The relegation battle is over

The bottom two teams in WSL1 went head to head and Notts County won 2-0 thanks to  a Whelan brace.

Everton Ladies FC are therefore the official relegation candidate and will await their fate from the FA’s decision.

It is now an administrative matter as promotion is decided on non football criteria.

What is extremely strange in a 8 teams League is you have wait for the last 2 games to see a team “relegated” and that the team that staying up is actually 10 points ahead. Such a huge gap.

Should Everton Ladies go down, they will face top opposition in WSL2 and also might loose players who want to stay in WSL 1.

FA WSL 1 relegation place season history

For the 1st time in 4 years, there will be a “potential” relegation for the bottom team of the FA WSL 1. This post will recap all the bottom placed teams after every match day.

The bottom of the table position has changed 4 times already and is currently held by  Everton Ladies

16/04 Manchester City  0 pt GD 0

17/04 Bristol Academy 0 pt GD -2

20/04 Manchester City 0 pt GD -3

18/05 Arsenal Ladies 1 pt GD -1

21/05 Arsenal Ladies 1 pt GD -3

25/05 Arsenal Ladies 1 pt GD -5

29/06 Everton Ladies 2 pts GD -5

16/07 Everton Ladies 2 pts GD -6

20/07  Everton Ladies 2 GD -7

27/07 Everton Ladies 2 pts GD -7

09/08/ Everton Ladies 2 pts GD -7

11/08 Everton Ladies 2 pts GD -7

23/08 Everton Ladies 2 pts GD -10

24/08 Everton Ladies 2 pts GD -10

31/08 Everton Ladies 2 pts GD -10

04/09 Everton Ladies 3 pts GD -10

09/09 EvertonLadies 4 pts GD -10

21/09 Everton Ladies 4 pts GD -13

28/09 Everton Ladies 4 pts GD -15

Everton Ladies will be relegated if the winner or the runner up of WSL 2 satisfy the WSL 1 criteria

The race for the Champions League places after Matchday 12

Notts 1  Chelsea 0

Birmingham 1 Liverpool 2

The top 2 places race is hotting up now. With leaders Chelsea dropping points at Notts, Liverpool cut the gap from 4 points to 1 point now with their away win at Birmingham. Birmingham drop out of the top 2 with 2 games to play.

2014 will see the (new ?) champions crowned with the lowest total points ever in the FA WSL history : previous winners won with 32, 34 and 36 points loosing 2,0 and 2 games in the process. Maximum points for the winning team will be 29.

For the runner-up place the previous record were at 29, 26 and 31, with 1, 2 and 3 defeats so the lowest total point for a runner-up might not be beaten.

 

Remaining games for Chelsea 23 pts

1 home and 1 away

EVERTON H

MANCHESTER CITY A

Remaining games for Liverpool 22 pts

1 home and 1 away

ARSENAL A

BRISTOL H

Remaining games for Birmingham 21 pts

1 home and 1 away

MANCHESTER CITY A

NOTTS COUNTY H

 

 

Chelsea have an easy home game to bottom of the table team Everton and a difficult one away to Man City. 6 points would obviously guarantee them the title. Liverpool have a tough away game to Arsenal before a final game which is the same fixture as last season : home to Bristol. Birmingham have 2 tough games considering their current form with City away and Notts at home although Notts are likely to have be safe by the time that game come and will have nothing to play for.

One Off PUMA kits – Silent Auction

One Off PUMA kits – Silent Auction.

Great stuff from Arsenal Ladies auctionning the bespoke shirts worn by the girls for the Arsenal foundation.

 

 

The relegation battle after Matchday 12

Notts County 1 Chelsea 0

Everton Ladies 0 Man City 3

 

Notts made a huge step towards with their win against top of the table Chelsea while Everton lost at home to Man City. It does not look good for Everton and they probably need a miracle to stay up as they are now 7 points behind Notts.

Upcoming games:

Notts County have 1 home and 2 away games

Notts County v Everton

Bristol v Notts County

Birmingham v Notts County

 

Everton have  3 away games

Notts County v Everton

Chelsea v Everton

Arsenal v Everton

The next game between the two teams will probably confirm Everton’s relegation as Notts only need a draw to stay up.

