What were your impressions of LCFC Women’s first season in the WSL?

I think Leicester’s first outing in the Women's Super League will be a big lesson for how the club will want to progress. The side was sitting at the bottom end of the league table all season and, facing teams like Manchester United and Chelsea, would have been tested like never before. Conceding late goals was a large part of the problem that City faced under previous manager, Jonathan Morgan. With world-class forwards in the WSL City were punished and struggled to get their first win.

The appointment of Lydia Bedford was a turning point as it injected a much-needed change of pace and crucially formation which stopped leaky goals and played into the hands of great players like Natasha Flint and Molly Pike. City won a crucial match against Birmingham City in December and Bedford's effort to turn the ship around won her February’s manager of the month award.

I think the team are a massive credit to themselves and showed spirit even in tough moments where it was looking like they were not destined to stay in the WSL. A change of managerial personnel and some key players changed all that.

Renuka Odedra

On the pitch it was a tough start to life in the WSL, possibly even tougher than I’d expected. The gulf between the established, top teams and LCFC Women was apparent. But there was a lot to be hopeful about. Despite that tough start the end result was one to be proud of, the fight to avoid relegation.

It was unfortunate that it didn’t work out for Jonathan Morgan. He seemed incredibly likeable and his achievements in 2020/21 were superb, but Lydia Bedford has come in and to stay up, and to keep fighting, had shades of the men’s great escape of 2014/15.

It was also refreshing to see the women able to keep using the King Power where possible, while other clubs seem to find such a concept challenging. The uptake of season tickets, and their incredibly reasonable pricing, has to be a huge positive and it did feel like there was a buzz around how much easier it was to watch and keep up with the WSL last season generally. The club could still make more progress on the social media side, but every step still feels like a positive step forward.

Helen Nutter

Being candid, it was underwhelming.

Having romped to the Championship title the season before, I was anticipating a comfortable midtable finish and a clear platform for us to build off. The nail-biting relegation scrap that transpired was disappointing, but it's a young squad that's learning and improving all the time.

Next season will be tough. Replacing an underfunded Birmingham with a resurgent Liverpool doesn't exactly scream plain sailing. But I think we've got enough about us to keep our heads above water once more.

Charlie Carmichael

It was always going to be very tricky, and staying up would have been a success in anyone's book – just look at the WSL's history of promoted clubs. The likes of Villa, Brighton and Spurs have all proved that you do that first, then build. 

The gulf between tiers in women's football is vast – LCFC basically leapt from being semi-pro at best to mixing it with some of the world's best players.

Hopefully they'll be more settled for their experiences next year and won't need to change managers mid-season.

Joe Brewin

I think overall last season can be seen as a success. Survival was ultimately the goal for the club’s maiden campaign in the top flight.

Under Jonathan Morgan, things were very close to working. But with the team without a win for a good chunk of the season, the club couldn’t wait any longer and changes needed to be made without any sentiment. Four wins were enough in the end to stay up and it was a good achievement to remain in the league.

The season was crucial for gaining experience in the WSL and after looking more up for the fight under Lydia Bedford, there are encouraging signs pointing towards a better campaign this time around.

Jack Johnson

Unfortunately I wasn't able to see much of it, but what I did see clearly highlighted the massive gulf between the Championship and the WSL.

Obviously not at this level, but I know how mentally difficult it is to play in a side which is struggling for victories and rooted to the bottom of the table; so to make such a big step up and avoid relegation should be considered as a very big achievement.

Hopefully the team will be now be able to use this first season as a platform to establish themselves as a WSL side.

Ryan Hubbard

That they lost about a million games in a row and didn't get relegated. Which I suppose was a success, but felt to me a bit disappointing as there was (relatively) a bit of hype before the season.

I'm sure Jonathan Morgan is a nice bloke but I was not entirely convinced about his credentials for the job, other than the fact half his family was also involved in the team.

I think another big takeaway was the fact the WSL has even more dramatic divides between the top and bottom of the league than the Premier League. To a casual viewer, lots of Leicester's games seemed competitive, but as soon as the Chelseas/Arsenals/Man Citys rolled in it was a total walkover. Hopefully teams like Leicester can start to bridge the gap with some more investment, but it would be a shame if the WSL ends up with the same teams at the top as the PL.

James Knight

As with many fans, my attachment to the women’s team isn’t as strong as the men’s side. Yet. But I found myself experiencing versions of the same emotions I’ve been used to with the men’s team for over 30 years. When Shannon O’Brien found the top corner against Tottenham I was elated. When Natasha Flint struggled to replicate her goalscoring form after the step up, I was frustrated. When Birmingham pulled off a shock win over Arsenal I was devastated.

The gulf between the best and the rest in the WSL is obviously huge and that’s a problem when you’re trying to grow one of the clubs outside of the elite. There seemed to be two tiers within the league: one where we could be competitive and one with games we had to write off as soon as they kicked off.

Clearly more supporters of the men’s team have got to be drawn in, preferably at a young age, and that’s difficult when you’re getting done 9-0. But the fight shown by the women in crucial games, and the impact of the mid-season switch to Lydia Bedford, make me hopeful for next season.

David Bevan