Manchester City secured a first Women’s Super League title in 10 years after Arsenal drew 1-1 with Brighton, confirming the end of Chelsea’s six-year grip on the trophy. Andree Jeglertz’s team had moved to the brink of glory with a 1-0 win over Liverpool, sealed by a stoppage-time header from Rebecca Knaak.
Arsenal needed victories in all three games in hand to stretch the title race to the final day, but the draw with Brighton removed that possibility. Manchester City now stand on two WSL titles overall, the first coming in the 2016 invincible campaign under Nick Cushing, followed by six seasons as runners-up before this latest success.
Manchester City’s latest WSL title triumph arrives with dominant attacking numbers across the season. Jeglertz’s
side lead the league for goals with 58, which is 12 more than Arsenal. City also top the rankings for expected goals at 54.7, total shots with 387, and shots on target with 147, underlining a consistently aggressive style.
Several players are chasing individual landmarks alongside the collective success. Khadija Shaw is on course to become the first three-time WSL Golden Boot winner and could equal Rachel Daly’s single-season record of 22 league goals from 2022-23, although Shaw must score a hat-trick against West Ham on the final day to match that figure.
Shaw currently sits on 99 WSL goal involvements, with Lauren Hemp on 98, and both aim to join a select group of only five players who have reached 100. Viviane Miedema is three goals short of becoming the first player to reach 100 WSL goals, though Miedema remains unavailable because of injury and cannot add to that tally yet.
Jeglertz has joined an exclusive group of managers by lifting the WSL trophy in a debut campaign. Only two others had done so previously: Laura Harvey with Arsenal in 2011 and Sonia Bompastor with Chelsea last season. For City, this title ends a long wait since 2016 and closes a period defined by repeated near-misses.
Manchester City WSL title, FA Cup pursuit and future ambitions
The season is not finished for Manchester City, who now target further success in the FA Cup. Jeglertz’s team face Chelsea in the semi-finals on Sunday, with a potential final against Liverpool or Brighton to follow. That tie offers another opportunity to add silverware and further underline City’s position at the top of the English game.
Reflecting on securing the league after Arsenal’s setback, Jeglertz said: "Helping guide this team to the WSL title is something I will never forget. The girls have met every challenge in front of them head on and have been an absolute joy to coach this season. In the good moments and the bad, they've always stuck together and found a way to winsomething that all great champions do. This wouldnt have been possible without the incredible effort, belief, passion and dedication of my colleagues, the players and the fans. They've all been a credit to the club as well as themselves and deserve to celebrate this amazing moment. But this isn't the end of the roadwe still have plenty to fight for this season and in the coming years. I'm excited by what the future holds for this amazing group of players and this fantastic club. "
2 - Manchester City have won their second @BarclaysWSL title, 10 years on from their invincible season of 2016, ending Chelsea's run of six consecutive titles in the process. Delivered. pic.twitter.com/a04haNyFEuOptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 6, 2026
Captain Alex Greenwood stressed that the squad views this success as a platform, not a final destination. Greenwood said: "This is a special moment for us all, but we want to make sure it's just the start. This club should be consistently challenging for top honours in England and Europe, so while we're all delighted, we know more incredible days in our history are still to come. "
