More than ever it is important to schedule the W-League in the northern-hemisphere summer-leagues' off-seasons.

Raso, Foord, Checker, McCormick, Catley, Williams, Carpenter, Arnold, Dowie, Riley.  A long list of names synonymous with the W-League.  Also a long list of names that will not be featuring in the W-League anytime soon.

The past couple of months have seen a mass migration of top W-League players to European clubs who play in the northern-hemisphere winter-season.  

The leagues that have recruited them, the English FAWSL, the Spanish Primera Iberdrola, the French Division 1, the Danish Elitedivisione and the Italian Serie A play nearly year-round.  This makes a possible return of the departed players back to the W-League during their off-season, even with a winter shift, impossible.

Therefore, for the W-League not to devolve into a development league, more than ever it is imperative to ensure that it remains a league that can attract foreign talent.  

For this to happen it must be scheduled in the northern-hemisphere summer-leagues' off-seasons, which is long enough to accommodate the current W-League season, and allow clubs the capacity to recruit from abroad.

Overseas Talent's Impact

Since the American NWSL's inception, it and the W-League have had a revolving door of players participating in both leagues during their respective off-seasons. For the Nordic leagues, the Icelandic Urvalsdeld Kvenna, the Norwegian Toppserien, and the Swedish Damallsvenskan, the same situation has also occurred to a lesser extent.

Last season alone, 2019-20, a total of twenty-five non-Australian players joined W-League clubs during their NWSL off-season.  A further ten Australian players had played in the NWSL during the summer of 2019. 

Six foreign players also came from Nordic leagues.  This 2020 summer saw nine Matildas and Young Matildas go to Iceland, Norway, and Sweden to play during the W-League offseason.

The impact of this foreign talent, as well as Australian talent who play abroad during their off-season, should not be understated.  Just this past W-League season half the Players of the Month, half the Golden Boot winners, the Julie Dolan medal winner, the Young Footballer of the Year, and both Goalkeepers of the Year were able to play in the W-League due to the football seasons' alignment.

The foreign talent contribution to the W-League not only improves the quality of play within the league, but also the quality of opposition for Australian-based players.  Names like Denise O'Sullivan, Kristen Hamilton, and Camilla also increased the commercial appeal of Australia's top women's competition.  

Moreover, the ability of Aussie-based players to seek overseas off-season opportunities in the NWSL and Nordic Leagues, opportunities that allow them to come home to the W-League for part of the year, have not only been important for the continued prosperity and attractiveness of the W-League, but also for Australian football development.

From both a competitive and commercial perspective, the continued facilitation of participation of both foreign and Australian talent in the W-League is vital.

W-League season realignment

Despite the success that the unofficial offseason scheduling has brought, this W-League/NWSL-Nordic league synergy may be at risk. The FFA recently announced that the W-League would be delayed at least a month this upcoming year.  

The shift is due to the television rights agreement with Foxtel, which runs out in July 2021.  The upcoming W-League is now expected to be between December and April.  

This creates a significant conflict with the leagues the W-League draws most of its foreign talent from.  In non-COVID years, the NWSL and the Nordic leagues have all held their preseason during late-March and started their seasons during the month of April.

While, it may still be possible for many Nordic and NWSL based players to come to play in Australia during their upcoming offseason, and arguably many will due to the COVID-related reduced game time in their current seasons, a 2020-21 W-League contract or loan would mean missing the beginning of their 2021 respective overseas seasons.

NWSL and Nordic clubs may allow a loan that interferes with their upcoming season this year, again due to the COVID-related reduced playing time, but will arguably not allow this situation to interfere with their season every year.

Mutually Beneficial Formalisation

Therefore, it is important for the W-League to reinforce and even formalize its upcoming seasonal structures with these leagues that provide so much talent and opportunity.  

This formalization, in the form of intentional off-season scheduling by leagues with which the W-League has arrangements, would be to the mutual benefit of the W-League and the northern-hemisphere summer-leagues it comes into agreement with.

While it is in the interest of the W-League to remain attractive to as many overseas players as possible, especially with the mass migration in place, it is also in the interest of the NWSL and Nordic leagues.  

These leagues have also felt the impact of top European northern-hemisphere winter-leagues' recruitment.  The NWSL and Nordic leagues are increasingly finding it difficult to retain top talent in the competitive women's footballers market.

Having a formal structure with the W-League that gives their players more year-round playing time, as well as a larger earning capacity should they come to the W-League, would give the leagues involved assurances of availability of their local and possible foreign talent while having a trusted and cooperative offseason partner in the W-League.

The same assurances would exist for Australian-based players.

Arguably then, for the W-League to remain competitive, attractive to players, and to keep growing commercially, it is imperative that in future years the W-League find a way to keep being scheduled in the NWSL and Nordic league's offseasons.