'Time to grow': Chelsea boss demands Women's Super League expansion

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has called for the Women's Super League to be expanded from its current 12-team format.

Hayes led the Blues to their fourth straight WSL title last season, but she is not entirely happy with the league structure as it is.

The WSL featured just eight teams in its inaugural season back in 2011, before gradually expanding by one team a year from 2016; it has been a 12-team league since 2019/20.

And Hayes thinks it's time to increase that number further, in order to capitalise on the competition's unpredictable nature. Speaking ahead of Chelsea's trip to Manchester City on Sunday, she told reporters: "It's time to grow. It's time to go from 12 to 16 or 18 teams.

"Lots of people said we weren't at our best last season, but we had a record points total to win the league [58 points from 28 games].

"There is more unpredictability than ever [in the WSL]...The question we should be asking is when are we going to make our league a bit bigger?"

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Chelsea began their latest WSL title defence with a 2-1 home victory over Tottenham last weekend.

The Blues have won 13 major trophies during Hayes' 11-year tenure so far, doing the double of WSL and Women's FA Cup in each of the last three campaigns.

They are the most successful club in the history of the WSL with six titles altogether.

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