Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor has offered an update on the injury that forced star striker Khadija Shaw off at half-time against West Ham on Sunday.
Shaw made a blistering start to the game and set City on their way to a 5-0 victory, scoring twice in the first 24 minutes as her team returned to the top of the Women's Super League table. However, she went down with a foot injury in the final seconds of that first half and was replaced by Chloe Kelly after being helped off the pitch by the team's medical staff.
Concern grew for Shaw when she appeared in a boot and with crutches during the second period. City are locked into a fierce title race with Chelsea, who are three points behind them but with a game in hand. To lose a player who has scored 21 goals in 18 league games this season would be a huge hit to their challenge.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Taylor said of Shaw's withdrawal: "We decided not to take the risk. It was touch and go as to whether she was going to come back on the pitch. We'll get a bit more of an assessment tomorrow. She's on crutches, which looks bad, but most of the players end up being offloaded in that situation. We'll just have to assess it. If it's more serious than we anticipate, then we'll deal with it. I thought Chloe Kelly came onto the pitch and did really well in that position, put them under a lot of pressure, created some good opportunities. We'll find out a little bit more over the next couple of days."
The Cityzens travel to bottom side Bristol City next weekend as they look to stay ahead in the title race but it is the fixture the week after that which fans will be desperate to have Shaw available for, as third-placed Arsenal come to town.
A double from Reggae Girl Khadija Shaw propelled Manchester City Women to a dominant 4-1 win over Liverpool Women to move three points clear at the top of the FA Women’s Super League on Saturday.
Lauren Hemp opened the scoring for City in the 16th minute, the first of three goals in eight minutes for the light blues at Prenton Park.
Jess Park (22’) and Shaw (24’) got the other goals as City went into the halftime break with a 3-0 lead.
Shaw completed scoring proceedings for City with her second goal five minutes into the second half.
Liverpool’s consolation came six minutes from full time through an own goal from City goalkeeper Khiara Keating.
City will now enter the international break on 46 points from 18 outings. Chelsea are second with 43 points from 17 games while Arsenal are a distant third with 37 points from their 17 games.
Shaw now has 19 goals in 17 games this season.
NewCo CEO Nikki Doucet says her organisation is exploring “all possible options” in negotiating a new broadcast deal for the Women’s Super League and Championship as the top two tiers of English women’s football prepare to operate under an independent entity.
From next season, the leagues will be run under club-owned structure NewCo, with the FA also having what the organisation’s chief revealed will be a “special” share similar to its agreement with the Premier League.
An independent review of the women’s game led by former England international Karen Carney, recommended women’s football establish its own dedicated broadcast slot, suggesting the “obvious gap” would be 3pm on Saturday, which would require an exemption from or amendment to the historic blackout restrictions.
Asked about the likelihood of that happening, Doucet, speaking at Wembley Stadium, said: “I think the barrier is Article 48 (of the UEFA statutes), which encompasses all of football, and that’s how everything is governed in this market at the moment. We’re exploring.
“The Karen Carney review said women’s football needs to figure out its own point of view. So we’re exploring what that looks like. We’re trying to explore every possible opportunity and figure out what the market’s willing to do. We’re looking at every possibility and trying to understand that we’re part of a whole football eco-system.”
In 2021, the FA brokered a three-year deal with Sky and the BBC understood to be worth £24million but the women’s game has since experienced exponential audience and commercial growth, particularly following England’s Euro 2022 victory.
Doucet, appointed to lead NewCo in November after serving as a consultant on the transition, was previously general manager of Nike Women UK & Ireland and also worked with Citigroup Global Markets.
The Canadian revealed her team are balancing “reach and revenue” as they negotiate a new agreement, explaining: “I think, more than anything, it should just be as easy as possible for fans to be able to watch the league or the team or the player they want to. How we can do that is what we’re exploring.”
There were calls from some, including Chelsea boss Emma Hayes, to consider a closed league but Doucet confirmed NewCo would remain committed to a promotion-and-relegation structure, while the Continental Tyres League Cup will also remain next season.
Doucet could not provide details about the organisation’s governance structure or board make-up but believes the takeover will be transformational for the women’s game.
While Carney has suggested women’s football has the potential to become a £1 billion industry, Doucet said she doesn’t want to “put numbers out there”, wondering aloud why, with the right foundations and strategies in place, “couldn’t it be bigger?”
