Women’s football in 2025 was supposed to kick off with a bang but, with seven of the weekend’s FA Cup fourth-round ties postponed, it was more like a whimper.

Matches at Brighton & Hove Albion, Blackburn Rovers, Everton, Leicester City, Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Arsenal fell foul of the weather as frozen pitches saw some games called off more than 24 hours before their kick-off time, creating an uneven start to the year. Clubs had already taken four weeks off from competitive football during the scheduled winter break.

Women’s Super League leaders Chelsea’s cup tie yesterday went ahead, with some fans anxious not to have a repeat of the match against Liverpool two seasons ago that was called off shortly after play began as it became clear the pitch was unplayable. Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor referenced that fixture when thanking the ground staff after the 4-0 win over Championship side and fellow Londoners Charlton Athletic at Kingsmeadow, saying, “They did a wonderful job making sure the pitch was available. 

“They spent so much energy on making sure, with this temperature, that the field was covered,” Bompastor said in the post-match press conference. “Even though we don’t have heat under the pitch, they heated it with lamps. At Cobham (the training ground), as well as at Kingsmeadow, they were working so hard every day to make sure the game could be played.

“It was really important in terms of rhythm for the players to play the game.”

Chelsea were able to call on Lauren James for the first time since October 12 and the England forward looked sharp on returning from a calf injury before being replaced at half-time. The opportunity to play Catarina Macario, Mayra Ramirez and James together was a tantalising glimpse of the attacking talents Bompastor will have at her disposal if everyone can stay fit.

Manchester City were also boosted by the return of some familiar faces in their 3-0 home win against third-tier Ipswich Town. Vivianne Miedema, who had been unavailable for the same period as James but with a knee issue, came off the bench to score City’s third goal. 

”Viv is a top player and she is always going to make this team better,” City manager Gareth Taylor said in the press conference after the match. “Hopefully this gives her the confidence and gives her more minutes under her belt to blow the cobwebs off a little bit.”

Miedema, who played as a centre-forward on her return, said her enforced absence had been “frustrating”. “When you come back from injury, especially for players like me, people expect you to score goals again. I’m happy that I scored today and I can move forward,” she said on City’s official website. 

City had finished 2024 decimated by injury, with no clear return date for any of Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, Lauren Hemp or Alex Greenwood. Having Miedema available will be crucial as they enter a tricky period that has them facing Manchester United in consecutive fixtures — at home in the WSL and away in a League Cup quarter-final — before hosting Arsenal at the start of February.

Those Manchester derbies will be particularly intriguing, given United’s chameleon-like performances this season. They have enjoyed good results, losing just once this season, but the reality is more complicated. 

United took a while to get going against third-tier visitors West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, but the introduction of full-back Anna Sandberg, who joined from Swedish side Hacken over the summer, enlivened the performance. The Sweden international registered three assists in 25 minutes as United scored a late flurry of six goals from the 77th minute onwards, putting a gloss on the eventual 7-0 scoreline.

Sandberg arrived in Manchester carrying an injury, but her availability might help United evolve for the second half of the season. 

All of this leaves Arsenal facing a more truncated schedule than their nearest league rivals.

They have a League Cup quarter-final against Brighton on January 22, so their rearranged FA Cup tie against Championship side Bristol City at Meadow Park has been squeezed into one of their few remaining midweek slots (Wednesday, January 29). When they resume their WSL campaign next Sunday at home against Crystal Palace, it will have been over a month since they played a domestic game (the 1-0 win in Liverpool on December 15). 

It has been a lengthy wait to confirm Arsenal’s new head coach, too, but the end of their search appears to be in sight. Renee Slegers is into a fourth month in interim charge so if someone from outside the club now succeeds Jonas Eidevall, they could face significant upheaval, making it all the odder that club chiefs failed to make a decision before the season resumed.

The only other WSL team to play over the weekend were Aston Villa, who put nine past fourth-tier Bristol Rovers. Villa’s interim boss, Shaun Goater, will be pleased to see his team playing confidently, albeit against limited opposition, as they try to turn their season around after just two league wins in 10 matches so far.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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