Fran Kirby

The forward, who was forced out of the Lionesses starting line-up for Friday’s match against Austria after pulling up in the warm-up, will now return to club side Chelsea.

Sarina Wiegman’s side face Italy on Tuesday in their second friendly in Spain, having beaten Austria 7-2 at Algeciras’ Estadio Nuevo Mirador.

An England statement read: “Fran Kirby has withdrawn from the England camp in Spain and will return to Chelsea for further assessment on a minor knee injury reported before the Austria match.

“At this stage, there are no plans to call a replacement into the senior squad.”

Ella Toone came into the starting line-up in place of Kirby on Friday as England thrashed Austria, where Grace Clinton scored on her Lionesses debut.

Alessia Russo and Beth Mead also impressed with the Arsenal duo both netting braces, while strikes from Jess Carter and Rachel Daly completed the victory.

The friendly double-header mark England’s first games of 2024 as they turn their attention towards next year’s European Championship title defence.

Despite pitch inspections at Kingsmeadow earlier in the day that deemed the surface playable, the referee abandoned the Women's Super League clash when it became apparent the pitch was too frozen.

While it was broadly agreed to be the correct decision as players had been slipping on the surface, questions were asked as to why the game was allowed to go ahead in the first place and why stadiums that host WSL games are not all equipped with pitch heating facilities.

"You could see from the opening minutes that it was like an ice rink down the sides," Hayes told BBC Sport after the game was stopped. "[Liverpool manager] Matt Beard was upset that it even got to that point and he's right.

"We have to say to ourselves that it's time for undersoil heating. We've got to take our game seriously. Yes, we can have our blowers and pitch tents, but it's not enough.

"The game should never have started. Everyone wanted to get the game on, but when you have got emotions of teams wanting or not wanting to play, that's when you need a decision from above. The FA weren't here, they need to be making the decision.

"We've made progress with investment into the quality of grasses and surfaces across the league. No game at the top level of the women's game should be cancelled. We need undersoil heating, we don't live in Barbados."

Arsenal striker Vivianne Miedema took to Twitter to lament the decision to postpone that game as well as Tottenham's clash with Leicester City due to cold weather, posting: "Players safety should always come first. Luckily no one got injured today.

"Only way to fix this is to demand undersoil heating or playing our games in men's stadiums. FA and clubs, please do better."

The Dutch star was quote-tweeted by Liverpool's Katie Stengel, who wrote: "I heard Stamford Bridge was wide open today."

Chelsea's Fran Kirby also gave her thoughts on Twitter, adding: "Apologies to both sets of fans who travelled today. Players safety should always be the number one priority. Luckily no one was injured today and the right decision was taken eventually. Women's football deserves better and we won't stop fighting to make that happen"

Kirby missed three months of action towards the end of the season due to an illness that was causing extreme fatigue.

But having returned to action and been named in England's squad for the Euros on home soil, the 28-year-old opened up on her conversations with Wiegman while she had stepped away from the game.

"Obviously, it's going to be in the back of my mind. But for me, right now, I want to make sure that I'm feeling confident going into the Euros," said Kirby.

"Leading into it I had loads of conversations with Sarina on the phone in terms of how I was feeling and how I was doing.

"She always made me feel confident in terms of if you get yourself right, then I want you to be part of the squad. 

"And for me, as a player to hear that when you're not playing, it's really nice and it's really special to hear. 

"When I speak about her honesty, I said to her, I need you to be honest, if you don't think I'm ready, then you tell me that. 

"I wouldn't want to be part of the squad if you didn't feel that I was ready to participate or to give something to the team. 

"When she said that I was in the squad, it just reaffirmed the confidence that she has in me to make a difference.

"She's been great. She's really brought this togetherness in the squad, she makes everyone feel like they're respected and that their voices are heard. 

"She's just brought this honest nature, in terms of dealing with difficult conversations when they have to be had. 

"And she also makes people feel good, she makes you feel confident in your ability, she makes you feel like you're valued in the team and that's important when you're going into a tournament." 

Kirby had previously been ruled out for much of the 2019-20 season with pericarditis, a condition affecting the fluid sac around the heart.