She added: “We’re kind of going from, and I don’t mean this disrespectfully because we would not be here without the FA, being within a governing body to a stand-alone, revenue-generating for profit, independent entity with a 100% dedicated professional management team. They wake up every day think about this project, this fan-base, these clubs and how we are going to grow this.
“I fundamentally see this as a start-up with 100 years of men’s football history. There are obviously challenges but also opportunities.
“When you look at the stats of the growth of the audience, the growth of our social media, whatever growth metric you look at, if you look at that in isolation without the judgement or direct comparison to men’s football, you look at those stats and you’d be like…’this is a high-growth tech start-up’.
“Women’s sport, however long you go back, has been underfunded. It’s been treated like a charity and expected charity returns. Now you’re starting to see professional management coming in with real investment and strategies against it, you’re starting to see examples around the world where it’s a viable thing.”
Jamaica and Manchester City superstar striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw is one of six nominees for the Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) Player of the Month award for December.
Shaw strengthened her position at the top of the division’s goalscoring chart with a hat-trick in Manchester City’s 4-1 success over Everton on December 17 in Merseyside.
The Jamaican shrugged off the disappointment of missing an early penalty to break the deadlock with a sublime chip over Courtney Brosnan.
She then added to her tally with a clinical low finish before heading home City’s fourth after the interval to finish the scoring.
Shaw is now the leading scorer in the WSL with nine goals in as many league games.
Also nominated for the award is Shaw’s City teammate Lauren Hemp who got a pair of goals in the team’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa on December 9.
Manchester United’s Ella Toone, Liverpool’s Taylor Hinds, Leicester City’s Lena Petermann and Tottenham Hotspur’s Barbora Votikova complete the nominees.
Khadija “Bunny’ Shaw opened her account in the Women’s Super League this season, scoring twice in Manchester City’s 5-0 demolition of Bristol City Women at the Joie Stadium in Manchester.
Shaw, who scored her first goal of the season in Manchester City’s 2-1 victory over Everton in the FA Women’s League Cup on Wednesday, scored two first-half goals in the lopsided victory.
The Jamaican striker scored in the 38th minute and in stoppage time after Jill Roord had opened the scoring from a close-range header in the ninth minute moments after a Shaw shot cannoned off the cross bar.
Laia Aleixandri headed into the net in the 33rd minute before Shaw’s header made it 3-0 five minutes later. Roord would score her second early in stoppage time before the Jamaican capped a dominant half with another header before the break.
Manchester City were unable to add to the score in the second half but it mattered little as Bristol City had few opportunities to cut into the lead with only two shots in the game, one of them on target. By contrast, Shaw had five shots in the first half alone for her side that took 24 shots in the game, 12 of which were on target.
City enjoyed 81 per cent of the possession against Bristol City, who remain winless after three games and sit at the bottom of the 12 team table.
Shaw could have added to her tally having missed a header from inside the box in the 89th minute and her shot from the six-yard box in stoppage time was saved by goalkeeper Ffion Morgan, who had replaced Carrie Jones at the interval.
Manchester City midfielder Laura Coombs sees the rise of Manchester United as a major force in the Women’s Super League as something to be welcomed.
After being relaunched in 2018, winning the Championship and then coming fourth in the WSL for three successive years, United this term have had their best top-flight campaign to date.
Marc Skinner’s side had been top of the table and are close to securing Women’s Champions League qualification for the first time.
City, who United face in Sunday evening’s derby at Leigh Sports Village, are in danger of missing out on Europe.
But on the topic of United’s rise, Coombs told the PA news agency: “I think every player prefers the league more competitive.
“I think it now puts our league as probably the best in the world, because it’s the most competitive. So the more teams that can rise up, the better in my opinion.”
With two rounds of games to go, United are second in the table, two points behind Chelsea.
Arsenal, Chelsea’s opponents at Kingsmeadow on Sunday, are three points further back in third, with fourth-placed City another two points behind in the battle for the three Champions League berths.
Asked about the fact that if Chelsea win, City could then end their derby rivals’ title push, Coombs said: “We want to beat United. If that result then stops them, I wouldn’t say that’s why exactly.
“We just want to go in and get the result to give us every chance to get top-three, that’s really our main motivation.”
City are looking to avoid what would be a first finish outside the European places since 2014, their inaugural WSL campaign.
