliver crosses or drive into the box herself. The best way to describe her is that she was your favourite player’s favourite player.
Arsenal won league titles and FA Cups with her terrorising defences, but in 2000, Fulham offered something Arsenal couldn't back then: a professional contract. Yankey became the first woman in England to sign one, a moment that signalled a turning point.
At Fulham, she won a treble in 2002 (FA Women’s Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup) and was handed the Nationwide International Player of the Year award. She was brilliant during her time in West London, but in 2005, following stints at Birmingham City and in the United States, she headed back to Arsenal.
Her second spell lasted eleven years and produced over 150 appearances, 22 trophies, and some of Arsenal's most dominant football. Their 2007 quadruple remains unmatched by any English women's team. Yankey wasn't just there; she was essential, providing her team with creativity and goals when they mattered.
When the BWSL launched in 2011, she helped Arsenal win the inaugural title, then defended it in 2012. Arsenal then handed a 34-year-old Rachel Yankey a two-year contract, recognising that her ability and experience were irreplaceable.
When she left Arsenal in December 2016, the club honoured her with murals on the exterior of the Emirates Stadium. She was inducted into the BWSL Hall of Fame and now runs The Rachel Yankey Foundation, empowering young girls through football.
Rachel Yankey helped Arsenal dominate the league's early years, winning silverware and carrying the team forward. The first professional female footballer in England retired not only as an Arsenal legend but as one of the most important players of the BWSL era.
Lucy Bronze
It was impossible to write this piece without mentioning England’s most successful player. Lucy Bronze. Where do we start?
Bronze's BWSL journey began first with Sunderland, then Everton, though knee injuries limited her impact. In 2013, Liverpool became England's first full-time women's team, and it was here that she truly announced herself.
Alongside Fara Williams, Bronze won back-to-back WSL titles in 2013 and 2014, ending Arsenal's stranglehold on English football, and was named PFA Player of the Year in 2014. The only way to describe her style of play is that she’s all in. She’s a right back who defends like a centre-half and attacks like a winger. She consistently impacts games with the athleticism that makes her impossible to contain.
At Manchester City, she won the WSL again in 2016, the FA Cup in 2017, and was named PFA Player of the Year for the second time. Then, the most dominant team in Europe came calling, offering her a place at the highest level, and she left England to prove herself in Lyon.
What followed was dominance. Three consecutive Champions League titles between 2017 and 2020. Three league titles and a goal in the semi-final against Manchester City, which was nominated for UEFA Goal of the Season.
During her time with OL, she became the first defender ever to win the UEFA Women's Player of the Year award and finished second in the Ballon d'Or voting. In 2020, she won FIFA The Best Women's Player, becoming the first defender and the first English footballer to claim the award.
Having essentially completed domestic football in France, Bronze returned to Manchester City for a second spell in 2020, won more silverware, including another FA Cup, and then headed back to Europe, this time joining Barcelona in 2022.
In Spain, she claimed two more Champions League titles, bringing her total to five and making her the most decorated English player in European football history.
After another successful stint abroad, she returned to England, signing for Chelsea with one objective: to win the Champions League with an English club. In her first season, she helped them win their sixth consecutive BWSL title and complete a domestic treble in an unprecedented invincible campaign.
For England, Bronze has been a constant. Over 125 caps, two European Championships, including the historic Euro 2022 victory at Wembley. In 2025, she played through a fractured tibia to help the Lionesses retain their title, epitomising the mentality that has defined her career.
Her legacy to the BWSL is undeniable. She’s shown that chasing the highest level, whether in France, Spain, or back home, was how you become the best.
At 34, she's not finished yet. Still playing at the elite level, still chasing trophies. That’s Lucy Bronze.