Barclays WSL Final Day Recap 

The Barclays Women’s Super League season has concluded for 2025/2026, and the final day delivered with some high-scoring encounters featuring some late-goal drama, individual players adding to their contributions with their respective clubs this season, as well as others who will have played with their teams for the final time in their careers.

Many results even caused some changes to the final league table, but one that was guaranteed was Manchester City remaining at the top, and they got their hands on the trophy following the end to their victory over West Ham. Arsenal finished second ahead of Chelsea, with both clubs winning on the final day.

Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur and London City Lionesses recorded late goals to win their games, and the same went for Everton over last-placed Leicester City, with the latter now focusing on next week’s relegation play-off against Barclays WSL 2 side Charlton Athletic. Below, we recap what went down across the final day of this season.

Brighton and Hove Albion 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham ended their strong season in dramatic fashion after a goal in stoppage time got them over the line to help them win by two goals to one away from home against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Martin Ho’s team had to come from behind at the Amex Stadium to secure the last victory of an impressive campaign for Spurs, which has seen them produce their best-ever points total with 36 points in the end, and also a joint-best finish in fifth place. The result also has left them continuing a record of having not lost on the final day that now stands at six games.

Brighton on the other hand, they went into Saturday’s fixture off the back of five games in a row without having been beaten and wanted to keep that momentum on the back of a big cup final to come for them at the end of the month. They hadn’t started the better of the two sides as Tottenham were on top for most of the first half, having produced eight shots compared to just one for the home side. There was a change of goalkeeper for Brighton in this one as Sophie Baggaley came in for Chiamaka Nnadozie, and she proved key to keeping Brighton level 0-0 before the end of the first half.

In need of a shift in momentum for the second half, Brighton struck with the first opportunities and managed to open the scoring through Madison Haley’s fourth of the season. A goal that also made it four in the last five appearances in all competitions for the American international, who has ended the season in fantastic form for the Seagulls. She was in the right place at the right time after a shot by Kiko Seike was not held by Lize Kop, allowing Haley to then score past her.

With Brighton on top, Tottenham looked for a response and were able to find more of a threat again going forward as the second half progressed. There had been a couple of missed attempts from both teams, but after an effort by Brighton midfielder Nadine Noordam was saved by Kop around the 76th minute, Tottenham would be the ones to get the next dangerous attack, and this one resulted in the equaliser.

Olivia Holdt was able to end her terrific campaign as the club’s top scorer in the league with another goal to take her tally to eight for the season. The goal which made it 1-1 came from Holdt receiving the ball in the box due to Brighton being unable to clear their lines, and then subsequently smashing the ball into the net with nine minutes left until stoppage time would arrive.

With seven minutes added on, there was enough time for some late drama, and it came in Spurs’ favour with a long range lobbed effort from about 35-yards out by centre-back Tōko Koga to win it for her team, catching Brighton goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley out in the process, and the goal for Koga was the second one in the Barclays WSL for the Japanese defender in her debut campaign at the club.

The season for Dario Vidosic’s Brighton ends on a flat note following that late goal, and because of another result this weekend, they ended the season in seventh. Kiko Seike ended as their top scorer with eight goals, and overall, their season was one that still met expectations they had for themselves, and attention now turns towards their date at Wembley at the end of the month.

For Spurs, the belief to keep pushing and grab the late winner epitomised what has been a brilliant season for them and how they have performed across the campaign. It was a great ending helped them end with back-to-back wins for 2025/2026.

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United

There were scenes of celebrations of a different kind for Chelsea on the final day this time after it was confirmed in the midweek that Sam Kerr would be leaving the club at the end of this season, and the script was written for the Australian forward to get the all-important goal that would win it for her team at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Manchester United came into the game with nothing to play and had started well, looking like a team that was playing with some freedom following a few quick attacking link-ups that had caused some problems initially for Chelsea. Whilst that positive start did happen for Marc Skinner’s side, it was Sonia Bompastor who would have been celebrating after Chelsea took the lead in the first half.

With the only goal of the game, Sam Kerr was able to end her Chelsea career in style with a volley past Phallon Tullis-Joyce in goal, and the assist came from Lauren James to make sure she also ended the campaign with another goal contribution. It has been nine overall (five goals and four assists) that she James has been able to produce for the club this season in the Barclays WSL.

There haven’t been many other players that have enjoyed a goal against Manchester United more than Sam Kerr, and the one here made it eight in total against them, plus it was a seventh in total for her in her in the 2025/26 season with Chelsea. It left her tied with summer signing Alyssa Thompson, whose seven goals also make her the highest scorer in the league for this campaign with Chelsea.

Before taking the lead, Chelsea were limited when it came to having many big opportunities. However, they stepped up more after going in front. United looked to respond in the second half and even went close to an equaliser in the 51st minute as Ellen Wangerheim had a header from close range hit the post. Jess Park had a chance of her own saved a couple of minutes later by Hannah Hampton.

