| Competition: | Women's Super League |
| Season: | 2022–23 |
| Winners: | Chelsea 6th title |
| Relegated: | Reading |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Chelsea Manchester United Arsenal |
| League Topscorer: | Rachel Daly (22 goals) |
| Biggest Home Win: | 7 May 2023 |
| Biggest Away Win: | 30 October 2022 3 December 2022 |
| Highest Scoring: | 6 November 2022 |
| Matches: | 132 |
| Total Goals: | 439 |
| Highest Attendance: | 47,367 Arsenal 4–0 Tottenham Hotspur (24 September 2022) |
| Prevseason: | 2021–22 |
| Nextseason: | 2023–24 |
The 2022–23 Women's Super League season (also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010.[1] It was the fifth season after the rebranding of the four highest levels in English women's football.
Ahead of the season the top two tiers unveiled a new visual identity, dropping "The FA" from the league names as part of the long term strategy for the leagues to be under new ownership in the future.[2] Due to start on 9 September 2022, the FA postponed all of the weekend's football fixtures following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022.[3] The first match was instead played the following week on 16 September.
Chelsea successfully defended their title by defeating Reading, whose relegation from the division after an eight-year stint was confirmed by the result, 3–0 on the final matchday. It was Chelsea's fourth consecutive and sixth overall WSL title.[4] Manchester United became the first side since 2014 to break into the WSL's top three which had been occupied by Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City in various combinations for the previous seven seasons.[5]
Rachel Daly was topscorer and equalled the league record of 22 goals first set by Vivianne Miedema in 2018–19. She became the first English player to win the award since Ellen White in 2017–18.[6] Mary Earps won the golden glove and broke the record for clean sheets in a WSL season with 14.[7]
On 24 September 2022, a new record WSL attendance was set at 47,367 during a match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal won 4–0.[8]
Twelve teams contested the 2022–23 Women's Super League season. Liverpool were confirmed as the 2021–22 FA Women's Championship champions on 3 April 2022, ensuring that they would return to the WSL for the first time since the 2019–20 season after a two year absence.[9] On 4 May 2022, founding members Birmingham City were relegated meaning the 2022–23 season was the first WSL season without them.[10]
| Team | Location | Ground | Capacity | data-sort-type=number | 2021–22 season |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meadow Park[11] | 4,050 | 2nd | |||
| Bescot Stadium[12] | 11,300 | 9th | |||
| Broadfield Stadium[13] | 5,800 | 7th | |||
| Kingsmeadow[14] | 4,850 | 1st | |||
| 2,200 | 10th | ||||
| 32,212 | 11th | ||||
| Prenton Park[15] | 16,547 | ||||
| Academy Stadium[16] | 7,000 | 3rd | |||
| Leigh Sports Village[17] | 12,000 | 4th | |||
| 24,161 | 8th | ||||
| Brisbane Road[18] | 9,271 | 5th | |||
| 6,078 | 6th |
Having spent the previous three seasons at The Hive Stadium following promotion to the WSL in 2019, Tottenham Hotspur relocated to Brisbane Road, home of Leyton Orient, ahead of the 2022–23 season.[19]
