Katie Whyatt

2 months ago | sports.yahoo.com | Katie Whyatt

The message arrived on LinkedIn: come to Australia to play for Kingborough Lions United. Tilly Wills, now 24, had been playing football in the United States on a scholarship but a torn anterior cruciate ligament had limited her game time. She had mused about joining clubs in England but nothing felt right: it was tough, mentally, to countenance making a comeback with players who had known her before her injury.

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Katie Whyatt

Tilly Wills, now 24, had been playing football in the United States on a scholarship but a torn anterior cruciate ligament had limited her game time. She had mused about joining clubs in England but nothing felt right: it was tough, mentally, to countenance making a comeback with players who had known her before her injury. "I was looking for that breakthrough because I'd been out nearly three years with back-to-back surgeries," she tells The Athletic.

Feb 16, 2025 | ca.sports.yahoo.com | Katie Whyatt

It happened for the first time at a children’s football tournament. Wendy Topham watched as her daughter Flo scored a hat-trick in the final. Abruptly, a mother on the other touchline marched across the pitch and demanded the referee stop the game. Pointing at Flo, she shouted: “It’s not fair! They’ve got a boy in the team!”“It was really awful,” recounts Wendy. “Flo had never really experienced anything like before.

Feb 16, 2025 | nytimes.com | Katie Whyatt

It happened for the first time at a children's football tournament. Wendy Topham watched as her daughter Flo scored a hat-trick in the final. Abruptly, a mother on the other touchline marched across the pitch and demanded the referee stop the game. Pointing at Flo, she shouted: "It's not fair! They've got a boy in the team!""It was really awful," recounts Wendy. "Flo had never really experienced anything like before.

Jan 14, 2025 | nytimes.com | Katie Whyatt

Curiously, the critics of Barbra Banda 's BBC Women's Footballer of the Year win were quieter at her inclusion in the FIFPRO Women's World XI, voted for by 7,000 fellow players. It was, on the surface, further recognition of Banda's extraordinary 2024. She was the NWSL's MVP, whose 17 goals, including one in the Championship final, secured Orlando Pride 's first title.