Yet to be beaten by United in six WSL meetings, winning three of those, City take them on a week after Skinner’s side lost 1-0 to Chelsea in their debut Women’s FA Cup final appearance.
Coombs – scorer of an equaliser in December’s 1-1 Manchester derby draw at the Etihad Stadium, a moment she describes as a “highlight of my career” – has no doubt United will “come all guns blazing”.
And the 32-year-old added: “Like us, they lost their last game so they want to put that right straight away. They always give us a good game, and I think every year the games between us are getting more and more competitive. It’s really exciting to be a part of.”
After a notable turnover of players last summer, City started their WSL campaign with back-to-back losses before going unbeaten across the next 14 games, winning 12.
That momentum has slowed with two defeats in the last four for Gareth Taylor’s side, 2-1 at Arsenal and then Liverpool last time out.
Coombs, whose season has included signing a new deal with the club running to 2025 as well as returning to the England squad, said: “I think it has been a bit of a rebuilding year.
“We bounced back pretty quickly after the first two games of the season and we’ve got ourselves in a place now where we’re a solid group, and there won’t be a big turnover at the end of the year.
“So I think going into next year that puts us in a really strong position. We have had large periods of the year where we’ve played some really great stuff and we’ve got back to a competitive place in the league. So I think if we look at it as a building year, it makes next year really exciting for us.”
Former Arsenal striker Kelly Smith has joined the Women’s Super League club’s coaching staff until the end of the season.
The PA news agency understands the 44-year-old is joining the first-team set-up on an informal basis, working with the squad a couple of times a week, and will be in the technical area for next Monday’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Wolfsburg at the Emirates Stadium.
Smith has been working at Arsenal’s girls’ academy while completing her A License with the Professional Footballers’ Association.
Back where she belongs ?
Club legend Kelly Smith joins our coaching staff until the end of the season ? pic.twitter.com/Efr0mXmjPN
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) April 26, 2023
Across three spells playing for the Gunners, from 1996 to when she retired in 2017, Smith scored 125 goals in 144 appearances and helped them claim a glut of silverware.
That included winning a quadruple in 2007, with her having netted 30 goals in 34 games across the four competitions.
She also scored 46 times for England – a record Lionesses haul until Ellen White surpassed it in November 2021 – and played for Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympics.
Smith told the Times: “After speaking with (Arsenal manager) Jonas (Eidevall) and Clare (Wheatley, the club’s head of women’s football) it was a really easy decision to join the coaching set-up here.
“The club have been really supportive in helping me complete my A License and take the next step in my own post-playing career.
“It’s an exciting time to become part of this team – we’ve seen over the past few weeks just how resilient and together they are and I’m look forward to working with them more closely on and off the pitch at this key point in the season.
“I love this club and it’s such a great feeling to be wearing the Arsenal badge once more.”
Eidevall’s side, who won the Continental Tyres League Cup last month, drew 2-2 in the first leg of the Wolfsburg tie last weekend, fighting back after going 2-0 down. They are currently fourth in the WSL table, six points behind leaders Manchester United with a game in hand.
Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw has been named Barclays Women’s Super League Player of the Month for March.
The Jamaican grabbed five goals in three appearances as Manchester City finished the month with a 100% record in the league.
The WSL top scorer with 16 goals, Shaw grabbed a hat-trick in City’s 3-1 comeback win over Tottenham and followed that up with a brace in a 2-1 triumph away to Brighton the following week.
It is the second time she has claimed the prize, having also been named Player of the Month for November.
Her goals in that victory over Brighton brought about another impressive milestone for the forward, as she became Manchester City’s highest-scoring women’s player across a single campaign, surpassing the record previously held by Nikita Parris.
Reggae Girlz striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw scored her 10th goal of the Women’s Super League season to help Manchester City Women secure a 2-0 win over Leicester City Women at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
Shaw opened the scoring for City with a brilliantly placed header in the 61st minute before Chloe Kelly sealed the win in the 74th minute with her first goal of the season.
Manchester City Women are now third in the WSL table with 26 points from 12 games with a goal difference of 14. Manchester United Women and Chelsea Women are ahead of them with 28 points from 11 games, respectively.
Shaw’s 10th goal in 12 games puts her one goal ahead of Aston Villa’s Rachel Daly and four ahead of Chelsea’s Sam Kerr in the race for the golden boot.