In addition, eight of the ten clubs whose women's team play at secondary stadia moved select matches to the club's primary ground throughout the season.[20] [21] [22] [23] [24] This would have included on opening weekend with Brighton & Hove Albion hosting Aston Villa at Falmer Stadium,[25] Chelsea hosting West Ham United at Stamford Bridge,[26] and Tottenham Hotspur hosting Manchester United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.[27] With Reading already playing at the Madejski Stadium, it would have meant four of the six openers taking place at the stadium used by their respective clubs' men's team with Everton and Manchester City the only home sides not to do so. However, the opening weekend was postponed along with all other football fixture in the country following the death of Elizabeth II, meaning the predicted "record breaking start" to the season off the back of Euro 2022 was on hold.[28] Everton and West Ham United were the two teams to not play any WSL matches at the club's primary ground during the season.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal |  | Adidas | Fly Emirates | ||
| Aston Villa | Castore | Cazoo | |||
| Brighton & Hove Albion |  |  | Nike | American Express | |
| Chelsea | | Nike | Three | ||
| Everton | Hummel | Stake.com | |||
| Leicester City | Adidas | FBS | |||
| Liverpool |  | Nike | Standard Chartered | ||
| Manchester City | Puma | Etihad Airways | |||
| Manchester United | Adidas | TeamViewer | |||
| Reading | Macron | Select Car Leasing | |||
| Tottenham Hotspur | (interim) |  | Nike | AIA | |
| West Ham United |  [29] | Umbro | Betway |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Everton | (interim) | End of interim period | 8 May 2022[30] | End of season (10th) | 5 June 2022 | ||
| West Ham United |  | Resigned | 8 May 2022[31] | End of season (6th) | 8 May 2022 | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 31 October 2022[32] | 11th | (interim) | 31 October 2022 | |||
| Leicester City | Lydia Bedford | Sacked | 3 November 2022[33] | 12th | Willie Kirk | 3 November 2022 | |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | (interim) | End of interim period | 28 December 2022[34] | 11th | 28 December 2022 | ||
| Mutual consent | 6 March 2023[35] | 11th | (interim) | 6 March 2023 | |||
| Tottenham Hotspur | Sacked | 13 March 2023[36] | 10th | (interim) | 13 March 2023 | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | (interim) | End of interim period | 7 April 2023[37] | 12th | | 7 April 2023 |
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[38] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rachel Daly | Aston Villa | 22 |
| 2 | Khadija Shaw | Manchester City | 20 |
| 3 | Bethany England | Chelsea / Tottenham Hotspur | 14 |
| 4 |  Sam Kerr | Chelsea | 12 |
| 5 | Leah Galton | Manchester United | 10 |
| Alessia Russo | Manchester United | ||
| 7 |  Frida Maanum | Arsenal | 9 |
| Guro Reiten | Chelsea | ||
| Katie Stengel | Liverpool | ||
| 10 | Stina Blackstenius | Arsenal | 8 |
 Lucía García | Manchester United | ||
| Pernille Harder | Chelsea |
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets[39] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mary Earps | Manchester United | 14 |
| 2 |  Manuela Zinsberger | Arsenal | 10 |
| 3 | Ann-Katrin Berger | Chelsea | 8 |
| 4 | Mackenzie Arnold | West Ham United | 5 |
| Hannah Hampton | Aston Villa | ||
| Janina Leitzig | Leicester City | ||
| Ellie Roebuck | Manchester City | ||
| 8 | Courtney Brosnan | Everton | 4 |
| 9 |  Tinja-Riikka Korpela | Tottenham Hotspur | 3 |
| Rachael Laws | Liverpool | ||
| Zećira Mušović | Chelsea | ||
| Emily Ramsey | Everton |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rachel Daly | Aston Villa | Reading | 3–1 (H) | 20 November 2022 | [40] | |
| Jordan Nobbs | Brighton & Hove Albion | 6–2 (A) | 12 February 2023 | [41] | ||
| Alessia Russo | Manchester United | Leicester City | 5–1 (H) | 5 March 2023 | [42] | |
| Khadija Shaw | Manchester City | Tottenham Hotspur | 3–1 (H) | [43] | ||
| Rachel Daly | Aston Villa | Reading | 5–0 (A) | 7 May 2023 | [44] |
| - | Most yellow cards | Total | Most red cards | Total | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Katie McCabe (Arsenal) | 7 | Aggie Beever-Jones (Everton) Jacqueline Burns (Reading)  Hawa Cissoko (West Ham United) Emma Kullberg (Brighton & Hove Albion)Ruby Mace (Leicester City) Ashleigh Neville (Tottenham Hotspur) Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City) Ella Toone (Manchester United) | 1 | [45] | |