England beat Belgium 3-0 in their first warm-up game for the Euros last week, with Kirby coming off the bench in the second half. 

"I'm feeling really good, feeling healthy and I've been able to participate in all the training sessions and be a part of them," added Kirby.

"For me, now, I'm not really thinking about much what has happened previously, because I just want to make sure that I'm focusing on the here and now and focusing on my performance in training. 

"I have to show that I'm ready to go and that I'm ready to play and I've been able to do that in the last few weeks."

Friendlies against the Netherlands and Switzerland are up next before England begin their Euro 2022 campaign against Austria on July 6.

Wiegman's side are seeking a third appearance in the final of this competition when they clash with the 1984 champions at Bramall Lane on Tuesday - and first since 2009.

Following their dramatic quarter-final victory over Spain, the Lionesses are now unbeaten in 18 matches, while Sweden have not lost since a 2-1 defeat by Denmark in March 2020.

The tournament hosts will also be aiming to avoid a fourth successive semi-final defeat in major competitions, having fallen at this stage of the 2017 European Championship as well as the World Cup in 2015 and 2019.

Meanwhile, Wiegman is looking to lift this trophy for the second time in as many editions, after guiding her native Netherlands to glory five years ago.

And Kirby, who has played in every match of England's run to the last four, believes the 52-year-old's previous experience of the big occasions will be hugely beneficial in the Lionesses' quest to avert further semi-final heartache.

"She's been there and done it; she's got to finals, she's won major finals," the forward said. "The best person to get us through is her.

"I think she'll come with a lot of experience and a lot of advice; she already has done leading into this tournament.

"For her, it's a case of doing what's normal because she's been to a few now. I'm sure we'll lean on her a little bit in order to get through it.

"First and foremost, she's a great coach; the way that she sees football, the way that she analyses other teams. 

"But I think her management of players sticks out for me and the way that she's made every person feel valued in this team - whether you're a starter, whether you're coming in as a sub, whether you don't get any minutes.

"I think everyone knows what their role is in the team and what they're there to do. They've taken that in their stride.

"I think that's a compliment to her in how people have managed themselves and made sure that when you're called upon, you're ready to go. It's not easy to do things like that when you've been sat on the bench.

"To make people still feel valued and feel hungry when they come on the pitch that they can change it, and they can help is a really special quality, and I think she has that."

The drama of the title race going down to the final day; all three domestic trophies being won by different sides and record attendances across the league - fans have been filling stadiums and proving women’s football has an exciting future.

Chelsea went into the season as defending champions of the WSL and FA Cup, and looking to make history by securing a fifth consecutive league title. Emma Hayes and her team have dominated over the last ten years and this season looked set to be no different. 

The Blues got there in the end, but it wasn't easy...

The Hayes dynasty and the end of an era

A shock reverberated around the women's game in November when Hayes announced that, after 11 years in charge, she would be leaving Chelsea to join the US Women’s National Team as coach.

Hayes is the most decorated manager in Chelsea's history, and transformed them into serial winners domestically. She departs the WSL as the manager with the most games (212), most wins (151) and the fourth-best win rate (71.2 per cent - minimum 50 games managed).

Her legacy will be more than just the 16 trophies she won, including the WSL title this term.

The growth of women's football during Hayers' tenure has been meteoric, and she could have only dreamed of the farewell she received as, at one of England’s most iconic football stadia in Old Trafford, Chelsea thrashed Manchester United 6-0 to seal their fifth straight WSL crown.

Millie Bright, Chelsea's captain, had labelled the team as "mentality monsters", and that was certainly a fitting tag, as the champions scored four first-half goals to dash any lingering hopes Man City had of winning the title.

Hayes' final triumph came despite star striker Sam Kerr suffering an ACL injury in January, though Colombia forward Mayra Ramirez arrived from Levante for a British record transfer fee of £384,000 plus a further £42,000 in potential add-ons.

Ramirez proved her worth, grabbing two goals in a first half in which she was unplayable and a delight to watch. Fran Kirby, meanwhile, came on to score on her final WSL appearance for Chelsea, and leaves the Blues as their all-time leading goal scorer (63) and assister (33) in the competition.