Should Everton win at Notts they will cut the gap to 4 points but will probably need to get 5 points more than Notts in 2 games as the current goal difference differential is 13 goals.

 

FA WSL 1 Champions League places season history

The race for the Champion’s League places will be very open this season, so I decided to keep tabs with all the changes throughout the season.

16/04   1. Arsenal 1 pt GD 0  2. Notts County 1 pt GD 0

17/04  1. Chelsea 3 pts GD +2  2. Liverpool 3 pts GD +1

Arsenal and Notts County did not stay more than a day in the Champions League places.

20/04 1. Notts County 4 pts GD +2   2. Chelsea 4 pts GD+2

Chelsea drop to second place while Notts County climb to the top of the League. Can they hang on to this until the end of the season ?

18/05 1. Notts County 5 pts GD +2  2. Liverpool 5 pts GD +1

Liverpool and Notts County draw 0-0 while Chelsea loses at Birmingham, so Liverpool go  back to the 2nd place

21/05 1. Birmingham City 7 pts GD + 3  2. Man City 6 pts GD 0

All change for the Champions League places. Underdogs Birmingham are now top of the League after their 2-0 win at Arsenal and have now catched up the program with everyone.
Man City went from bottom of the League on Sunday morning to top of the League for 15 minutes.

24/05 1. Birmingham City 8 pts GD +3  2. Liverpool Ladies 6 pts GD +1 Liverpool overtake  Man City in 2nd place

25/05 1. Birmingham City 8 pts GD +3   2. Bristol Academy 7 pts GD+ 2 Bristol overtake Liverpool with their away win at Arsenal

29/06 1. Birmingham 11 pts GD +5  2. Chelsea 8 pts GD +2 Chelsea overtake Bristol who did not play at the week-end with their 2-1 away win at Everton.

17/07 1. Birmingham 14 pts  GD +6 2. Chelsea 11 pts GD +3 No change as top 2 teams both won v Bristol and Arsenal

19/07 1. Birmingham 14 pts GD +6 2. Liverpool 12 pts GD +3 Liverpool win at Bristol see them overtake Chelsea in 2nd place

20/07 1. Birmingham 17 pts GD+7 2 Chelsea 14 pts +4 Birmingham and Chelsea win against Notts County and City Chelsea overtakes Liverpool

27/07 1. Birmingham 17 pts GD +7  2. Chelsea 17 pts GD +5  Chelsea level on points with Birmingham having played an extra game and beaten Bristol.

09/08 1. Birmingham 17 pts GD +7 2. Chelsea 17 pts GD + 3 Chelsea loosing away to Liverpool see the reds cut their deficit back 2 points on top 2 and Chelsea goal difference take a small hit

24/08 1. Chelsea 20 pts GD + 5 2. Liverpool 18 pts GD +5  Big change in the top 2 with Birmingham ousted from the champions league places for the first time since the 21st of May. Their defeat to Chelsea combined with Liverpool’s win v Notts means they are dropping to 3rd place. They are now under pressure to get the points from those 2 games in hand.

31/08 1. Chelsea 20 pts GD+5 2. Liverpool 18 pts Birmingham loose at home to Arsenal in their first game in hand and therefore stay out of the top 2

04/09 1. Chelsea 23 pts GD+6 2. Birmingham 20 pts GD +6 Big win for Chelsea away to Arsenal while Birmingham  gets back on track  with a win at Bristol after 2 consecutive defeats and Liverpool draw against Everton and drop out of the top 2

09/09 1. Chelsea 23 pts GD +6  2. Birmingham 21 pts GD +6 Birmingham do not take advantage of their 2nd game in hand with a poor draw against bottom of the table team Everton

21/09 1. Chelsea 23 pts GD +5 2. Liverpool 22 pts GD +6 Chelsea loose at Notts County 1-0 while Liverpool win in controversial circumstance 2-1 at Birmingham who drop out of the top 2 with 2 games to go.

