When London City Lionesses beat Manchester United on the opening night of the 2025-26 season, it suggested times were changing in the English women's game. For some, that had become clear about an hour before kick-off in Bromley when the team news revealed a starting XI without any English players - the first time a Women's Super League side had done so on the first day of the season. Two days later it happened again, when Scotland striker Kirsty Hanson was the only British player to start for Tottenham in their win over West Ham.
Both instances speak to the increasing ability of WSL clubs to attract top talents from across the globe, creating a league many now view as the world's best. But, with the Women's Champions League returning this week, is what's good for the WSL good for homegrown players, and by extension the home nations? Or is it, as The Guardian's Tom Garry puts it, "alarming" for the hopes of the home nations?
Arsenal v HB Koge, Women's Champions League Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live commentary and follow text updates of the matches featuring English teams on the BBC Sport website as the Women's Champions League returns Ten years ago when current champions Manchester City last won the WSL title, they did so with an all-British starting line-up. In 2018, the WSL went fully professional, the subsequent success of the Lionesses in the 2020s rapidly grew the game's audience and revenues have increased accordingly. As a result, clubs have expanded their scouting pool and been able to attract players from a wider variety of nationalities - with transfer fees exploding since the turn of the decade.
Over recent windows, WSL clubs have recruited heavily from Germany and Sweden, while two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas exchanged the trophies of Barcelona for big-spending London City this summer. The proliferation of players from Japan and Australia also highlights the WSL's attractiveness for those at the top of the game as those clubs with the deepest pockets pack their squads with players from across the globe. "Our league has grown significantly and attracted world class athletes from all over the world," says Birmingham City manager Amy Merricks.
"Unfortunately that blocks some of the pathways for the youngsters coming through. "We need [this] talent in our league because our league is growing, but at the same time we have got to try and address this issue." Looking at the proportion of homegrown players (English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish) to start 11 or more matches, half of a WSL season, the data shows a steady decline over the past three seasons to under a third. The first three weeks of 2026-27 have offered a bump on last season, but that can partly be attributed to the WSL's expansion from 12 teams to 14 teams and the greater proportion of homegrown talent in the promoted trio of Birmingham City, Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic.
It is a downward trend that is not mirrored across other major European leagues. For 2025-26, 61% of those to start half or more of Premiere Ligue matches in France were French, 63% of those in Frauen Bundesliga games were German, and 69% of Liga F players in Spain were Spanish. And, while WSL managers say they appreciate the importance of cultivating homegrown talent, the reality of the job ensures it is not their first priority.
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