Chelsea Women manager Emma Hayes said it is time for stadiums hosting top-level women's football to have undersoil heating after her side's game with Liverpool was suspended after just six minutes on Sunday.
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"
Kerr will not rush Chelsea comeback, sets sights on Champions League
Chelsea forward Sam Kerr is being cautious with her comeback from a major knee injury, as she set her sights on winning the Women's Champions League.
Kerr, who is Australia's all-time leading goalscorer, has been out since January after she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in training.
She missed the back half of Chelsea's Women's Super League and Champions League campaigns, while she was also absent from Australia's Olympics squad.
But despite being eager to return to action under new Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor, Kerr is not going to rush her comeback.
"I'm not putting a date on my return, just making sure I get it right and making sure I feel good before I get back on the pitch," Kerr told Optus Sport.
"I mean, it's my second ACL, so I know you need to take the time, you need to make sure it's right and I'm doing everything I can.
"But definitely no rush for me, I want to make sure I can play for many more years to come."
Bompastor replaced Emma Hayes after the latter ended her 12-year tenure at the end of last season.
And though Chelsea enjoyed unprecedented domestic dominance under Hayes, the Blues are yet to get over the line in the Champions League.
Bompastor, however, won that trophy with Lyon, and Kerr believes Chelsea now have an edge that was previously missing.
She said: "We would love to win the Champions League, that's the one we want, that's what we shoot for.
"We've fallen short a few years in a row, and hopefully Sonia brings that to this club."
"We want to win as many trophies as we can – we want to retain the league, get the [domestic] cups back, but the Champions League is the one we're going for this year."
Before her injury last season, Kerr was averaging 0.61 goals per 90 minutes, from 3.66 shots per 90, with a 16.67% conversion rate.
But Kerr's goals per 90 was actually at its lowest since the 2019-20 season, while her xG per 90 (0.46) was at its lowest during her time at Chelsea.
Kerr, who turns 31 on September 10, penned a new deal at the club earlier this year.
Asked if she had thought about her next move, Kerr replied: "This feels like home now. I love it here, I love where I live, I love the girls. We win a lot, so it's nice.
"I want to end my career, whenever that is, with as many trophies as I can, and I think we can do that [here]."
Chelsea start their WSL season against Aston Villa on September 20.
Bompastor promises more hard yards after Chelsea thrash Feyenoord
Sonia Bompastor has promised there is more hard work to come for her Chelsea players after they readied themselves for the Women's Super League season with a 9-0 hammering of Feyenoord.
Bompastor marked her first match at Kingsmeadow in fantastic fashion on Saturday, with the WSL champions proving far too good for their Dutch opponents.
Sandy Baltimore and Mayra Ramirez struck inside the opening 10 minutes, with Feyenoord's Celainy Obispo subsequently seeing red.
Chelsea were 4-0 up by the break thanks to finishes from Sjoeke Nusken and Wieke Kaptein, with Millie Bright heading home a fifth after the restart.
Substitute Aggie Beever-Jones netted a second-half hat-trick, with Maika Hamano also getting in on the act in a resounding victory.
Chelsea face Aston Villa in their WSL opener on September 20, and former Lyon coach Bompastor says the task is now to be fully prepared for that fixture.
"I can't wait to get to that moment, only two weeks now," she said.
"We are really excited to get to that moment, but we still have two weeks to work and we’ll make sure we work really hard to be ready for that first game.
"We had two main goals – the first one was defensively, we wanted to have high pressure, and be strong in transition. With the ball, I wanted them to play in a nice way, in an attacking style, so with nine goals, it was definitely good and it’s what we had been working on in training.
"I really liked the stadium, the atmosphere. It’s really cool, especially when you win and score a lot of goals. I hope all the games this season, they’ll have the same fun. We’ll keep working really hard to make sure they come and enjoy our games."
Barcelona's Bonmati in running to retain Ballon d'Or
Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati is in the running to retain the Ballon d'Or Feminin after enjoying another glittering campaign in 2023-24.
Bonmati was crowned the world's best player after helping Spain win the World Cup for the first time in 2023, succeeding team-mate Alexia Putellas, who won the award in 2021 and 2022.
The creative midfielder could follow Putellas in becoming a two-time winner after helping Barcelona win a Liga F and Champions League double in 2023-24 – their third in the last four years.
Bonmati opened the scoring in the Blaugrana's 2-0 Champions League final victory over Lyon in Bilbao, having also netted in a 2-1 aggregate triumph over Chelsea in the last four.
In the league, Barcelona won 29 of their 30 games, drawing the other, with Bonmati's 11 assists only bettered by team-mate Caroline Graham Hansen (19).
Hansen is one of five other Barca players on the 30-player shortlist, alongside Putellas, Ewa Pajor, Salma Paralluelo and Patricia Guijarro.
Four Chelsea players are nominated after the Blues sealed a dramatic Women's Super League title success in Emma Hayes' final season in charge, with former Barca full-back Lucy Bronze joined by Lauren James, Sjoeke Nusken and Mayra Ramirez.
Bronze and James are two of three England internationals to make the cut, with Lauren Hemp also in the running after scoring 11 WSL goals for Manchester City last term.
The winner of the award – as well as the recipient of the men's prize – will be announced at an awards ceremony in Paris on October 28.
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