Private jets & big names - is this Women's Championship's future?

It is not often you perceive personification has arrived for a Women’s Championship lucifer successful a backstage pitchy but London City Lionesses proprietor Michelle Kang was not going to miss this match.

Having been successful Washington DC for past night’s National Women’s Soccer League crippled betwixt Washington Spirit and Portland Thorns, Kang carried nan glamour pinch her backmost to Bromley.

It was London City Lionesses’ play opener against Newcastle United and location was a Hollywood consciousness betwixt 2 of nan league’s astir intriguing, eager and top-spending clubs.

There was a ample instrumentality area outside, a thoroughfare creation enactment astatine half-time, sausage dogs successful nan stands and sponsorship boards painted astir a recently laid, state-of-the-art pitch.

It is not what we are utilized to seeing successful nan Women’s Championship.

This was nan extremity of nan iceberg – while others successful nan convention struggle to meet full-time wages and supply basal resources, these clubs are building foundations to hopefully go 2 of England’s astir successful women’s teams.

Businesswomen Kang – proprietor of European giants Lyon, arsenic good arsenic Washington Spirit and London City Lionesses – was not unsocial successful a hospitality container afloat of nan game’s biggest names successful England.

There were a number of committee members from nan Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) – nan caller takeover institution of nan Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship - successful attendance.

Among them was WPLL main executive serviceman (CEO) Nikki Doucet and committee chair Dawn Airey, arsenic good arsenic London City Lionesses’ interim CEO Jonathan Hill and managing head Sarah Batters.

They each looked connected arsenic some sides were led retired by big-name internationals – Sweden skipper Kosovare Asllani wearing nan armband for nan hosts and England defender Demi Stokes. The erstwhile sewage her sanction connected nan scoresheet successful nan first half while Stokes was making her debut for nan visitors. The sides drew 1-1.

Just 24 hours previously, London City Lionesses had surgery nan Women’s Championship transportation grounds erstwhile they signed guardant Izzy Goodwin from Sheffield United for a six-figure interest and she whitethorn not beryllium nan past presence arsenic nan nine effort to make room successful their squad for Sweden’s Sofia Jakobsson.

"It’s a female investing and believing successful a task pinch her full bosom – arsenic overmuch arsenic we judge successful it," said Asllani.

"We’re successful nan opening of building something. I consciousness it’s thing special.

"She [Kang] understands what we request and will springiness america everything we request to create a successful team. I deliberation that’s nan coolest part, that it’s a female investing.

"I want to thief her execute this dream [and dream that we] will beryllium successful."

Not each nan stands were unfastened and Newcastle fans outnumbered those supporting nan hosts - but London City cognize this is simply a business exemplary that will return time.

They person invested successful nan squad pinch a belief that occurrence will pull attention. Next up is ensuring nan club’s caller training centre is elite, past they dream to build a fanbase from scratch successful Bromley.

They sewage disconnected to a bully commencement pinch a caller nine convention grounds attendance of 1,781 against Newcastle.

But while it remains a activity successful progress, it is clear these clubs are eager and person shown a imaginable early for nan women’s 2nd tier.

Their maturation coincides pinch a awesome turning constituent successful women’s shot arsenic nan WPLL purpose to pull caller finance successful England’s apical 2 tiers, which they dream will promote others to travel suit pinch Kang’s ownership model.

"As I told my players, it's not a caller chapter, it's a caller book that we are writing," said London City head Jocelyn Precheur.

"We person everything to build, we person fans to seduce and person to travel us, a history to create - truthful it was nan first page of nan caller story.

"It could person been better, it could person been worse, but anyway, nan first lucifer is done and I dream nan travel will beryllium agelong and beautiful."