Monthly Archives: February 2020

The FA WSL relegation battle : key result in six pointer

Things are getting interesting in the relegation battle as Bristol went to win at Birmingham and gave themselves some breathing space over their opponent of the day and also on Liverpool.

Bristol won away thanks to an Ebony Salmon goal on the break and bring three points home. it leaves Birmingham in precarious position one point ahead of Liverpool who were defeated 4-2 by West Ham and stay rooted to the bottom spot with five games to go.

Of course, all those teams have more than five games to play due to all the postponements, so the battle might go to the final day on Saturday 16 May.  Here is the table after Matchday 17:

L

 

Liverpool have an excellent goal difference compared to Birmingham or even Bristol, which means they just need to match the point tally from one of the other two teams to stay up. The Reds have eight remaining games, same as the Robins, while the Blues have nine remaining games.

The Liverpool v Birmingham will be key, but unlike most relegation battle from the previous seasons, the bottom three teams are actually able to beat other teams and get wins. I expect this season to see one of highest number of points for the team that will finish at the bottom place.

Analysing the FA WSL 2019/20 rules

The FA have finally published the FA WSL/FA WC 2019/20 rules. Quite late to be honest as we are now in February and the League started in September. Obviously, the clubs had copies of the regulations but the general public was blocked from seeing them until now.

So it is time for my annual review of the regulations. The first thing you note when you download the file on the FA website is that is called CLEAN as in the FA have cleaned some of rules. This is bizarre to name a file this way.

Something that is not new but with the Brexit now done, the EU players no longer have the freedom of movement do the rulemaker can decide what to do next when the transition period is finished.

2.1 The ownership, organisation, control and management of the Competitions and any rights associated with them of any nature shall be vested entirely and exclusively in The FA.

Unlike the men’s Premier League where the FA cannot dictate the competition rules, the FA WSL and FA WC are totally controlled by the governing body. We will see how the EU players will be treated next season.

The first interesting bit that was not there in last season rules I think  is the fact that the FA have soften their stance on Welsh clubs in the FA WSL/FA WC. It was bizarre to see them in men’s football elite Leagues but forbidden to do the same in Women’s football. This injustice has now been repaired.

2.5 The geographic area covered by the Competitions shall be England and Wales.

Then there is the usual paragraph on the Board and the Executive Operational Committee. Nothing special there.

The ground regulations have some interesting paragraphs:

7.1.3 A Club’s Ground shall be available for all home Competitions Matches which a Club
is due to participate in.

I am quite sure, it does not always happen actually. Certainly in the past there were availability problems.

7.1.4 Each Club shall register its Ground and its Pitch dimensions, with the Executive
Operational Committee prior to the start of each Playing Season. It will be
misconduct on the part of a Club to alter its Pitch dimensions during a Playing
Season unless it obtains the prior written consent of the Executive Operational
Committee. The Executive Operational Committee may at any time require a Club,
at its own cost, to submit a report from a qualified independent source certifying the
Pitch dimensions. 

Clubs are now allowed to change the pitch’s side depending on the opposition they are facing. That’s a funny one. I am quite sure, it could happen in certain places.

7.1.9 No alcohol shall be consumed in view of the Pitch before, during or after a
Competition Match. Glasses, glass bottles and cans containing alcohol must not be
brought into the Ground or taken into any area of the Ground in view of the pitch.

I bet this rule has been breached in corporate areas at big grounds.

There is a subject that has been brought in recently due to the pitches at Southport and Prenton Park, the alternative grounds

7.2 Alternative grounds

7.2.1 If at any point the Ground is or will not be available for home Competition Matches,
inspection or falls below the standards required in the Ground Regulations or Club
Licence (including in relation to usage), the Club must immediately submit to the
Board in writing its proposal for a ground at which its home Competition Matches are
to be played (“Alternative Proposal”).

7.2.2 The Alternative Proposal must contain documentary evidence in support of any
ground sharing arrangements and evidence that the proposed Ground is
demonstrably suitable for the Competitions and Competition Matches and that it
satisfies the standards set out in the Ground Regulations and Club Licence.

