Will the WSL global expansion impact English players’ development?
Minutes for players eligible for England are decreasing as the top-flight rapidly grows into a multinational league
More than two-thirds of the players who have played in the Women’s Super League so far this season represent overseas countries, as the English top-flight continues to be an increasingly globally facing league.
Of the 203 different players who have featured during a WSL match after two rounds of fixtures, only 62 are eligible to play for England, or 30.5%, according to data collated by the Guardian. Players representing 33 different countries have been named in a matchday squad for a WSL fixture this season, with players representing 30 different countries having started at least one match. That is in striking contrast to the landscape in the WSL as little as seven years ago when players from only 15 different nationalities were involved in the division and more than two-thirds of the players were English.