Reggae Girlz striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw was again on the scoresheet for Manchester City Women as they defeated Tottenham Women 3-0 in the FA Women’s Super League (WSL) at Brisbane Road in London on Saturday.
Shaw produced a double to help City get their second win in four games, moving to fifth in the WSL.
Her first came just before halftime in the 41st minute before getting her second just after the break in the 47th minute. Lauren Hemp got City’s third goal in the 76th minute.
Shaw is now the leading scorer in the WSL so far this season with five goals from four games.
Reggae Girlz striker Khadija Shaw scored four goals to help Manchester City Women secure a 7-2 hammering of Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Women’s Super League at the Manchester City Academy Stadium on Saturday.
Shaw, who now has eight goals in 15 matches this season in the WSL, scored her goals in the 3rd, 12th, 57th and 61st minutes to help her Manchester City team move to third in the table with 41 points from 20 matches.
“The team looks to me to score goals so to get four today is an unbelievable feeling,” Shaw said in a post-match interview.
The other City goals came from Caroline Weir in the 16th, Alex Greenwood in the 68th and Lauren Hemp in the 69th minute.
Chelsea currently leads the WSL with 50 points from 20 matches followed by Arsenal with 46 points from 19 matches.
Jamaican striker Khadija Shaw scored her fourth goal of the season to help Manchester City Women secure a 2-0 win over West Ham Women in the FA Women’s Super League (WSL) on Saturday at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.
Shaw scored in the 63rd minute after England international Georgia Stanway opened the scoring in the eighth minute.
After the result, Shaw’s Manchester City Women find themselves fourth in the WSL table with 35 points from 18 matches, the same as Manchester United Women who are ahead of them in third on goal difference.
Chelsea Women lead the league with 41 points from 17 matches while Arsenal Women lie second with 40 points from 17 outings.
Shaw will next be in action for the Reggae Girlz on April 9th and 12th when they take on the Cayman Islands and the Dominican Republic in CONCACAF Women’s Championship Qualifying.
Jamaica international Khadijah Shaw scored on debut for new club Manchester City who engineered a rousing start to the English FA Women’s Super League (WSL) with a 4-0 win over Everton.
The 24-year-old, who secured a move to the English League earlier this summer, did not take long to get on the scoresheet, as she found the back of the net in the 38th minute.
The prolific Jamaican striker smartly stuck the ball into the net from 6 yards away after being set up at the end of a sweeping counter-attacking move. The goal put the team 3-0 ahead. Earlier Vicky Losada had opened the scoring in the 26th minute, with Canadian international Janine Beckie doubling the lead in the 36th.
Club captain Steph Houghton then rubbed salt into the wounds of the Toffees with a goal in the 67th minute.
Shaw signed for City in June on a three-year deal after a two-year stint with French club Bordeaux where last season she finished as the league’s leading goalscorer.
Manchester City Women have announced the signing of Jamaica’s Khadija Shaw on a three-year deal, subject to the approval of a work visa and international clearance.
Shaw, 24, arrives from Bordeaux in France where she scored 22 goals to win the Golden Boot Award in the Women’s First Division.
“It feels amazing to be a Manchester City player. I chose this club because I want to be a part of the environment, the culture and to play for this amazing team,” she said. “I want to be tested and there is so much experience in the team here, so I know I will learn a lot from everybody around me. I grew up as a City fan, and I even have some family members who live in Manchester. When I told them about my move, they were so happy and excited.”
Goal.com had reported in April that the player was close to a deal with Manchester City, which was looking to add depth to their forward pool and provide their head coach with different tactical options.
The player took to Instagram last week to announce that she was leaving Bordeaux but there was no confirmation as to where she was headed.
That confirmation came today with the club’s announcement.
Naturally, head coach Gareth Taylor was delighted with the signing and welcomed the Jamaicans to the club, who plays in the Women’s Super League in England.
"She's enjoyed a successful couple of years in France with Bordeaux and the fact that she finished as the league's top scorer this past campaign speaks volumes about the calibre of player that she is,” he said. “Her form on the international stage is incredibly impressive too and we're very much looking forward to working with her over the coming seasons."
The forward arrives from Bordeaux after scoring 22 goals in 20 league
Jamaica striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw has given the clearest indication yet that her time at Bordeaux has come to an end amid rumours that she is likely to make a move to England in the offseason.
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