City only managed a 2-1 win away to Aston Villa, meaning the WSL title was settled on goal difference for just the second time after Liverpool finished ahead of Chelsea in the 2014 season, with the Blues goal difference of +53 this campaign the fourth best in the competition’s history.

The champions also scored the most goals by a team in a single WSL season (71).

Hayes reflected on her special time at the club in her first interview as the USWNT boss.

Speaking to the USWNT media channel, she said: "I am proud of the fact that I could leave that club in a better place and one that I hope continues to compete. But for me, the challenge of competing for World Cups, for the Olympics, and the dream of coaching a team that I have always wanted to get the opportunity to do. I simply couldn't turn it down."

So close, yet so far, for City

City once again came so close to bursting Chelsea’s bubble and spoiling Hayes’ party. However, after it being in their own hands, a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in the penultimate match gave the advantage back to Chelsea.

Gareth Taylor's team City became the first team in WSL history to win 10 away games in a single season, with their only failure to win on the road coming at Arsenal in November.

City missed plenty of chances in that game, and their bad luck in front of goal correlated with the injury to Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw against West Ham.

Shaw missed the final three league games, having become the first player in WSL history to record a goal or assist in 10 consecutive appearances (15 goals, one assist).

The Jamaican was prolific for City, scoring 21 times in 18 appearances, securing the Golden Boot award. Shaw was also named Football Writers Award Footballer of the Year and the WSL Player of the Year. She even became the second-quickest player to score 50 WSL goals, behind only Vivianne Miedema. Kerr is the only other player to have netted 20+ goals in back-to-back seasons, meanwhile.

Yet City still fell short of what would have been their first title since 2016. They have now been runners-up six times (five times to Chelsea), four more than any other side. 

Glory glory Man Utd

Despite the end-of-season drubbing for United, the previous weekend had seen Marc Skinner and his side create history of their own, this time in the FA Cup. For the first time in 11 years, the trophy was not lifted by Arsenal, Chelsea or Man City, proving the true development around the league.

United were featuring in the FA Cup final for the second consecutive year, having not reached this stage before 2023, and headed into the tie against Tottenham as favourites. They lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the 2022-23 final and did not want history to repeat itself.

They duly banished last year's demons in front of a packed Wembley, with an emphatic 4-0 win.

Ella Toone's eye-catching strike in the first half set the tone before a goal for Rachel Williams and Lucia Garcia's double added gloss to a convincing scoreline, despite Beth England hitting the crossbar for Spurs.

United became the 18th different winner of the women’s FA Cup. 

Gunners have their say

Arsenal pushed Man City and Chelsea all the way this season and although in the remaining few weeks they struggled to keep pace, they did have their say on both their rivals’ seasons endings.

The title race was effectively lost for Man City after they lost 2-1 in the dying minutes of their clash with Arsenal.

Similarly, the Gunners also got the better of Chelsea with a last-minute winner in the League Cup final, with Arsenal having won that trophy in successive seasons.

Striker Stina Blackstenius scored on both occasions, netting three important goals to secure silverware for Arsenal, frustrating Chelsea and ultimately ensuring City went empty-handed for another season. The Swede has 43 goals in 83 appearances for the Gunners and these big moments helped secure her a new contract.

So long, but maybe not farewell

The WSL has had some legends grace it over the years. World Cup winners and European champions have rocked up in the competition and it has become arguably one of the most sought-after leagues to play in.

But Hayes' was not the only shock departure.

Arsenal striker and the WSL's all-time leading goalscorer Miedema announced she would be leaving the Gunners at the end of her contract on a free transfer. With 125 goals and 50 assists for the Gunners over a seven-year period, the Dutch European Championship winner is bowing out a legend.

She has been out for most of the season, recovering from an ACL injury, but it's a shock to see such a talent allowed to leave. 

Many clubs in the WSL and around the world will relish the chance to have Miedema, who is only 27, pull on their shirt next season.

This season has been one of fond farewells, great goals, and record attendances. Next season promises to be continue the trend.