After only one season with Serie A Women’s side Juventus, Lia Wälti is rumoured to be leaving Italy and is set to return to England.

Before her move to the Italian side, Wälti started her career at Turbine Potsdam in the Frauen Bundesliga. She made 115 appearances for the club across five seasons before making a huge move to WSL side Arsenal at the beginning of the 2018 season.

In her time at Arsenal, she became a fan favourite, known as Lia Wälti ‘Snake hips’, due to her talent for dribbling through opponents' defence.

She was a huge part of all the trophy-winning squads in her time at the North London club, bringing home a WSL title in her first season, a League Cup title in the 2022/23 season, and most notably, the UEFA Women's Champions League in the 2024/25 season.

Wälti’s contract at Juventus was set to run until 2027; however, according to Soccerdonna, she is set to axe her contract early and move to the English top flight.

The destination of Wälti’s return is unknown, and a midfielder of her pedigree would surely fit into any WSL side.

London City Lionesses certainly have a reputation for signing high-profile international players such as Dutch midfielder Daniëlle van de Donk and Swedish captain Kosovare Asllani.
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It is not yet certain where Lia Wälti will end up, but she will undoubtedly be an asset for any WSL team.

Keely Hodgkinson has broken the women's indoor 800m world record, set by Slovenia's Jolanda Ceplak on Hodgkinson's birthday just under 24 years ago.

The Olympic gold medallist crossed the line in 1:54.87, shaving nearly a second off the previous record of 1:55.8.

23-year-old Hodgkinson broke the rarely contested 600m record during her previous indoor season three years ago. She joins triple jumper Jonathan Edwards as the only British athlete to hold a current world record in one of Athletics’ championship events.

This has been a long time coming. Hodgkinson was predicted to break the record in February 2024, before a double hamstring injury that marred her first year as Olympic champion, following her gold medal win in Paris.
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It has been nearly 43 years since Czech athlete Jarmila Kratochvílová set the outright world 800m record by running 1:53.28 in July 1983, and Hodgkinson will be chasing that down in the upcoming European Championships in Poland.

Paul Green joined the club in 2013 and worked closely with managers to support the club to 19 trophies in his time in the position, including five WSL titles, won under the guidance of Emma Hayes.
There is no doubt that Chelsea would not be the club they are today without Paul Green, and this is evident in the public reaction from players on social media.

Green acted as interim manager in Emma Hayes’ absence in 2022 when she had an emergency operation and has aided many successful transfers for the club.

Club captain Millie Bright and many other long-term players took to social media to offer support for Green and all that he has done for the club.

This comes at a tough time for Chelsea after two resounding losses in the Women’s Super League, losing 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to Arsenal and 5-1 away to league leaders Manchester City.

There has been much debate surrounding Chelsea so far this season, as for the first time in six years, they are not top of the league, and have suffered some unexpected losses, such as their game against Everton on the 7th December 2025, where their unbroken win streak was ended with an early Everton goal that they were unable to equalise.

It is fair to say that these performances have not gone down well with the fans, as this is the first time since the 2018/19 season that they have not been the favourites for the league title, and lots of pressure is currently on manager Sonia Bompastor.
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There are undoubtedly problems appearing throughout Chelsea’s ranks, and losing Paul Green will be a huge blow for the club.

41-year-old Lindsey Vonn is no doubt an American skiing legend. She has four World Cup titles and was the first American woman to win a gold medal in the Women's Downhill, an achievement she accomplished in 2010.

She had returned to elite ski racing last season after nearly six years in retirement, having had a partial titanium knee replacement in her right knee.

There was speculation whether or not Vonn would compete in the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics due to her age, but it is clear to see that nothing would stop her.

She came out of retirement last year at the age of 41 to chase her dream of becoming the oldest downhill Alpine Olympic champion.
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However, her body couldn’t cope, with one knee currently injured, after rupturing her ACL just 9 days before the competition, and the other rebuilt in 2013, Vonn was hanging on by a thread.
On Sunday, Vonn started her final descent down the slope, and it was clear to see she was favouring her uninjured right leg straight off the mark.
She barely made it 13 seconds through her run in Cortina before she got caught in one of the safety markers and fell awkwardly at high speed.
Vonn was immediately tended to by medical staff and is said to be in stable condition after orthopaedic surgery.
The American team must hold some blame for the situation, as they allowed her to race on, knowing she would have an increased chance of injury in an already dangerous sport.
In January 2025’s world cup runner up, Austrian Skier Magdalena Egger, suffered a similar injury, also rupturing her ACL, but she made it very clear that she would not be competing in the Milano Cortina Olympics, as it would be unsafe and could cause her longer-lasting injuries.
In the end, the American team still came out on top, with Breezy Johnson getting the gold, but at what cost to the team?
Lindsey Vonn will likely never ski again; an entirely avoidable outcome, had the American team not allowed her to race, she would not have such lasting injuries.