More missed attempts followed and a late sub that saw Hannah Hampton replaced by Livia Peng produced a lot more extra added time in the second half. The Swiss goalkeeper would have a crucial moment where she kept the gam level having not long been on the pitch. A Lea Schüller header was saved by Peng, and it was the last chance of the game as Chelsea held on for the victory.

Defeat for Manchester United means that they end the season with one win from their last ten games in all competitions. It has been a tougher season in having to keep up with other teams above them, and they finish the season in fourth with 40 points.

Chelsea, on the other hand finish with 49 points, which has left them in third behind Arsenal, and six off the top. Hannah Hampton also ends the season as the Golden Glove winner with eight clean sheets to her name, finishing ahead of Man Utd’s Tullis-Joyce and Man City’s Ayaka Yamashita.

Everton 1-0 Leicester City

More final day late goal drama came at Goodison Park in a game that largely managed to stay goalless until the later stages of it when substitute Maz Pacheco made it another defeat for Leicester City and gave her team to one last positive note to end the season on.

With eyes on the relegation play-off next week for Rick Passmoor’s Leicester City, they will have wanted to end the 2025/26 Barclays WSL season on a good note and with some positive momentum, but it wasn’t to be as they fell to their 11th league defeat in a row.

A couple of early blocked efforts came in the game, and the Foxes did grow into proceedings, even nearly taking the lead from Shannon O’Brien hitting a volley towards goal that was saved well by Courtney Brosnan onto the post. Down the other end, Everton would have a first half opportunity of their own that was stopped by the goal post, as Zara Kramžar had a long-range effort cannon off the left-hand post.

An even first half didn’t play out similarly in the second, with the opening stages of the second 45 being very stop-start until some chances from Everton’s Yuka Momiki and Clare Wheeler were looking to test Leicester’s backline. The attacking quality wasn’t there as much as it needed to be for both in terms of producing more goals in this one. Both ended with some positive xG stats as Everton managed to register 1.92 xG compared to Leicester’s 1.1.

Sam Tierney looked to put away a match-winning opportunity, but Courtney Brosnan was key again for Everton, and with both teams still throwing a lot forward in their respective attacks, a late winner was within reach. One that Everton were able to find and Maz Pacheco capped off her first season with Everton by scoring the crucial late winner and getting her first goal for the club in the process.

While a disappointing loss for Leicester City ahead of a crucial game, they were able to offer some positive signs of a team that could still have it in them to stay in the Barclays WSL next season. Much of their goal-threat will rely upon Shannon O’Brien who ends the league season having scored 45% of her team’s overall goals (five out of Leicester’s 11).

As for Everton, they end the season with 23 points and seven wins registered, which was more than they were able to get in the previous campaign. The Toffees have had a mixed campaign that has seen coaching changes and differing spells across the last few months. A win though helps them end in a good step forward.

Liverpool 1-3 Arsenal

Arsenal ended the 2025/2026 season with a ruthless first half display that allowed them to comfortably beat Liverpool at Anfield by three goals to one and also secure themselves automatic qualification into the league phase of next season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League.

Arsenal started off strongly and went close to an opener on several occasions, one of which came via shot by Emily Fox that was saved by Jennifer Falk at the near post to keep the score level at 0-0. Although a couple minutes later, Alessia Russo grabbed the first of her two goals in the game, and this one came from a cross by Russo that had looked like it was directed towards goal by Stina Blackstenius. The goal was given to Russo in the end, and her second came before the end of the first half.

Arsenal took advantage of Liverpool’s press and found a lot of joy in attacking areas, which allowed Mariona Caldentey to double the lead for the Gunners as she hit a powerful shot across goal after linking up with Katie McCabe for a short-corner routine. It was one last goal contribution for McCabe as she announced her departure from Arsenal a few days ago, and she got a final round of applause near the end of the game when she was substituted, bringing an end to her decade-long career at Arsenal

Russo’s second goal followed up a few minutes later and it was 3-0 to Arsenal after 37 minutes. Two goals on the final day for the England forward meant that she was able to eclipse her previous tally of 12 that helped her win the Golden Boot last season. 13 goals this season in the Barclays WSL is Russo’s best for the club in another strong campaign for her.

Arsenal have played seven games in 20 days, five of which have been in the Barclays WSL, but it didn’t lead to them being able to make their mark away from home against a Liverpool team that have had been good in 2026, and were able to turn their season around following a poor start to their campaign that left them near the bottom for the majority of it.

The home crowd had one goal to cheer as the consolation goal came in the 74th minute via Liverpool youngster Zara Shaw netting a first league goal in her career. While the season for Gareth Taylor’s side ends with them in 11th place, their steady improvements will be something they look to take forward with them into the next campaign.

Arsenal, meanwhile, they end the season in second spot and have finished with just one defeat all season. Renee Slegers’ side also end the season with having the best defensive record, having only conceded 14 goals in the whole campaign.

London City Lionesses 2-1 Aston Villa

It was a winning end to the season for London City Lionesses at the Copperjax Community Stadium, and a late Freya Godfrey winner got them over the line against Aston Villa in a performance that saw them produce ten more shots than their opponents.

