Expected Goals

Formally announced tomorrow, World Sevens is a new women’s club football competition this May that will feature eight clubs from across the world and has a HUGE prize pot believed to be in the seven figures. Matt and Maggie look at why it's been set up, the incentives to compete, and whether fans will be interested or not. They also delve into the cross-section of toys, collectables and women’s football following Angel City's big new tie up with Tamogatchi, and answer a listener question about Manchester City women’s recent financial filing, and whether it’s going to get them into hot water over salary caps. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

03-19

50:10

Last week Maggie and Matt talked about the WPL’s proposal for the top two leagues in English football to increase to 16 teams each, supported by removing relegation from the top two tiers for at least a period of four years.  In many ways, the proposals have raised more questions than they have answered - so they are on and to fill the gaps. They also look at how how much it costs to hire and fire a women’s football manager - topical as just two days ago Gareth Taylor was sacked by Manchester City - and tackle a listener question about betting’s role in football; they are all over the men’s game, but should the women’s game treat them differently? If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

03-12

44:42

Without doubt the biggest story in women’s football since last week's episode has been the next step in the WPL’s motion for the top two leagues in English football to become a closed shop. So Maggie and Matt bring y9ou the inside track and the angles no-one else has talked about yet. They also look at the new NWSL documentary being launched on Amazon and explore how documentaries around women’s football both have and haven’t helped grow interest in the game, and answer a listener question about the English Football Association’s new Made for this Game campaign “to unlock equal opportunities in football for women and girls”. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

03-05

47:11

Off the back of last week’s podcast, Maggie and Matt have been told by various sources that WSL team Everton are planning on building a women’s football stadium on the area where Goodison Park currently sits. So they look at why Everton would do that, and what would it look like. They also cover how the written/print media covers women’s football and whether it’s at risk of wider “reversals” of DEI commitments currently spreading through business and society, and tackle a listener question about the right ownership model in women’s football following an insightful interview last week with Mercury 13 co-CEO Victoire Reynal. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

02-26

55:48

How big should a women's football stadium be? Maggie and Matt are on hand to try and give you a definitive answer, off the back of recent comments from Glasgow Rangers’ head of women’s football about building an 8,000 capacity stadium. They also analyse a record deal for Gotham in the NWSL with personal care brand Dove - and explore what it indicates about the next wave of sponsors in women’s football - and tackle a "listener" question about new Euros Adidas kits.  If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

02-19

46:23

Lee Sanders and Mark Donnelly, the driving forces behind English Championship side Durham, are special guests this week. Lee has spent much of his life and career as a youth football coach, and was the driving force of establishing Durham Women. He also managed the team for a significant period of its existence, and now serves as the club’s Head of Football. A former journalist, Mark meanwhile joined the club in 2015 in a part-time role and a decade later, as Operations and Marketing Manager, plays a leading role in the day-to-day running and, critically, growth of the club. They talk about the commercial set-up of the club, why they have taken investment from local millionaires Patrick and Frances Connolly, and answer your questions about whether they support introducing B teams into the pyramid and a rebranding of the Championship to the WSL2. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

02-12

51:29

Chelsea signed the best defender to have ever graced women's football, according to Emma Hayes, for a world record transfer fee. Several other high-profile players left the NWSL for Europe. And Chloe Kelly had to take to social media to force a move. Matt and Maggie explain what the movements from this January’s transfer window tell you about the changing power dynamics across players, leagues and clubs globally. They also look at the demand for and supply of women’s football in pubs across the UK, and answer a listener question about whether moves towards giving equal pay to men’s and women’s teams and players is promoting gender equality at the expense of sustainability. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

02-05

47:40

There's a consultation out from the English Football Association to allow B teams from Women’s Super League and Championship clubs to play in the National League from 2026/27. Maggie and Matt lay out the pros, cons and likelihood of it happening. They also look at the third edition of the Deloitte Football Money League for women’s football - what we can learn from it and what it demonstrates about the data gap that still exists in women’s sport - and answer a listener question about what we should be looking at when it comes to Everton’s activities under new ownership. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

01-29

53:52

This week Matt and Maggie discuss the rumpus being caused by news that Celtic and Rangers have been in talks about joining English football, and how that’s related to the WSL potentially becoming a closed league. They also do a deep-dive into finances in the lower tiers of English football, and answer a listener question about the launch of the Bay Collective, a new multi-club ownership group that will be headed up by Kay Cossington, the English FA’s Women’s Football Technical Lead. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

01-22

48:20

Happy New Year and welcome to Season Two of Expected Goals. Because you've not heard from Maggie and Matt since before Christmas, in this first episode of the year they've got short and sharp analysis of all the news from the business of women’s football from the last month. Consider it a cheat sheet to bring you up to speed as you get cracking for 2025. This includes: The English Championship, which will have fans boozing in the stands from next week The NWSL, where Denver have been awarded the 16th franchise for a record $110m The transfer market, both on the pitch and off the pitch, which has seen a fair bit of activity  UEFA announcing significant increases in prize money for the upcoming Euros. And to round off they tackle a listener question about the impact inclusion of women’s teams and female players in EA Sports’ FC - formerly FIFA - video game franchise has had on the sport and the publisher. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

01-15

50:12

This week Matt and Maggie are joined by a special guest, Jonas Baer-Hoffmann, who is the former General Secretary of FIFPro, the representative body for more than 65,000 professional men’s and women’s football players. So it's the perfect chance to answer all your questions on arguably the most important stakeholder in the women's football ecoystem: the players. The podcasts focuses on three areas: The power dynamic between players and clubs, leagues and governing bodies - where does that currently lie? How much of a role female footballers should be playing outside of playing to promote the sport? The tension between giving female footballers the compensation they deserve, and financial sustainability in the club game in particular. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

12-18

51:59

With reports that the second-tier league in England, the Championship, is set to be rebranded as the WSL2, Maggie and Matt take a look at the rationale behind it, whether branding experts believe it’s a good idea, and what can be learnt from women’s leagues and clubs who have changed their identity. They also give an update on the Independent Review into women’s football chaired by Karen Carney following last week's ITV documentary, and answer a listener question about how fans can use their own pocket money to support the growth of women's football. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

12-11

45:30

Are we seeing a popularity and therefore commercial contest developing between the NWSL and WSL? This was suggested in a recent article from Mike Darcey, the former COO of Sky in the UK, who compared the domestic broadcast deals for the two leagues. Maggie and Matt are at hand to analyse. They also look at why almost all the main women's fantasy football platforms are run by unofficial providers and not the official competitions themselves, and answer a listener question about refereeing - how good the pathways and incentives are for people to become football referees, in particular women. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

12-04

45:59

This week's episode of Expected Goals was recorded live at Edgbaston, home of Warwickshire County Cricket Club, at the launch of Bears Women on November 20. Bears Women will be one of eight professional women's cricket teams competing in new regional "tier one" competitions from 2025, meaning for the first time, a professional Warwickshire women’s team will compete alongside the men’s. Maggie and Matt took the chance to see what football can learn from the approach Warwickshire are taking to the new Bears Women side - covering everything from branding, fan experience, merchandising, leadership and culture. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twitter, now known as X, has played an important role in the promotion and growth of women's football across the last decade. So what would an exodus of accounts and users mean for the game? Matt and Maggie take a detailed look, with the help of a Mary Earps social media case study. They also look at attendances in the Women's Super League and Championship for the weekend just gone, with both leagues playing all games in club's "main stadia" for the first time. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in touch by emailing matt@unofficialpartner.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices