Finally. The Football Association have decided to move the Women’s Super League over to a winter schedule, in line with the rest of women’s football across Europe.

The reason for having it played over the summer made sense a few years back but as the game grows, starting the season in September is now the best thing to do.

The WSL attracts crowds of over 1,000 people in the summer. Given that people use this time of the year to go abroad, there is potential to increase that number should you move the game to November.

Eni Aluko used her BBC column to suggest playing WSL games at Premier League grounds.

“Clubs could begin to merge their men’s and women’s operations to a greater degree by hosting games on the same weekend or even the same day,” she wrote last week.

“Why not play a women’s WSL game at Stamford Bridge or [Ashburton Grove] before the men kick off their Premier League match?

“Or create ticket price incentives for fans that involve going to a men’s and women’s game for a reduced price than a normal ticket? That could lead to some really big attendances and would be fantastic for the players too.”

While I think it would be great to have Man City v Chelsea in the WSL played at Eastlands, to have it kick off before the Premier League equivalent would somewhat demean women’s football.

That it is only a sideshow for the men’s game, used to please fans for an hour before the real show kicks off.

Women’s football is more than that. I would rather them do something similar to the Youth Champions League, where the under-19 teams play in the afternoon at a nearby pitch and the men play in the evening.

That way, they are treated as two separate games but still able to attract large crowds.

However, clubs won’t want their main pitches ruined before games. Imagine the turf at Anfield is cut up before a Merseyside derby. Groundsmen are getting better but they can’t fix a pitch in a matter of hours.

It may lead to more WSL clubs having their own stadium, closer to the men’s ground — a point I raised just over a month ago.

In an ideal world, supporters would be able to purchase some kind of day pass which allows them entry to both games for a reasonable price.

Something like: a WSL fixture at midday, Premier League fixture at 4pm with a shuttle bus between the two grounds all for the price of £30.

OK, that is never going to happen but one can hope.

It would be hard to sync up all fixtures as the leagues don’t have the same teams. Manchester United don’t have a women’s team. London Bees don’t have a men’s team. Yeovil’s men’s team are in League Two while the womens play in the WSL 2.

There will be a lot of details to iron out but I am sure that this would have been thought of before they made the announcement.

The fact that the current format saw long droughts of fixtures and breaks for international tournaments was not ideal.

Not to mention the FA Cup final was plonked at the start of the season making for a disjointed season.

The mini tournament next summer will hopefully attract new fans and get existing ones ready for the new season.

It might even persuade a few teams, looking at you Manchester United, to have a women’s team and join the WSL.

There is no reason that within the next decade, we could see double the number of teams playing in the two leagues.

At that rate, leagues would have to be expanded and the women’s game would be huge.

We are a long way away from that, especially as we still have the women’s Premier League with the likes of Tottenham and West Ham competing in it.

There should be more effort made to have one women’s pyramid and this new format will hopefully speed up the process.

What the FA does next with women’s football is crucial. Make the right move and we will see a game to rival the men’s.
Get it wrong and the damage could be irreparable.

Fifa need to take action

nSo Russian doping was not only confined to athletics but across a wide platform of sports, including football.

That’s not suprising and neither is the fact that they are still being allowed to host next year’s confederations cup and the World Cup in 2018.

Fifa didn’t strip the European country of the tournament after the repeated racist chanting or the widespread violence we witnessed during the European Championships.

So while I am not expecting football’s governing body to bat an eyelid at the state-sponsored doping.

You have to wonder what will it take for Russia to be stripped of the 2018 World Cup?

At this rate, nothing.

Maybe English teams do read the Star

Both Manchester United and Liverpool have played pre-season games in Britain over the past few weeks.

The last two years, I have written columns on the need for Premier League teams to play friendlies in front of their home fans and it seems some are finally doing so.

They may have been away games but United took 7,000 fans to Wigan on Saturday while Liverpool supporters have been able to watch their team play in Huddersfield and Wigan.

Not only were they first team players, they were at times when the British population was awake.

Given the weather this week, there is no reason to spend a month abroad to train under the sun.

Pre-season tours outside of Britain are for commerical reasons. They can stay, the Premier League has fans outside of England.

However, teams should play at least one one game in Britain before jetting off to China.