When the FA WSL was formed in 2011, Arsenal Ladies were a dominant force in women’s football and now they’re a shadow of their former selves – what happened?
The Arsenal Women have had a rich history since their inception 30 years ago.
Back in 2011, when the FA WSL was created, the Arsenal were the dominant team, winning regular titles and cups. That domination was one of the reasons behind the FA implementing changes in order to make the league more competitive.
It must be said, thanks to Vic Akers and the Arsenal board, the Ladies team, as it was called at the time, received strong financial backing, which allowed quality players to be signed. For example, at one time, the England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland captains were all playing for the club at the top of their game.
Seasons 2013-14: The Shelley Kerr years
The former Scotland u19 manager arrived at the beginning of the 2013 season and inherited a strong squad with many long-serving players.
The Kerr era saw Liverpool gain a competitive advantage over every other team, as they went to full-time training under Matt Beard. They subsequently won the league the following two seasons as every other team tried to catch up with them.
In that period, Kerr tried to implement changes inside the club. She tried to move towards training on a daily basis.
Unfortunately for her, she encountered resistance from senior players on her management methods.
For example, she decided to remove the captain’s armband from Jayne Ludlow, in a manner that led to the subsequent mid-season retirement of the Welsh legend and clear unrest among senior players.
Reform and change are not easy to make, especially at a club like Arsenal Ladies, where traditional methods were anchored in the team’s DNA.
The combination of Liverpool improving quickly, and the deteriorating internal atmosphere meant Arsenal missed out on a Champions League place for the first time in many years.
Bristol surprised everyone under Mark Sampson. Their counter-attacking, efficient style helped them grab second place ahead of the Gunners. Although, it didn’t help that the club was deducted three points for playing an ineligible player.
At the end of the 2013, the divide between the senior players and the manager was made clear as many left the club, either for better conditions elsewhere or because they did not want to work with Kerr any more.
The transfer window that winter was indeed very busy with many players departing.
However, the replacements that came in did not perform as expected.
With the club in clear transition on and off the pitch, the results carried on declining in the league, while success in the cup allowed the club to maintain its excellent record of getting at least one trophy per season.
In the end, a string of bad results that left the team in danger of not qualifying for the Champions League once again, led to the manager leaving the club.
She was also responsible for the Ladies’ first and only defeat to a lower division side in the main cup.
Kerr wrongly put out slow center-backs against Reading, who were managed by Jayne Ludlow, in order to deal with the speedy forward Fran Kirby, while she played our speediest defender at left-back.
Unsurprisingly Kirby scored two goals in that game.
Kerr left at the mid-season break, winning the FA Women’s Cup in her last game.
A period of transition over a few months followed with John Bayer and then Kelly Smith taking over as caretaker managers, before Pedro Losa was appointed as the new Arsenal manager.
Honours in that period:
- FA Women’s Cup 2013-14
- FAWSL Continental Cup 2013
League record:
- 2013: P14 W10 D3 L1, 30 pts (3 points deducted for fielding an ineligible player), finished third
- 2014:Kerr’s record was P3 W0 D1 L2 1 point before she resigned, Arsenal finished fourth