FA WSL 2 promotion race after Matchday 15

Yeovil 1 Sunderland 2

Doncaster 4 Millwall 1

Aston Villa 3 Reading 0

 

The table looks like this :

1. Sunderland 41 pts GD +28

————————————

2. Doncaster* 33 pts GD +28

3. Reading **26 pts GD +18

 

*Doncaster with a game in hand

**Reading with two games in hand

Reading are now definitely out of the title race.  Their maximum points is now 41 ie Sunderland current total. It is now a 2 horses race between Sunderland and Doncaster.

The top 2 remaining games :

Sunderland v Doncaster 04/10

Oxford v Sunderland 12/10

Millwall v Sunderland 26/10

 

Sunderland v Doncaster 04/10

Doncaster v Yeovil  19/10

Doncaster v Durham 11/10

London Bees v Doncaster 26/10

Sunderland will be crowned champions if the beat Doncaster on the 4th of October.

For those who don’t know the promotion rules :

At the end of the Matches for each Season, the last placed Club in FA WSL1 shall be relegated to FA WSL 2 and replaced by the Champion Club of FA WSL2, provided that such Champion Club meets all criteria for admission to FA WSL 1 (including facility, finance, corporate governance, staffing and other business and management criteria) as has been notified to Clubs prior to the start of the playing season (the “Minimum Criteria”). In the event that the Champion Club is not able to meet such criteria within a timeframe prescribed by The Football Association following the end of the Season, the second finishing team in FA WSL 2 shall be promoted to FA WSL 1, subject to it meeting such Minimum Criteria within the relevant timeframe. In the event that the second finishing team is also unable to meet the Minimum Criteria, the last placed Club in FA WSL 1 shall remain in FA WSL1.

 

 

FA WSL 2 promotion place season history

So far the team leading the League  has changed twice only

14/04  London Bees 3 pts GD +3

16/04 London Bees 3 pts GD +3

17/04 London Bees 3 pts GD +3

19/04 Doncaster Belles 6 pts +5

20/04 Doncaster Belles 6 pts +5

26/04 Doncaster Belles 9 pts +8

27/04 Doncaster Belles 9 pts +8

17/05 Doncaster Belles 9 pts +8

18/05 Doncaster Belles 12 pts + 10

25/05 Doncaster Belles 15 pts +11

28/06 Sunderland Ladies 18 pts +11

29/06 Sunderland Ladies 18 pts +11

26/07 Sunderland Ladies 19 pts +11

27/07 SunderlandLadies 19 pts +11

02/08 Sunderland Ladies 19 pts +11

03/08 Sunderland Ladies 22 pts +13

09/08 Sunderland Ladies 22 pts +13

10/08 Sunderland Ladies 25 pts +17

23/08 Sunderland Ladies 26 pts +17

24/08 Sunderland Ladies 26 pts +17

30/08 Sunderland Ladies  29 pts +19

31/08 Sunderland Ladies 29 pts +19

04/09 Sunderland Ladies  32 pts + 21

07/09 Sunderland Ladies  35 pts + 24

14/09 Sunderland Ladies 38 pts +27

21/09 Sunderland Ladies 41 pts +28

Goal controversy at Birmingham v Liverpool

BT Sport – Madness! Two long-distance lobs scored in 30 seconds.

Beautiful goal by Fara Williams, but not valid.

let’s have a look at the Laws of the Game :

Law 8

Definition of kick-off
A kick-off is a way of starting or restarting play:
• at the start of the match
• after a goal has been scored
• at the start of the second half of the match
• at the start of each period of extra time, where applicable
A goal may be scored directly from the kick-off.
Procedure
Before a kick-off at the start of the match or extra time
• a coin is tossed and the team that wins the toss decides which goal it will
attack in the fi rst half of the match.
• the other team takes the kick-off to start the match.
• the team that wins the toss takes the kick-off to start the second half of the
match.
• in the second half of the match, the teams change ends and attack the
opposite goals.
Kick-off
• after a team scores a goal, the kick-off is taken by the other team.
• all players must be in their own half of the fi eld of play
• the opponents of the team taking the kick-off are at least 9.15 m (10 yds)
from the ball until it is in play
• the ball must be stationary on the centre mark
• the referee gives a signal
• the ball is in play when it is kicked and moves forward
• the kicker must not touch the ball again until it has touched another player

