Liverpool Ladies stormed to victory against Bristol in the Women’s Super League (WSL) end-of-season decider to clinch their first title and end Arsenal’s nine-year domination of the league at the weekend.
The Reds secured a 2-0 win over their southern side in the final match of a memorable season last Sunday afternoon and enjoyed a breakfast with the men’s first team at Melwood as part of the celebrations.
Manager Matt Beard’s team went into last weekend’s game knowing that just a point against the opposition would be enough to win the WSL title for the very first time.
The triumph completes a remarkable turnaround for Liverpool Ladies, who finished bottom of the table for the last two seasons.
The Red’s enjoyed pressure and dominance from the start, but it took a penalty from Louise Fors to make a breakthrough and a fine finish from Katrin Omarsdottir late into the second half clinched the victory.
Thrilled Liverpool boss Beard told the Liverpool Echo: “They have worked hard all year. They really deserve the title.
“The penalty took the pressure off us a little bit because we had one or two chances before then that maybe we should have scored and it was important to get that first goal.
“I’m delighted; I’m chuffed for the players because all season they’ve been fantastic. They deserve that, unbelievable, great performance today. I felt we thoroughly deserved the three points.
The turnaround was sparked by huge investment from the club’s American owners with Beard overhauling the squad for the 14-game league season where he saw his side lose just twice.
Beard continued: “We’ve a completely new squad that we’ve built together and they just deserve the utmost respect and credit for what they’ve achieved this year. It just shows that if you get the right characters in and you’ve got that mindset and work hard, you can achieve anything.”
The celebrations continued at an end-of-season awards dinner at Anfield where second top-scorer Nicole Rolser won Young Player of the Year while top scorer Natasha Dowie took Supporters’ Player of the Year.
Liverpool’s first team stars Philippe Coutinho and Iago Aspas were on hand to present the awards on the night.
The next day the Ladies enjoyed breakfast at the first team’s Melwood training ground after a special invitation from Reds boss Brendan Rodgers, capping a memorable week.