If you were to walk the streets of Barcelona in early 2016 you would have been surrounded by a sea of FC Barcelona shirts sporting Messi, Neymar Jr, Suarez and Iniesta, but in the ten years since then much has changed. Walking the streets in 2026 you are just as likely to see shirts with Alexia, Aitana or Graham-Hansen. The world of women’s football has undoubtedly exploded in the past ten years and maybe nowhere is it more obvious than in Barcelona.
Barcelona’s most recent fixture was a Liga F game on the 10th of January 2026 against Madrid CFF, which ended in an astonishing 12-1 win, helping the team along in the pursuit of their eleventh league title. However, if you were to ask most women’s football fans what they thought of the end result, astonishment would not be the general consensus. In the modern-day Barcelona Femení are known for winning by huge margins, not just in Spain but also across Europe such as, in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. For example, their recent 7-1 battering of Bayern München on the 7th of October 2025.
The question is what is it that has given Barcelona dominance in Spain and in the rest of Europe.
Barcelona Femení’s prowess in Spain is undisputable, as since the formation of the Spanish Liga F in 2010, there have only been 4 teams to win it, Rayo Vallecano in the league’s inaugural season (2010/2011) and Athletic Bilbao in the 2015/16 season. Atletico Madrid were league champions for three years in a row, winning from 2016-2019. Meaning Barcelona Femení have won the other ten league titles and are currently flying seven points ahead of Real Madrid this 2025/2026 season.
Barcelona’s strong academy roots have always been essential in supporting the club performing well across Europe. La Masia has been renowned for creating world class players for decades. They have produced footballing legends such as Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Pep Guardiola, and most notably Lionel Messi. In an interview for Eurosport in 2015 Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez said “Barca is of course a winning team and there will always be new signings that might not come from La Masia, but we will always be fed by La Masia, no doubt.”
The quality of football churned out of Barcelona’s academy is undoubtedly on different levels to other big clubs and this is exceptionally obvious in the women’s game. Out of Barcelona Femení’s main twenty player squad for the 2025/2026 season, ten of the players are a product of La Masia. Most notably defender Ona Batlle, midfielders Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí, and attacker, number 9 Claudia Pina. Even Barcelona’s Head Coach, Pere Romeu, started his journey coaching the ‘Barca B’s’ before climbing the ranks to become the first team coach at the beginning of the 2024/2025 season.
It is in Barcelona’s philosophy that they strive to create the next generation of world class players as shown by their club motto mes que un club, more than just a club. In an interview with UEFA, back in 2015, Xavi Hernandez also said, "It's about doing something extra, not just winning."
Barcelona Femení are invaluable to the local Catalonian community, heavily echoing their motto. This is shown by their year-round visits, with the Barca Foundation, to important places in the area, giving them the ability to inspire the next generation. This may be one of the greatest reasons for their success. Barcelona is firmly embedded in the local community, with frequent trips to schools, hospitals, and care facilities throughout the city. Could this be the secret to creating a powerhouse? By not being ‘untouchable’ and by showing the next generation, from a young age, that they could become the next Alexia Putellas, who went to a school just like them in the Barcelonian suburbs. They have the ability to directly inspire the next wave of proud Catalonian footballers, who are Blaugrana through and through.
The club did not officially become a faction of FC Barcelona until 2002 so it must be said that the prowess of Barcelona Femení is a modern phenomenon. This is especially obvious in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. The league was launched the year before Barcelona Femení became an official part of FC Barcelona, in 2001, but the women’s side did not compete in Europe until the 2012/2013 season. At the start of their European campaign, they were not the dominant team seen today. They did not reach their first final until 2019, which was a resounding 4-1 loss against Olympique Lyon. They won the first of their three Champions Leagues in 2021 in Gothenburg, where they beat Chelsea 4-0.
Mes que un club is so rooted through everything Barcelona Femení do and the way they play, but also in the huge fanbase that they possess. Now with the women’s team often showing better results than the men, mes que un club has given Barca the ability to grow their attendances and profile to levels only really seen at a similar standard at Arsenal.
Barcelona Femení hold the record for the largest ever attendance at a women’s game. On the 30th of March 2022 at Camp Nou, 91,533 people showed to see Barcelona defeat Real Madrid 5-2 in the second leg of the Women's Champions League semi-final. Chants of Alexia and La Reina (The Queen) could be heard throughout Camp Nou that night, as the Barcelona captain was worshiped by the Culers, in the same way that Lionel Messi was years earlier.
Although there are definitely teams, such as Lyon, who have a historically more successful history, Barcelona feels different. They are team full of home-grown players who want to give their all for the club and any external players must be prepared to do the same. The foundations of how the club works have been deeply rooted into the women’s side, and throughout it all one thing sets Barcelona Femení apart.
They are More than just a club.

Nineteen-year-old Davina Perrin, a right-handed batter, has become only the second female cricketer to be nominated for a BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

Perrin is one of three nominees and is arguably the least well known of the trio. The other athletes nominated are PDC World Champion, eighteen-year-old Luke Littler and European Champion and Arsenal Women’s player nineteen-year-old Michelle Agyemang.

In a statement issued by Warwickshire County Cricket Club, Perrin said, ‘‘I’m truly honoured to be shortlisted for the Young Sports Personality of the Year award.’’

Perrin shone for the Northern Superchargers during the 2025 season of The Hundred, helping them take the title from the London Spirit, and earning the fastest century in the history of the women’s competition, reaching 100 runs in only 42 balls.

Davina Perrin was England's second-top run scorer in the 2025 Women's U19 T20 World Cup, where they exited in the semi-final after losing to champions India.

Perrin was also named the 2025 Professional Cricketers’ Association Women’s Young Player of the Year, becoming the first black women to receive the award.
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The only Female Cricketer to be nominated for a BBC Sports Personality Award before is retired England bowler Anya Shrubsole who was nominated for the main award in 2017 after winning the Women’s World Cup against India. Shrubsole took five wickets in 19 balls as she claimed 6-46.
Perrin said, ‘’It’s a very special feeling and I hope it inspires more young females to get into cricket.” 
This could be a huge boost in public awareness for women's cricket.