Also in the chapter Interpretation of the Laws of the Game and Guidelines for Referees

Use of whistle
The whistle is needed to:
• start play (1st, 2nd half), after a goal
• stop play:
– for a free kick or penalty kick
– if the match is suspended or abandoned
– when a period of play has ended due to the expiration of time
• restart play for:
– free kicks when the appropriate distance is required
– penalty kicks
• restart play after it has been stopped due to:
– the issue of a yellow or red card for misconduct
– injury
– substitution
The whistle is NOT needed to:
• stop play for:
– a goal kick, corner kick or throw-in
– a goal
• restart play from:
– a free kick, goal kick, corner kick, throw-in
A whistle which is used too frequently unnecessarily will have less impact when
it is needed. When a discretionary whistle is needed to start play, the referee
should clearly announce to the players that the restart may not occur until after
that signal.

As the referee as admitted not to have blown the whistle the goal cannot stand and therefore is not valid.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/29304382

This is a technical error by the referee : A technical error occurs when the referee recognizes an infringement of the Laws but restarts the game in the wrong way. Such a decision is correctable by the competition authority.

Off to you the FA….

I just received an answer from the FA about that case, it is the standard answer you get when you moan about referees being wrong in the men’s premier league games for example. I would have received the same if I had complained about Clattenburg Leicester v Man Utd

“Whilst understanding any frustrations as a football fan, every supporter will have an opinion on the game’s major talking points and we’re always interested to hear them.  The Football Association receives frequent correspondence on individual refereeing decisions across all levels of football as well as on the performance of referees in general. It is important to understand that without a referee there is no game and as a result the long-term health of football relies on recruiting, retaining and developing referees. Whilst 100% consistency is impossible when human judgment is introduced into a situation, referees get the overwhelmingly majority of decisions right. In fact they are arguably the most consistent people in the game making split-second decisions that will be analysed repeatedly by slow motion cameras and panels of football experts.

There is a system in place for monitoring the performance of referees and referee’s assistants. This involves referees assessors and reports from club managers. All assessors come from a footballing background and the majority are fully qualified referees themselves. The performances of referees over a season are then taken into consideration when the leagues appoint their referees for the following season.

We do appreciate all of the feedback we receive from supporters. This feedback is collated and used to build a picture of public opinion and is subsequently fed back internally within the organisation. Please rest assured your comments will form part of this feedback process.”

 

I guess the FA people consider the incident as a factual decision rather than a technical error. If they cannot see the difference between those two things they should not be working in football.

FA WSL 1 Matchday 12 preview

Bristol v Arsenal

Notts County v Chelsea

Birmingham v Liverpool

Everton v Man City

 

Bristol v Arsenal will see the debut for the Arsenal Ladies new manager Pedro Losa both side will look to finish in the top half of the League as they have nothing else to play for.

Notts County v Chelsea could see Notts make a huge step towards safety as a win would make them very close to safety as they would be 7 points clear with  4 games to play for the Toffees. Should Chelsea win at Notts they would be really clsoe to qualify for the Champions League for the 1st time as Birmingham will host Liverpool on Sunday lunchtime for the big game live on BT Sport.

Liverpool cannot afford to loose on Sunday as it would open a 5 points gap between them and Birmingham with 2 games to go and at least 4 with Chelsea. Birmingham and Liverpool  will hope to see Chelsea slip up at Notts to close the gap on the leaders.

Everton need to register their first win at home to City. They will know Notts result of course and will obviously hope that Chelsea give them a hand.

One funny statistic. Everton and Notts are mathematically  the only teams out of the title race. In theory the other 6 teams an still win it, even though we all know it is a 3 horses race. Quite a  funny League when 75% of the teams can still win it with 3 games to go.