WSL Full-Time

Chelsea continued their long unbeaten run in the Barclays Women’s Super League with a 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at Kingsmeadow this afternoon.

A second half strike from Keira Walsh proved to be the difference as The Blues remained at the league summit.

Chelsea started the game with plenty of intensity and Alyssa Thompson came close to an opener in the opening three minutes, but her effort was too high.

Spurs’ first chance on goal came from Cathinka Tandberg, whose shot was deflected wide by Nathalie Björn.

Chelsea continued to search for an opener and Erin Cuthbert tried her luck with a free-kick, but the ball was claimed by Lize Kop at the far side of the goal.

After a frustrating first half for both sides, Thompson created the first chance on goal of the second period, but her right-footed shot went wide after Kop’s intervention. Ellie Carpenter then saw a long-range effort clear the crossbar.

Sonia Bompastor’s side eventually found the opener just after the hour mark through Walsh. She netted her first goal for Chelsea with a right-footed shot from outside of the box.

Spurs looked to equalise through Matilda Vinberg’s free-kick, but her shot hit the Chelsea wall.

In the end, Chelsea held on to claim another three points which keeps them at the top of the Barclays Women’s Super League table.

Chelsea are back in action when they play host to Paris FC in their latest UEFA Women’s Champions League fixture on Wednesday while Tottenham Hotspur’s next fixture is a home Subway Women’s League Cup tie against Birmingham City on Sunday.

About The Author

German Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt have completed the signing of Tottenham Hotspur winger Hayley Raso on a two-year deal.

The Eagles announced the news via a post on their official club website this morning.

The 30-year-old makes the move to Germany after spending one season with Spurs. Raso made 16 appearances for The Lilywhites in all competitions after joining the club following her departure from former side Real Madrid.

Raso has spent the last five-and-a-half-years playing her football in Europe. In addition to her spells with Spurs and Real Madrid, she has also turned out for Everton and Manchester City.

After joining Eintracht Frankfurt, Raso said “I had very good discussions with the management here at Eintracht. I really like the club and the city. The German Bundesliga is one of the top leagues in women’s football and a place where I want to be.

“After stints in the USA, Spain and England, I will now experience German football for the first time. I’m very excited to be here and get started. I hope that I can help the team with my national and international experience and contribute my strengths.”

Raso’s move comes as no surprise with the player having been linked with a Spurs exit for several weeks.

About The Author

Chelsea have completed the signing of Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Becky Spencer on a permanent deal.

WSL Full-Time were informed of the news via an official club press release from The Blues this afternoon.

The 34-year-old re-joins Chelsea following a successful loan spell with the club in the second half of last season. Spencer has signed a one-year deal with the South West Londoners, although there is an option to extend the arrangement by a further year.

Spencer becomes a Chelsea player for the third time in her career. In addition to last season’s loan spell, the keeper also turned out for The Blues between 2016 and 2018.

The player has enjoyed a career than has spanned out for almost two decades. She has spent the majority of her time playing in the Barclays Women’s Super League, turning out for Arsenal, Birmingham City, Chelsea, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur.

On the international stage, Spencer has represented the Jamaican national team.

After securing her Chelsea return, Spencer said “I’m over the moon to be given the opportunity to stay at this magical club, it’s somewhere which has always felt like home for me.

“We have amazing fans and I look forward to coming back into this environment on a permanent basis and working alongside the great goalkeeper’s union we have.”

Spencer is Chelsea’s fourth signing of the summer transfer window.

About The Author

Tottenham Hotspur have completed the signing of Japanese international defender Töko Koga on a four-year deal.

WSL Full-Time were informed of the news via an official club press release from The Lilywhites this afternoon.

The 19-year-old Osaka-born defender joins Spurs off the back of a spell playing her football in the Dutch Eurojackpot Vrouwen Eredivisie with Feyenoord. Koga spent 18 months with The Pride of the South. She helped Feyenoord to record a respectable top half of the table finish last season.

Koga spent her youth with Japanese clubs FC Grasion and JFA Academy Fukushima. She represented the latter club at senior level over a significant period.

On the international stage, Koga has already made the step up to senior level. She has been capped by the Japanese national team on 19 occasions while she has scored three goals for her country.

Despite her young age, Koga is already building plenty of experience at the top level and she will now test herself in the Barclays Women’s Super League this season. The player will be hoping to help new club Spurs significantly improve their defensive record after being breached too often in recent campaigns.

Koga is Tottenham Hotspur’s first signing of the summer transfer window.

About The Author

Tottenham Hotspur forward Martha Thomas has signed a contract extension with the club.

WSL Full-Time were informed of the news via an official club press release from The Lilywhites this morning.

The 28-year-old Scotland international has signed on with the North Londoners until summer 2028.

Thomas arrived at Spurs from Manchester United in summer 2023. The forward initially thrived in head coach Robert Vilahamn’s attacking system. Thomas netted 10 goals in all competitions for Spurs in the 2023/2024 campaign in what was her strongest season as a professional footballer.

Thomas’ only Spurs goal this season came in the domestic cup competitions, however, her continued importance can be highlighted by the fact that she featured in every league fixture for the club.

In her time at Spurs, Thomas has shown some of her greatest form and has enjoyed arguably her best fitness record. The player is an asset and she will now turn out for the North Londoners over an extended period.

It has been a busy 24 hours at Spurs. Yesterday, the club announced the news that four other players have had their deals extended for next season. Ashleigh Neville, Olga Ahtinen, Kit Graham and Josefine Rybrink are all under contract at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for next term.

About The Author

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Robert Vilahamn admits that there is a lot of work to be done in the summer after the club ended the 2024/2025 campaign second-bottom of the Barclays Women’s Super League table.

Spurs recorded a 1-1 draw at Everton on the final day of the season. Despite taking a point on Merseyside, The Lilywhites dropped one place to 11th in the table.

When speaking to the media after the match, Spurs boss Vilahamn said that both sides had positive spells in the game.

“It’s two teams that tried to play some decent football,” Vilahamn said. “ I think Everton were much better in the beginning. They had a really good start and it was a beautiful free-kick.

“We came back [in it] after 25 minutes or so and then I think we finished the first half off in a good way. Second half, we were more dominant and had a few really good chances to win the game. Overall, it was quite a good football game.”

Spurs failed to win any of their final 11 games in all competitions and Vilahamn said that it has been a far from ideal campaign for the North Londoners.

He said “It’s a season where we are definitely not happy with the result and the performances. I think we will learn a lot from this season because we have realised what we need to do. It’s been really hard to get the wins. We probably need a pre-season and make sure we do everything right after this.

“There’s massive work to be done in the summer to make sure we come back stronger next season.”

Reflecting on his side’s 11th-place finish further, Vilahamn said that Spurs must be more clinical going forward.

He said “ I don’t think we are a team that loses most of the games because we are not competing with teams. I think there are many games where we are playing some good football and could have won. It’s not like we are one of the worst teams in the league, but I think we are there given the results. I think we need to learn how to get better results from the performances. There are a lot of games where we are performing quite well, but we need to be sharper with how to win a game.”

Spurs have yet to release their retained list for next season but Vilahamn says that there will be some subtle changes in personnel with the focus being on quality.

He said “We have a really good squad with a lot of talent, so let’s see how we can improve the players that we have and then see where we need to sign a few players. We already have a very competitive group of people here, but obviously, there are a few players who haven’t played too much who probably want to look for new clubs. It’s not going to be big movement, it’s going to be more quality than quantity.”

Spurs’ final league ranking is their lowest in their six years in the English top flight.

About The Author