Six years. Eight titles. And then Manchester City.
The 2025-26 Barclays Women's Super League season will be remembered as the year that Chelsea’s era of dominance came to an end. Not with a dramatic final-day twist, but through relentless performances against every team that stood in Manchester City's way. Andrée Jeglertz's side clinched the title with a game to spare, topping the table from 9th November onwards without ever looking back. Game Insights Analyst Jess Saunders breaks down key moments that defined another magical season.
Manchester City: Going the distance
The numbers alone tell a remarkable story. City's 13-game winning run mid-season was the longest in the WSL this campaign. They also had the best attack of the season, scoring 58 goals. Jeglertz built a team that was compact and disciplined without the ball, and direct and clinical when they won it back.
Through evolving Manchester City’s tactics, Jeglertz became only the second manager in WSL history to win the title in their debut season, following Chelsea's Sonia Bompastor in 2024/25. It is a remarkable achievement, and the manner of City's title win suggests this could be the start of a new era for Manchester City in the WSL.
Whilst there was a clear togetherness about this new Manchester City team, one player who made a massive difference to their title-winning season was Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw. Shaw finished as the WSL's top scorer with 21 goals, a figure that makes her the most prolific player in the league this season by a distance, and one that included the fastest hat-trick in WSL history: 3 goals in just 12 minutes and 37 seconds against Tottenham in March. Check out her impressive season in statistics below.
What makes Shaw elite is not simply the goals she scores per game or per season, but the manner in which she does so. Her movement in the final third, along with her ability to scan space and time her runs, creates opportunities for teammates even when the ball never reaches her. Shaw uses the 6 capabilities when finishing, making it almost impossible for goalkeepers to predict where the ball will end up. Have a look at some considerations for finishing like Bunny Shaw, below.
Tottenham: The season's surprise package
Every season has a story that nobody quite predicted, and in 2025-26 it belonged to Tottenham Hotspur. After finishing 11th the previous season, they entered this one with a new head coach, Martin Ho. Spurs climbed to fifth place and set a club record points tally of 33, with their collective ability to take chances leading to great success this season, as shown below.
It was also Tottenham’s impressive individual tactics in key moments that shone. Beth England continued to carry Spurs' attacking threat with 8 goals, leading the way in goal contributions for her team, whilst Holdt created 22 chances across the season. The ever-improving centre-back pairing of Koga and Hunt also helped Tottenham maintain strong discipline both in and out of possession, with both players finishing in the top 5 among centre-backs for pass completion rates. The key players are highlighted in more detail below.
Tottenham will be hoping to build on these positive individual and team performances in the 26/27 season after a successful first campaign for Martin Ho.
Leicester City: Down and out
Leicester City ended their season losing the relegation play-off against the third-placed WSL2 side Charlton, having finished bottom of the league with just 9 points from 20 games. With a 9-game losing run at their lowest and a goal difference of -38, it is safe to say it has been a tough year for Leicester City. A year that means they will be playing WSL2 football next season.
As shown in the graphic above, Leicester City struggled to create chances and opened the door for the opposition to exploit their back line throughout the season. Despite a difficult year and 5 years in the WSL1, they will be hoping to follow Crystal Palace's recent success and bounce straight back into the top flight once more.
Looking ahead: What does the 2026/27 have to offer?
The WSL expands to 14 teams in 2026-27, the biggest structural change to the league in years. Manchester City will defend their title as the league's new benchmark. Chelsea will be hungry to reclaim what was theirs. And somewhere in the mix, another underdog story is set to emerge. The story continues.