Key numbers ahead of new WSL season

The new Women’s Super League season begins on October 1.

Here, the PA news agency looks ahead to the season in numbers.

4 – consecutive titles for Chelsea, with a record six in total.

4 – teams to have won the WSL, with three titles for Arsenal, two for Liverpool and one for Manchester City – who have been runners-up on five occasions.

58 – Emma Hayes’ side set a new record points total in last season’s success. Manchester United’s 56 was also the most without winning the title.

11 – the last two relegated teams, Reading last season and Birmingham in 2022, have recorded just 11 points, the lowest in the current 22-game season format.

0 – Reading went through the campaign without picking up a single point away from home.

22 – the record for goals in a WSL season, set by Arsenal’s Vivianne Miedema in 2018-19 and matched last season by Aston Villa’s Rachel Daly.

78 – Miedema is the competition’s record scorer, despite missing much of last season with a knee ligament injury. She also has a record five hat-tricks.

11-1 – Arsenal’s 2019 win over Bristol City came by a record scoreline for the competition. Miedema scored six and added four assists.

183 – Kerys Harrop’s record WSL appearance total – 135 for Birmingham and 48 for Tottenham – before retiring last summer. Chelsea’s Sophie Ingle goes into the new season just five behind Harrop’s record.

170 – percentage rise in WSL attendances last season, according to the competition’s official website. That came on the back of England’s Euro 2022 win, with the Lionesses then reaching this summer’s World Cup final.

47,367 – Arsenal’s win over Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium set a WSL attendance record.

3 – of the opening weekend’s six games, three will be staged at Premier League grounds – Aston Villa v Manchester United at Villa Park, Arsenal v Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium and Chelsea v Tottenham at Stamford Bridge – with a fourth, Bristol City v Leicester, at Championship venue Ashton Gate.