7.2.3 The Alternative Proposal shall be considered by the Board at the earliest
opportunity and, if it is considered suitable by the Board, the Board shall notify the
Club that the Alternative Proposal is approved. The Board may attach any
conditions to such approval as it considers appropriate.

7.2.4 Unless the Board considers it appropriate in the circumstances to waive any of the
foregoing, any approval of the Alternative Proposal will be subject to the Board
being satisfied that the ground in the Alternative Proposal complies with the Club
Licence and meets the standards required in the Ground Regulations. The Board
will use reasonable endeavours to ensure a person nominated by it inspects such
ground after receiving the Alternative Proposal and prior to the Board meeting
where it is considered, but if it is unable to do so, any approval of the Alternative
Proposal will be subject to the Board being satisfied that the ground in the
Alternative Proposal complies with the Club Licence and meets the standards
required in the Ground Regulations.

7.2.5 In the event that:
(a) the Club does not comply with Rule 7.2.1; or
(b) the Alternative Proposal is not approved,
the Club shall be deemed to be in material breach of these Rules

Then you get the bizarre cases of a very different ruling for grass and artificial pitches:

7.7 Pitch Standards

7.7.1 All Pitches must be flat and free from surface depressions and excessive
undulations. The maximum slopes allowable shall not exceed an even gradient of
vertical to horizontal 1:41 in any direction.

7.7.2 The relevant Club shall take such steps as the Board may specify from time to time
if the Board is not satisfied that the Pitch is being maintained to an adequate
standard, including but not limited to the Board commissioning an independent
report (including a Pitch Test) on the state of the Pitch, the cost of such independent
report to be borne by that Club.

7.8 Artificial Pitches

Basically, there is full chapter about two pages long about those 3G/4G pitches that must meet a minimum FIFA standard and nothing specific on grass pitches.

Amazingly the postponed games come from grass pitch. So teams playing their home games on artificial pitches are held to a higher standard than those on grass pitches.It does not make sense and it explain why some teams are using poor quality grass pitches.

The FA WC relegation battle is hotting up

This season is the first season under the new regime since the FA WSL 2 creation in 2014, where a second tier side will relegated due to the on the pitch results. All other relegation/demotions in previous seasons where due to licensing refusal on money and infrastructure criteria.

It is fascinating to think that is a five horses race for only one place. What makes it complicated to know where the teams really stand is they all games on hand on each other. Matchday 15 was played, or actually was not played at all and we currently have teams on 11 to 13 games played so far.

 

As we can see Blackburn Rovers are not directly threatened by relegation right now, but because there are only four points clear of bottom team Charlton, any Addicks win would see them plugged straight in the relegation battle.

Lewes, Coventry and Palace are all with nine points and therefore one win ahead of Charlton. They are under threat and Charlton would overtake Palace on goal difference with a win. While they are level with Coventry and have a worse goal difference than Lewes.

Like in the FA WSL there are many postponed games to be played and re-scheduled and they include crucial head to head games between relegation contenders:

London Bees v Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers v Lewes

Durham v Aston Villa

Lewes v London City

Crystal Palace v London Bees

Coventry v Blackburn Rovers

Charlton v Sheffield

 

Those three games are already re-scheduled:

Blackburn v Charlton 1 March

Sheffield v Crystal Palace 1 March

Lewes v Charlton 15 March

 

So Charlton are bottom of the League with no win so far and six draws. There is no doubt that their first win when/if it happens will give them a huge psychological boost and change the relegation race. All the other teams have already won two or three games and therefore have the edge right now.

But things can turn round very quickly and next Sunday could see some changes with the following games being played for Matchday 16:

London Bees v Durham

Sheffield United v Lewes

Leicester v Charlton

London City v Palace

Aston Villa v Coventry United.

