Sky Sports columnist Laura Hunter analyses the best of the best from across the Women’s Super League season, with high praise for those who have stood out in the most obvious ways – ahem, Bunny Shaw – and the more underrated but still brilliant performers of 2025/26.
Goal machine: Bunny Shaw
Let’s start at the top. 2025/26 belonged to Bunny Shaw, head and shoulders above peers in almost every attacking metric. She is the first player in WSL history to win the Golden Boot award three times and the first to net 20+ goals in three different campaigns.
The 29-year-old has logged 25 goal involvements in total; only two of her 21 scored were from the penalty spot. Her 51 shots on target is also a league high.
But it’s the additional nuance to her game that has impressed manager Andree Jeglertz most. He told me this week: “We have created a way of making chances that optimises her. But she works harder than most for the team, she’s the first one in our press and if that is wrong we are not as effective.”
Shaw’s 26 ball wins in the final third ranks impressively high, third in the charts behind Chelsea’s Erin Cutherbet (27) and Jess Park (30). No player won more aerial duels than her 81 either. She has made immense impact with her goals but the added subtleties have made her, in my opinion, the best player in the game right now.
Creative spark: Lauren Hemp
No forward is as dangerous as Shaw without the service that someone like Lauren Hemp consistently provides.
After injuries curtailed last season, she has been back to peak this year, the league’s leading chance creator. She’ll be disappointed with her return of only one goal but that matters less when there are so many finishers among this elite Manchester City squad.
Special mention also goes to Kerstin Casparij, her seven assists a joint-best with Aston Villa’s Lynn Wilms. The balance of width gives City a huge advantage, with the freedom to attack either flank knowing the delivery from left and right is equally accurate.
And the energy. The work rate needed to play on the wing for City is unique. They won eight points from goals scored in the final five minutes of games this season (86th minute onwards), the most of any team. That was ultimately the difference between winning and losing the title.
Midfield monster: Fuka Nagano
I know what you are thinking; is this a piece solely dedicated to players of Manchester City? It’s not. Many midfielders have caught the eye this term but none more so than Fuka Nagano, who has sparked my interest despite playing in a struggling Liverpool side.
She dictates, always on the half turn, mixes simple with complicated really well. She has been integral to Liverpool’s style shift under Gareth Taylor, the link between the thirds.
To play the lynchpin role in such a possession-heavy side it’s important to be tidy on the ball, but with an intelligence to read the danger if or when play breaks down – this bit she does arguably better than any midfielder in the league.
She’s recovered the ball 79 times in the middle third of the pitch over the season, more than any other.
Set-play wizard: Alex Greenwood
Ok, we’re back on Man City. But it’s hard to overlook Alex Greenwood’s ability from a dead ball. I’d go so far as to say it’s the best the WSL has ever seen.
City have scored 17 set-piece goals and 14 arrived via corners this season, both all-time seasonal records. Five of those corners were delivered by the left boot of Greenwood.
She makes the job of the finishers infinitely easier, and has the complete repertoire of crosses to choose from: flat and pacy, high and looping, near post, back post, right on the penalty spot. She can do the lot.
The leader all championship-winning teams need.
Debutant debonair: Jess Park
There are a couple of names to call out in terms of best newcomer. I’ve really enjoyed the contribution of Olivia Holdt in her debut season at Tottenham, as well as Alyssa Thompson for Chelsea and Olivia Smith at Arsenal. All have made their respective sides better.
But most impactful has been Jess Park at Manchester United, settling immediately and giving Marc Skinner’s side a level of versatility they were missing before – especially important in a season where Ella Toone hasn’t played much and the demands of the Champions League have put a strain on squad depth.
Park just has a level of consistency she rarely drops below. She’s tenacious and unpredictable and can manoeuvre the ball in tight spaces. Skinner likes players that ‘invade’, as he calls it, in the final third and Park is a driver of that tempo. If she isolates a defender 1v1 it’s usually game over.
No player has completed more take-ones across the season than her (39), adding flair to her 11 goal involvements.
Battle at No 10: Vivianne Miedema vs Mariona Caldentey
Two players I like a lot, for different reasons. Vivianne Miedema has returned to her best after an injury-hit couple of years. She has a football brain better than any on these shores and perhaps second only to Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati across the whole of Europe.
15 goal contributions are numbers she has not hit since 2021/22 at Arsenal, now just three shy of becoming the first in WSL history to 100 goals. Some players just have a special intuition, finding blind spots that unlock games. She has spent so long at the top of the game she probably finds such praise boring but it’s no less deserved.
I’ve liked how she has shown up in different ways this season, scoring all manner of goals with both feet and her head. Her connection with Shaw is also prolific.
And Mariona Caldentey does a similar job for Arsenal, except this year she has played slightly deeper, needed to win duels and pick up the second phase more regularly. She’s scored fewer goals as a result but has developed into an elite playmaker. Her progressive passing through the lines is unrivalled.
She completed over 200 more final-third passes (550) than next-best Yui Hasegawa this year, testament to her tactical intelligence and vision.
The final farewell: Bright, Kerr, Mead, McCabe, Coombs
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With both leaving Chelsea, Sam Kerr and Millie Bright were given a guard of honour following the final WSL game of the season.
All good things must come to an end. WSL clubs are bidding farewell to a raft of household names this summer.
Millie Bright has retired, while Chelsea will also be losing the iconic Sam Kerr. Arsenal say goodbye to Beth Mead and Katie McCabe and Man City’s Laura Coombs is also signing off her 19-year career.
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In an emotional farewell, Beth Mead left the Emirates for the final time as Arsenal fans paid tribute to the club legend after nine years.
It marks the end of an era for some WSL greats – and probably the start, or rather the continuation of, an influx of talent to the league from Europe and the US. This summer is likely to disrupt the market in a way never seen before. More £1m+ signings incoming.
And we are yet to find out what the future holds for much coveted Bunny Shaw, linked with a move to Chelsea. That could prove to be the biggest shake up of them all.