The game played out evenly if possession stats are anything to go by as both teams shared 50% of the ball across the 90 minutes. Looking into the numbers a bit more however, and it was London City who were in control for much of the game and creating way more purposeful attacks.

Against the run of play, it was Aston Villa who took the lead not long before the end of the first half. Lynn Wilms received the ball from just outside the box, and her deflected strike found the net in stoppage time, which also was Villa’s only shot on target in the opening 45. The xG produced was just 0.08, and highlighted some efficiency in front of goal, which has been an issue across this season for Aston Villa.

London City’s first half xG by comparison was 0.64, after a first half display where they weren’t clinical as with the opportunities they were creating for themselves. Isobel Goodwin missed a big chance in the opening minute of the game, and had two chances that she also put wide.

After the half time break, London City Lionesses pushed forward in search of an equaliser, with Malou Marcetto going close early on in having to force a save from Ellie Roebuck. Isobel Goodwin went close again in a 1v1, but was denied by an inch-perfect slide tackle from Villa’s Oceane Deslandes.

The goal that did eventually come for London City Lionesses was scrappy in the moment after an initial corner was blocked on the goal line, before Danielle Van de Donk was able to react quick and finally get her team the goal they had wanted in this one. The finish was the first league goal of the season for Van de Donk since joining the club in the summer.

Eder Maestre’s side were able to complete their comeback in added time at the end when a through ball sent Freya Godfrey through on goal, and with how successful her season has been at the club, she put the ball away and made it a sixth league goal for this campaign, taking her to ten goal contributions in total.

The win has helped them finish in sixth place, which is an impressive final position for the team that were promoted last season. It has made them the first newly-promoted club to finish in the top half since Manchester United managed to do so in 2019-20. There overall points tally (27) and eight wins are also records for a promoted club in their first campaign.

Things haven’t ended so well for Aston Villa and Natalia Arroyo though as their season comes to an end in disappointing fashion. A ninth-place finish is what they will have to settle for, with a run to end the campaign of eight defeats in their last ten. Kirsty Hanson ends the season as their top scorer with 12 goals, and Lynn Wilms ended the season with the most assists alongside Man City’s Kerstin Casparij (7)

West Ham United 1-4 Manchester City

The champions were victorious in their last game of the season, and they ended the fantastic campaign in style with a 4-1 win at the Chigwell Construction Stadium against West Ham United.

Before kick-off, they were given a guard of honour by West Ham’s players and once the game started, Andrée Jeglertz’s side were largely in control of this matchup. 13 minutes was what it ended up taking before his team took the lead, and it was from a different source for goals as Jade Rose opened up her BWSL account for the season after scoring from six-yards out following a corner that went uncleared.

One of the other first half moments saw Manchester City forced into a substitution, with Lauren Hemp unable to continue due to what looked like a minor knock, and she was replaced by Kerolin. The moment was one of City’s only downsides in this game, but another one would have been the fact that they did allow a number of shots for West Ham as the game progressed.

With the scoreline only at 1-0, the home side were not out of it by any means. A positive start to the second half gave them some hope of finding an equaliser, but more often than not, many of their 17 shots were fired off target. Just the four of them were actually on target for the Hammers, and the lead for their opponents only grew before they could eventually find the net.

Khadija Shaw made it a 20th league goal of the season after latching onto a cross from Aoba Fujino before slotting past Kinga Szemik and doubling the advantage for Man City. Five minutes later was when Seraina Piubel made it goals in back-to-back games for herself and made it 2-1 in the game.

It was ten minutes after that West Ham goal when Shaw added her second of the game and restored City’s two-goal lead. The two goals for Shaw in this one mean that she ends her brilliant season with 21 goals in total, far and away the most of anybody in the 2025/2026 campaign. It helped bring up 100 goal contributions in 93 appearances for Manchester City, and only her City teammate Vivianne Miedema has reached that milestone in less matches.

Historically in the league, it is the third season out of the four she has spent with Manchester City where she has scored at least 20 goals in a single Barclays WSL campaign making her the only striker to ever achieve that. 21 goals also equal her best tally for the club in the league since that came in the 2023/24 season.

The away team had one more goal in them, and it was one that came for Laura Coombs with a deflected shot in the 80th minute, which was a massive moment for her to end her 19-year footballing career on a huge high. The game ended 4-1 and once the final whistle went, it was celebration time for Manchester City in being able to get their hands on a first Barclays WSL trophy since 2016.

West Ham United end their season in 10th spot, with Rita Guarino’s side managing to have survived another league campaign, plus they got to honour their club captain Katrina Gorry before the game, and also when she was substituted in the second half after it was announced she would depart them earlier this week.

The final celebrations at the end for Manchester City were a culmination of all the work that they had produced and executed to a high-level across this season. They delivered some big performances throughout the last few months, and their superiority is reflected in many of the season-ending stats. Andrée Jeglertz and his team are the champions of England, and also have a chance at a league and cup double at the end of this month.

Word credit: Bradley Morris