Vivianne Miedema helped Manchester City break Chelsea’s six-year Women’s Super League winning streak last season as they claimed victory under new manager Andree Jeglertz.
Manchester City claimed their first WSL title since 2016 last term, before going on to complete a domestic double by beating Brighton to lift the FA Cup.
Miedema, who joined from Arsenal in 2024, says the achievement represented the culmination of a period of change at the club and something she wanted to help the City achieve when she moved from WSL rivals Arsenal.
'People didn't expect City to do as well as we did'
Miedema claimed her second WSL title, having previously won with Arenal in 2019. She joined City in summer 2024 and after an injury-affected first season, last season scored 10 goals and made five assists to help City win their first league title in a decade.
“Every single league title is special for different reasons,” Miedema said.
“For me, after having left Arsenal after seven years and moving to City, I wanted to come here and help the club win things because they hadn't done that in a while.
“And my first year was tough personally with injuries, but also as a team with all the injuries we had and we didn’t get the result that we wanted to get.
“So coming back last season and doing what we did definitely felt like a full circle moment. It was really special to be part of it and to be able to celebrate the league and FA Cup win as well.”
After six years of dominance, it was going to take a lot to knock Chelsea off their pedestal. But new manager Jeglertz, aided by a lack of Champions League football due to a fourth-placed finish in the 2024/25 season, helped City do just that.
“Coming in last summer, there were a lot of changes, new people coming in and a new coach coming in. But I think we showed so much progress over the year.
“We always believed that we could do really well, but a lot of people didn't expect us to do as well as we did. Throughout the season, we adjusted and grew and that led us to win the league and the FA Cup too.
“For this year, regardless of if we are the champions or if we were chasing it, it doesn’t change our goals. Some of the girls haven’t been in this position before and it will be different.
“And looking at all the signings that other clubs are making, I think the league is going to be extremely exciting to see how it's going to pan out.”
'Isn't that why we love football?'
This year, the league has expanded by two teams to a field of 14 teams. A number of high profile players have also joined the WSL this season, something Miedema says speaks volumes of where the league is at.
“It’s amazing to see that so many big players want to come play in England and that the league has increased by two teams as well,” she added.
“It’s only going to get more exciting and more difficult to actually win it. To be in the league now and try to be successful again is going to be extremely difficult. But isnt’t that why we love football?
“That’s the reason every good player wants to come to England, because you want to measure yourself against the best.”
After a season away from Champions League football, City will be back competing against Europe’s best.
“I’m really excited to be back but it's going to be tough because you're going to be travelling a lot, you're going to be playing a lot of games.
“I think some of the girls will have to get used to it. But it's a competition you want to be playing and you want to measure yourself with the best in Europe.
“I can't wait to see how we do in the Champions League because it’s a completely different challenge to playing in the WSL.”