| Club | Leicester City Reading Tottenham Hotspur | 30 | Brighton & Hove Albion Everton Leicester City Manchester City Manchester United Reading Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United | 1 |
| Award | Winner | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barclays WSL Player of the Season[68] | Rachel Daly | Aston Villa | |
| Barclays WSL Manager of the Season[69] | Emma Hayes | Chelsea | |
| Barclays WSL Goal of the Season[70] | Katie McCabe (vs. Manchester City) | Arsenal | |
| PFA Players' Player of the Year[71] | Rachel Daly | Aston Villa | |
| PFA Young Player of the Year[72] | Lauren James | Chelsea | |
| FWA Footballer of the Year[73] | Sam Kerr | Chelsea |
| PFA Team of the Year[74] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Mary Earps (Manchester United) | ||||||||||||
| Defenders | Ona Batlle (Manchester United) | Maya Le Tissier (Manchester United) | Alex Greenwood (Manchester City) |  Rafaelle Souza (Arsenal) | |||||||||
| Midfielders | Guro Reiten (Chelsea) | Frida Maanum (Arsenal) |  Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City) | ||||||||||
| Forwards | Rachel Daly (Aston Villa) | Khadija Shaw (Manchester City) | Sam Kerr (Chelsea) | ||||||||||
| Rank | Club | Attendance | Stadium | Opposition | Result | Date | class=unsortable | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 47,367 | Emirates Stadium | Tottenham Hotspur | 4–0 | 24 September 2022 | ||
| 2 | Arsenal | 46,881 | Emirates Stadium | Chelsea | 1–1 | 15 January 2023 | [75] | |
| 3 | Manchester City | 44,259 | City of Manchester Stadium | Manchester United | 1–1 | 11 December 2022 | ||
| 4 | Arsenal | 40,064 | Emirates Stadium | Manchester United | 2–3 | 19 November 2022 | [76] | |
| 5 | Chelsea | 38,350 | Stamford Bridge | Tottenham Hotspur | 3–0 | 20 November 2022 | ||
| 6 | Manchester United | 30,196 | Old Trafford | Aston Villa | 5–0 | 3 December 2022 | ||
| 7 | Liverpool | 28,574 | Anfield | Everton | 0–3 | 25 September 2022 | ||
| 8 | Manchester United | 27,919 | Old Trafford | West Ham United | 4–0 | 25 March 2023 | [77] | |
| 9 | Everton | 22,161 | Goodison Park | Liverpool | 1–1 | 24 March 2023 | ||
| 10 | Tottenham Hotspur | 21,940 | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | Manchester United | 1–2 | 12 February 2023 |
| Club | Attendance | Stadium | Opposition | Result | Date | class=unsortable | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 47,367 | Emirates Stadium | Tottenham Hotspur | 4–0 | 24 September 2022 | [78] | |
| Aston Villa | 7,517 | Villa Park | Manchester City | 3–3 | 21 May 2023 | [79] | |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 5,220 | Falmer Stadium | Reading | 2–1 | 25 September 2022 | [80] | |
| Chelsea | 38,350 | Stamford Bridge | Tottenham Hotspur | 3–0 | 20 November 2022 | [81] | |
| Everton | 22,161 | Goodison Park | Liverpool | 1–1 | 24 March 2023 | [82] | |
| Leicester City | 4,007 | King Power Stadium | Manchester United | 0–1 | 23 October 2022 | [83] | |
| Liverpool | 28,574 | Anfield | Everton | 0–3 | 25 September 2022 | [84] | |
| Manchester City | 44,259 | City of Manchester Stadium | Manchester United | 1–1 | 11 December 2022 | [85] | |
| Manchester United | 30,196 | Old Trafford | Aston Villa | 5–0 | 3 December 2022 | [86] | |
| Reading | 5,108 | Madejski Stadium | Manchester United | 0–1 | 22 January 2023 | [87] | |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 21,940 | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | Manchester United | 1–2 | 12 February 2023 | [88] | |
| West Ham United | 2,832 | Victoria Road | Arsenal | 0–0 | 5 February 2023 | [89] |