AFTV News

Arsenal women v Brighton women key match-ups By Tom Masters With Arsenal’s first Barclays Women’s Super League match of the season against Manchester City postponed due to the sad passing of Her Majesty the Queen, the match against Brighton and Hove Albion will be their first of the season.  The Gunners have faced Brighton on ten occasions, winning nine and drawing the other, including a 2-1 win at Meadow Park in January last season and a 3-0 win at Broadfield Stadium last year.  Arsenal went on to finish second by just a point on the final day of the season, with a 2-0 victory over West Ham not enough to overcome eventual champions Chelsea, who twice came from behind to win 4-2 and seal the title.  Meanwhile Brighton finished the season in seventh, ending the season with a 1-1 draw with Everton.  And ahead of the game, we look at the key match-ups between Arsenal women and Brighton and Hove Albion.  Beth Mead v Poppy Pattinson  Euro 2022 winner Mead has ma...

Are Arsenal ready to reclaim the WSL this season?  By Tom Masters Arsenal last claimed the Barclays Women’s Super League in the 2018/19 season, with London rivals Chelsea since claiming the title for three seasons in a row. But after a summer in which their stars thrived at the Euros, are Arsenal ready to reclaim their WSL crown this season?  The Gunners finished third in both the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons, before finishing second by the barest of margins last season – with Chelsea having to come from behind to beat Manchester United to claim the title by just one point ahead of the Gunners on the final day. Coming so close a year ago led to captain Leah Williamson coming out and admitting how much motivation that feeling has given her side ahead of this year.  But are they ready to win the top flight for the 16 th   time?  Feel good factor  There is an undeniable feel-good factor at Arsenal after the European Championships, with the likes of captain Will...

How Arsenal are looking ahead of WSL season By Megan Armitage Arsenal will kick off the Barclays Women's Super League season against Manchester City on the 11th September. Jonas Eidevall's team will once again be aiming to claim the top spot, with the league title evading them since 2019. What happened last season? Arsenal finished second in last season's campaign, just one point behind London rivals Chelsea, but a fruitful summer and new signings may help edge them that one place further in the 2022/23 season. The Gunners only lost once in the WSL last time out, with Birmingham City doing the 2-0 damage at St Andrew's Stadium back in January. And with four draws to their name, it was an impressive season for Arsenal as they overtook Man City in the table for the first time since 2019. In the FA Women's Cup, Eidevall's team also saw a strong run all the way to the semi-final but it was Emma Hayes' side that once again thwarted them with a well deserved 2-0 v...

How Arsenal stars got on at Euro 2022 By Megan Armitage After 56 years of waiting, it was a Gunner who brought football home. Leah Williamson skippered England to the Women's 2022 European Championship title with her team's 2-1 victory over Germany at Wembley last month. The Arsenal defender was head of the pride and her captaincy saw history everywhere they turned with the final played in front of the biggest crowd in women's or men's Euros history, and their 8-0 victory over Norway at Brighton the biggest victory in any European Championship game. Williamson proved an unshakeable opponent in defence, moving away from central midfield at the start of the competition to help keep a calm presence at the back. And with England conceding only two goals all tournament, her leadership could only be described as a resounding success. Brilliant Beth Against Norway, it was fellow Arsenal player Beth Mead who took charge on the pitch, claiming a hattrick which catapulted her to ...

Transfer Profile: Lina Hurtig By Alec McQuarrie Arsenal Women have made their second signing of the summer after securing the services of HB Koge’s American goalkeeper Kaylan Marckese. And their business hasn't stopped there, with Juventus’ Lina Hurtig on her way to North London, with a fee believed to be in the region of £125,000 agreed last week. With Nikita Parris and Tobin Heath departing for Manchester United and OL Reign respectively, there was a sizeable gap in Arsenal’s attacking line up that needed filling. But who is Hurtig and what will she bring to the club? Who is she? Hurtig started her career in the Swedish third division, making her senior debut at just 15 for Gustafs GoIF and scoring 14 goals in 20 games. The young attacker turned heads of multiple Damallsvenskan teams, quickly earning a move to the top flight with Umeå IK. It was during her time in northern Sweden that Hurtig made her international bow, in a friendly against Brazil in 2013. The U19 European champi...

How are Arsenal's England stars getting on at the Euros? By Alec McQuarrie England are drawing closer to making history.  The Lionesses are passing every test so far this summer, displaying quality, grit and exuberance as they look to win the European Championships on home soil this summer.  And Arsenal are represented by 12 players at the festival of football, with only Juventus, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg sending more.  Arsenal are titans of the women’s game having won the most league titles, FA Cups and Premier League Cups – plus they are the only English side to win the Champions League.  Under Vic Akers in 2006-07 they became the first women’s side to win the sextuple and were unbeaten in the league for six years – a whopping 108 games without defeat.  In more recent years Chelsea have dominated the league, though Arsenal remain a force to be reckoned with, finishing inside the top three over the last seven seasons.  Here we take a clos...

Arsenal stars at the Women's Euros By Matthew Elliott After a disappointing end to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League season with Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal narrowly missing out on the title to Chelsea, attention now switches to this summer’s home European Championships. Sarina Wiegman has named a provisional 28-player squad for the home Euros that kick off in early July, but unfortunately it doesn’t include Arsenal ace Jordan Knobbs after the midfielder picked up another untimely injury which has ruled her out of contention. The squad is captained by Gunners star Leah Williamson after she was given the armband due to the injury doubts surrounding former skipper Steph Houghton of Manchester City, although she is still included in the provisional group.  The Lionesses have three warm-up fixtures in June against Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland before the main action gets underway, with the final at Wembley already a sell-out. Here we take a look at the Gunners hoping to take...