 

In my mind the relegation battle might to to the final day as teams will be playing catch-up with all their postponed games and therefore won’t be able to be mathematically safe until very late in the season.

 

The FA WSL relegation battle is hotting up

This season is probably the most entertaining relegation battle in a while. Most of the previous seasons ended up as a two way battle, with one team struggling and fighting to stay up. This season there are at least three teams involved.

The situation is actually extremely fluid. A couple of weeks ago, I would have been quite certain that Bristol would have been likely to go down as they had no wins so far. Then the won away to United to make a huge move towards safety. And then Liverpool duly responded by beating them 1-0 at Stoke Gifford with a Rachel Furness goal to turn the table round.

 

So Bristol and Liverpool are now level on points, but the Reds have a huge goal difference advantage. It means Liverpool just need to finish level on points with Bristol to stay up really. Then there is a third team involved in that battle that is Birmingham.

They are only one point ahead of those two teams and could be overtaken by them. Birmingham do have a game in hand over them which means they could be up to four points ahead potentially. But the bad news for Birmingham is they already have three postponed games to be played against two for their relegation battle opponents.

You can bet the relegation battle will end up as a survival of the fittest challenge with games piling up at the end of April/early May as it has happen for many seasons in the FA WSL. Obviously all those postponements are due to the low quality grass pitches used, which is a well known problem but with not many solutions found so far.

Here are the remaining postponed games and their current scheduling or lack of scheduling for many of them :

Seven of the eight postponed games includes the three teams involved in the relegation battle. It makes it really hard to know where the teams really stand in the table. And this brings us up to the teams that is currently safe from this battle Brighton.

They have taken a huge step towards safety by beating Everton 1-0 at home last week-end. They are now six points clear of the bottom two and five points clear of Birmingham. In theory that should be enough to see them safe, except for the fact that they have played two and three more games that the three teams chasing them.

Basically the Seagulls are no longer under pressure until one of the bottom three team get a win and closes the gap to three points. It means they will probably need to get another win to totally be safe from relegation. As of today, the only team mathematically safe from relegation is Manchester City. That’s it, Chelsea and Arsenal are not safe yet.

This week’s game for the four teams involved in the relegation battle are:  Everton v Liverpool, Birmingham v Brighton,  Bristol v Reading. Anyone getting a win, will put a lot of pressure on the other teams.

There is also an interesting historical statistic to look at. The number of points per game for the bottom team and the second from bottom since the the FA WSL started, here they are.

2011:  Liverpool 0.5, Doncaster 0.64

2012: Liverpool 0.35 Doncaster 0.78

2013 : Doncaster 0.42, Chelsea and Notts County 0.71

Note. There was no relegation on the pitch in those three seasons. FA WSL 2 opened in 2014, Manchester City were selected and Doncaster demoted after their first game in 2013. It certainly affected their performances knowing they would go down at the end of the season regardless of the results on the pitch.

2014: Everton 0.28, Bristol 1.14 Everton relegated.

2015: Bristol 0.57 Liverpool 0.92 Bristol relegated

2016: Doncaster 0.19 Reading 0.56 Doncaster relegated, Notts County folded during the Spring Series.

Spring Series (2017): Yeovil 0.12 Bristol 0.5 transition between Summer and Winter season, no relegation.

2017/18: Yeovil 0.11, Everton 0.77 no relegation due to League restructure Sunderland demoted two divisions to FA WNL due to licencing criteria as they did not apply for one.

2018/19: Yeovil 0.35, Everton 0.6 Yeovil real number is -0.15 due to a 10 points deduction. They were relegated to the FA WNL after being refused a Championship licence.

Here are the four contenders current numbers: Bristol and Liverpool 0.5, Birmingham 0.63, Brighton 0.85 points per game. Only Liverpool in 2011 and Bristol in 2015 finished with a similar average per game. It shows that the bottom of the table teams are stronger than ever and beat more than often mid table teams those days.

There is every chance that the relegation battle goes to the final day, simply because the re-arranged games are likely to be placed closed to the final game.