The world of women’s football was full of surprises in 2021.
In England, there may have been a familiar team holding the trophy at the end of the 2020-21 Women’s Super League season and the three most successful and expensive sides might have all qualified for Europe, but there were still plenty of shocks along the way.
Manchester United, with Tobin Heath and Christen Press in tow — a monumental moment in itself — nearly clinched third place. Arsenal staggered towards the Champions League and Chelsea had a two-year, 33-game unbeaten run ended by Hope Powell’s Brighton.
The unpredictability has continued into this season. Arsenal silenced champions Chelsea on the opening day at the Emirates. Arsenal’s new manager Jonas Eidevall dropped to his knees to celebrate, announced himself to the league, and kick-started a brilliant rivalry with Emma Hayes.
Hayes got her revenge a few months later, blowing away Eidevall’s side in the 2020-21 Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley.
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It seems like the two will be exchanging sideline celebrations, sly jibes about cats and the lead at the WSL table for months and years to come.
Elsewhere, Manchester City collapsed under a pile of injuries and slumped to a record four defeats, and at one stage, lost three matches in a row, something they’ve never done before in the WSL.
As we head into the new year, relative WSL newbies Tottenham occupy the third Women’s Champions League spot and the race for Europe is well and truly on, with Manchester United, Manchester City and Brighton all in the hunt.
In Europe, the uncultured among us thought Chelsea might be able to match Barcelona in the 2021 final but they were absolutely blown away, conceding four in the first half and ending any mystery about just how good Barcelona are — not surprising from a team that finished the season with 99 points, 167 goals and just one defeat in 34 games.
This year, we also finally got to enjoy the Tokyo Olympics and the women’s football tournament did not disappoint. Sweden smashed the United States 3-0 in their opening group game and left a lot of people speechless. Great Britain got knocked out by Australia in the quarter-finals despite Ellen White scoring a hat-trick.
In the end, it was Canada who unexpectedly claimed gold, defeating Sweden in an amazing penalty shootout.
Player of the year
Barcelona’s captain Alexia Putellas deservedly claimed most of the individual awards in 2021. Her highlight reel was ridiculous, her stats incredible. She’s played 63 games, scored 43 goals and grabbed 29 assists in 2021.
Putellas plays football with ease and controls games like a grandmaster chess champion. She sees movements, opportunities and situations faster than most players draw breath. She is a once-in-a-generation player and at 27, has plenty more awe-inspiring years to come.
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Best moment of the year
The moment of the Olympics tournament was also the moment of the year, but it had nothing to do with football. It was all about love.
In Tokyo, after the US beat Australia to claim bronze, Sam Kerr and Kristie Mewis embraced in the middle of the pitch and gave women’s football fans all over the world the content they had literally been crying out for.
It was the first sign of a long-awaited relationship, one that began with shameless flirting on Instagram and was drawn out in Reddit threads and YouTube videos.
Their embrace was captured by a sharp photographer and the image went viral, sparking a hilarious tweet that united the women’s football community and even led to merchandise. If there’s one thing that people will remember in women’s football in 2021, it will be that, “They’re lesbians, Stacey.”
It was a piece all about that moment and the power couples in women’s football that ended up being my favourite to write this year.
Talking to women’s football fans around the world and hearing just how much players such as Kerr and Mewis, and their queerness, had changed their lives was amazing. It touched me and made me realise just how much these incredible, bold and unashamedly queer women had also impacted mine.
Worst moment of the year
This also arrived in Tokyo. Great Britain were minutes away from making it to the semi-finals but Kerr snatched a late goal.
The Aussie superstar benefitted from some woeful GB defending and sent the match into extra time, Caroline Weir went on to miss a penalty to add even more woe to the occasion, and Australia scored two to make it through the semis. It was a quintessentially British collapse.
Goal of the year
There’s only one option for goal of the year and it happened just a few weeks ago at Wembley. Kerr was once again the protagonist, pulling off an audacious chip over Arsenal goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger to seal the 2020-21 Women’s FA Cup in front of more than 40,000 under the Wembley arch. Kerr slid to her knees, stuck her tongue out, of course, and flicked her fingers to suggest that even she knew the goal was too hot to handle.
Stunning. 🤩
Bravo, @SamKerr1! 👏#WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/mBykRC9R2A
— Chelsea FC Women (@ChelseaFCW) December 6, 2021
My wish for next year
My hope for women’s football in 2021 is a challenge to Barcelona’s dominance in the Women’s Champions League. Their incoming dynasty is undeniably impressive but returning to the same, predictable domination that Lyon had would be boring.
Barcelona will likely win the 2021-22 competition with ease but it would be nice to see someone else push them all the way.
(Top photo: Fran Santiago – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images; design: Sam Richardson)