A blog of two halves

Chelsea stars tour the globe ahead of WSL start

Chelsea’s stars are back on international duty ahead of the launch of the Women’s Super League season on the first day of October.

20 September 2023
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Chelsea and Scotland midfielder Erin Cuthbert celebrates winning the Women's FA Cup with Chelsea in May 2023. PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES

Chelsea's stars are back on international duty ahead of the launch of the Women's Super League season on the first day of October.

England play two games, against Scotland and the Netherlands, with the UK clash offering the intriguing prospect of midfielder Erin Cuthbert facing Blues teammates Lauren James, Millie Bright, Jess Carter, Niamh Charles and new keeper Hannah Hampton.

Although Mellie Leupolz has now retired from international football, to spend more time with her young son, both Ann-Katrin Berger and Sjoeke Nusken will play for Germany against Denmark, and then Iceland.

Also on duty are Swedes Zecira Musovic and Jo Kaneryd, while Guro Reiten and Maren Mjelde turn out for Norway in their matches against Portugal and Austria.

Sophie Ingle, Jelena Cankovic and Eve Perisset are also playing for Wales, Serbia and France respectively, while there are long-haul flights for American Mia Fishel and Canadians Jessie Fleming, Kadeisha Buchanan and Ash Lawrence. They play Jamaica home and away in a Paris Olympics double-header qualifier.

Remarkably, Lawrence has more than 100 caps for Canada, with her proudest achievement being winning gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Chelsea's embarrassment of riches on the goalkeeping front has meant Nicky Evrard, signed in the summer, will spend the next season out on loan, getting matches under her belt at Brighton & Hove Albion. The 28-year-old Belgian won't be able to face her parent club when Brighton visit Kingsmeadow on 22 October.

Tickets are still selling for Chelsea's opening league game at Stamford Bridge on Sunday 1 October. Kickoff at 5.30pm. More details here on the Chelsea FC website.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

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Tim Harrison

Tim is our Chelsea FC blogger.

He also writes our Shepherds Bush Cricket Club match reports during the football close season.

Tim has been writing Chelsea match reports since the late 1980s for newspapers and, more recently, websites.

When he first reported on the Blues, the press box was a metal cage suspended over the lip of the old west stand - and you reached it via a precarious walkway over the heads of the fans.

But he has been a Chelsea fan since his father took an excited seven-year-old to watch Chelsea v Manchester United in the mid 1960s... and covered his ears every time the chanting got too ripe.

In July 2005 he wrote The Rough Guide to Chelsea, published by Penguin, which sold 15,000 copies.

His favourite player of all time is Charlie Cooke, the mazy winger who lit up Chelsea's left wing in the 60s and 70s.

When he isn't watching the Blues, Tim acts, paints, writes and researches local history.

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