Women's Super League

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Manchester City have added former England youth and Bristol City head coach Lauren Smith to their coaching staff.

The 34-year-old spent three years in charge of the Vixens, guiding Bristol City to the Women's Super League 2 title in 2022-23 before leaving after a season in the top flight.

She spent the next 18 months with England's youth teams, recently stepping up as interim head coach of the under-23 side and has now joined Andree Jeglertz's team at City.

"We're delighted to bring Lauren on board to help elevate the already excellent work Andree is overseeing," said director of football Therese Sjogran.

"Lauren is someone who has been admired by the club for some time so to now have her as part of the team is very exciting.

"For someone who is still so young and hungry to develop, she has already shown an excellent ability to get the best out of both established senior players and the next generation of talent."

Joe Bradshaw
BBC Sport senior journalist

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Tottenham manager Martin Ho wants to use this season to "build foundations" for a tilt at Women's Champions League qualification next season.

After a promising first half to the season, Tottenham have lost four in a row in all competitions to slip out of contention for a top-three spot.

Ho is targeting a strong end to the season starting on Sunday with a home game against the side immediately above them in the Women's Super League table, Manchester United.

"I don't come into any season just to take part," said Ho. "I want to make sure this club can be where it should be, competing for honours domestically and European honours, getting in those qualification spots.

"We know that's difficult because it's only three teams but this year gives us a really good opportunity to build foundations for where we want to go.

"I have no doubts next year we can be more competitive."

Meanwhile, up against his former side, Ho is expecting "a bit of bite and a bit of needle" at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

The two sides met twice in four days in December, United rescuing a point after being 3-0 down in the Women's Super League fixture, before beating Tottenham in the League Cup quarter-finals 72 hours later.

"It will be a competitive game and definitely one of high quality," he said. "Both teams possess really good qualities and really good players."

Ho also revealed Sweden defender Hanna Wijk will miss the final games of the season after picking up a knee injury on international duty.

"It's not an ACL so no headlines there," he said. "It's an MCL injury, so now she will get looked after by the club's medical team and be ready for pre-season."

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter

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West Ham are "not focused on the mathematics" of their position in the Women's Super League table, says manager Rita Guarino.

They currently sit second bottom, four points above Leicester City, who have a game in hand.

With three games remaining for West Ham, they are yet to secure their safety in the WSL with the bottom club facing a play-off against the WSL 2's third-placed team.

Asked how much that lingers in the minds of the players before their WSL game against Liverpool on Sunday (14:00 BST), Guarino said: "We are very focused on things game by game and now we are looking at Liverpool to get points.

"We are not focused on the mathematics. At the end of the season, we will see where we will be. In this moment, we have to try to do our best to take points."

Uncertainty over their position in the league means Guarino says the club are also not thinking too far ahead in terms of recruitment and ambitions this summer.

"Honestly, we are very focused on the end of the season," she added. "Obviously we have ambition, like everyone else, so we look forward to the next things.

"But we need to stay in the league. The focus is on that."

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter

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Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor says she is "confident" her squad can secure Women's Champions League football next season.

The Blues have three games remaining in the Women's Super League and must finish inside the top three to ensure they have European football in 2026-27.

They are second in the table, nine points off leaders Manchester City and only two points above Arsenal and Manchester United in third and fourth place respectively.

Arsenal have two games in hand, while Chelsea host United at Stamford Bridge on the final day of the season (Saturday, 16 May).

"Of course I'm confident because I know the quality we have in the squad, the mentality we put on the pitch and we work hard," said Bompastor.

"I am confident and the players are confident but in football, you never know. We have to find the balance in being focused for these last games.

"We know every game will be like a final. We will have to approach these games with the right mentality to put the right performances in to win them.

"I think we have quality enough to be in the Champions League next season."

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter

Image source, Tottenham Hotspur FC

Former Manchester United goalkeeping coach Ian Willcock has joined Tottenham.

He reunites with Tottenham manager Martin Ho and assistant Lawrence Shamieh, who both came from United.

Willcock joins from Canada Women’s national team and replaces Chris Williams, who departed Tottenham in April.

It is understood Williams is set to join Chelsea.

Willcock worked closely with England goalkeeper Mary Earps while at United and was heavily praised by the former Lioness star in her autobiography.

Emma Sanders
BBC Sport women’s football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Tottenham manager Martin Ho says the club can look back at their progress this season with "a lot of pride".

Ho signed a new long-term contract last week as reward for his instant impact since joining from SK Brann in July.

Spurs currently sit fifth in the Women's Super League table and are preparing to meet Chelsea in Monday's FA Cup quarter-final (13:30 GMT).

They have already surpassed last season's WSL tally with three games remaining - a remarkable improvement after finishing second bottom in 2025.

"We have come a long way off the pitch and on it with the infrastructure and resources around the players, how efficient we've been as staff to try and apply the right processes and by creating a new identity," said Ho.

"We have put foundations in place that enable us to be successful moving forward and to evolve the squad, as we've done in both windows.

"We know if we want to be successful we need to do that again and we will do. But I'm really pleased with where we're at."

Tottenham have suffered three successive defeats for the first time this season but Ho backs them to bounce back against a Chelsea side wounded by their Champions League exit on Wednesday.

"We can't let two or three of these results cover up the work we've done so far in this short space of time. I think it's remarkable what we've done," added Ho.

"We can definitely build from this and it's a good platform. From where we finished last season, to now, there's been huge progress. We can look at it with a lot of pride.

"We've done well in the FA Cup. You have to play the top teams if you want to win the competition. We know this test against Chelsea will be tough.

"We need to go in with confidence and know we can compete."