Lots of world-class footballers have graced the WSL since it was established in 2011, but who are the best to have played in England in that time?
English women's football entered a new era in 2011 when the Women's Super League was established. In the time since, the league has grown rapidly, and is now fully professional and widely considered the best in the entire women's game. As such, it been able to boast plenty of world-class talent, be they homegrown stars or international icons.
Just as men's football existed before 1992 and the Premier League, women's football in England was of course important before 2011. After all, in 2007, the greatest achievement of any women's club team in the country's history was achieved when Arsenal upset Swedish giants Umea, regarded as 'the Galacticos of women's football', to win the UEFA Women's Cup (now the Champions League).
However, the lack of widespread funding and support for women's football in the pre-WSL era makes it a difficult period to accurately analyse and assess when it comes to ranking the greatest players in the English top-flight. It means that while icons such as Kelly Smith, Alex Scott and Rachel Yankey did play in the WSL, their names are absent from this particular list due to the brief nature of their experiences in the division.
So, who are the greatest WSL players of all time? GOAL ranks the absolute cream of the crop…
Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty25Mary Earps
Though most recognised for her exploits at Manchester United when it comes to club football, it shouldn't be forgotten that Mary Earps was a talented goalkeeper well before she moved to the north west of England. After all, it was her form for Reading that earned her first nomination to the PFA Team of the Year and would convince two-time European champions Wolfsburg to sign her up.
Earps returned from Germany to join United and enjoyed the best years of her career to date with the Red Devils, be it in their colours or those of her country, with whom she would win the European Championship and reach a World Cup final.
Twice a winner of The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper award, she also holds the record for most clean sheets in WSL history, having racked up plenty with Doncaster Rovers Belles, Birmingham and Bristol Academy (now Bristol City) before her stints with Reading and United.
AdvertisementGetty Images24Gemma Bonner
While Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal are the top teams in English women's football today, 10 years ago, Liverpool won the most dramatic title race in WSL history to secure back-to-back triumphs. Third in the table when 2014's final day got under way, three points behind leaders Chelsea, they emerged victorious on goal difference after neither the Blues nor Birmingham could win their final matches.
Liverpool's captain that day was Gemma Bonner, the same player who wore the armband 12 months prior when the Reds secured their first title. She was imperious in both seasons to help her childhood club reign supreme and would maintain that form for several years, earning a move to Man City in 2018.
Now, by way of a spell in the U.S. with Racing Louisville, Bonner is back at Liverpool and has been a model of consistency since returning, helping the Reds secure an impressive fourth-placed finish in the 2023-24 season thanks to some big wins over the 'big three'.
Getty Images23Eni Aluko
Though she only played five seasons in the WSL, spending time in the U.S. before joining Birmingham in 2012 and closing her career out in Italy after a trophy-laden spell with Chelsea, Eni Aluko is well worth her place on this list. One of Emma Hayes' best signings as Chelsea manager, Aluko helped the Blues win their first WSL title in 2015 and a second in 2018, which laid the foundations for the club to take over English women's football.
The forward claimed Chelsea's Player of the Year award following the first triumph, was named to the PFA Team of the Year at the end of both title-winning seasons and won the league's Golden Boot in 2016, before later leaving for Juventus. After the WSL established its Hall of Fame in 2021, it was no surprise to see Aluko among those inducted in its second year.
Getty22Nikita Parris
Just 17 years old when the first WSL season began, Nikita Parris got her breakthrough at Everton, where she came through as a young girl. It wasn't long until one of the most ambitious sides in the league snapped up the talented forward either, with Man City signing her in 2015 before Parris helped the club to win its first, and thus far only, WSL title a year later.
It's Parris' 2018-19 season that the forward is best known for, a return of 19 goals from 19 games helping her win the FWA Women's Footballer of the Year award and earn a move to Lyon, the eight-time European champions. However, with Manchester United, she rolled back the years in 2023-24, ending the season as the Red Devils' top goal-scorer.
Now at Brighton, alongside another Lionesses veteran in Fran Kirby, Parris is in a fantastic position to add to a goal tally that makes her the fourth-most prolific scorer in WSL history, despite that trophy-laden spell in France.
