AHEAD OF THE GAME: Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy pushes for promotion to be scrapped in the WSL

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is lobbying for promotion and relegation in the Women’s Super League to be scrapped in favor of a closed competition.

The future of the elite women’s league is up in the air, with a new company being set up to run the WSL independently of the FA after next year and two separate board reviews of the sport taking place simultaneously – one led by the government and the other by the clubs.

Levy is regarded as one of the executives who believe the best way to grow the sport is to focus on building a more competitive, sustainable top league, arguing that clubs would invest more in players and infrastructure if they wouldn’t worry about the threat. of degradation.

Promotion and relegation have taken place in the WSL since 2014, with Bristol City, Birmingham and London City battling this season to secure the championship’s sole promotion place.

Tottenham Hotspur are not safe from relegation as they are just two points clear of bottom club Leicester, although that wouldn’t have affected Levy’s thinking.

Arsenal CEO Vinai Venkatesham is chairing a working group on women’s professional play, aiming to have a new structure for the 2024-25 season.

SKY’S BIG MATCH BLACKOUT

Sky Sports have had to curse their bad luck after missing both title fights between Arsenal and Manchester City this season, despite being the Premier League’s main titleholders. Arsenal’s trip to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday is on BT Sport, which will screen all 10 midweek matches this week, and the reverse match at the Emirates in February was live on Amazon Prime.

Sky will pay the Premier League £1.2bn for the right to televise 128 games a year, with BT and Amazon collectively coughing up just £500m for their 72 games but are without the two biggest games of the season as both fell during midweek.

Sky’s deal gives them first choice of games in every weekend round, but they don’t have any of the four midweek match rounds, which are shared between BT and Amazon. The midweek rounds are randomly determined by a Premier League algorithm before the start of the season, so the broadcasters have no say.

FA DO FIGHT WITH TOP FLIGHT

Simmering tension between the Premier League and FA has increased amid talks over the creation of the independent regulator and negotiations over changes to post-Brexit work permit requirements for foreign players.

Premier League executives have privately disclosed that they feel the FA could have done more to help them fight government regulations, and on the work permit issue, last month’s comments from Gareth Southgate about the lack of England qualified players for him ill-received. by the league and certain clubs.

Both Southgate and his employers have opposed the Premier League’s attempts to facilitate the signing of foreign players. The FA, for their part, is dissatisfied with the Premier League’s lack of funding for the women’s and grassroots game in their ‘New Deal for Football’, and the governing body is also opposing clubs’ attempts to see the abolition of all FA Cup to force. repetitions in conversations about the post-2024 calendar.

WREXHAM PLAYERS HAVE JACKPOT

Wrexham’s players will share bonuses of £200,000 if they are promoted to League Two tonight by beating Boreham Wood after opting to forgo win bonuses during the season. Phil Parkinson’s team propped themselves up to promotion by agreeing to receive win bonuses only if they were in the top three during the campaign, in exchange for a bigger payout if they reached their goal.

YEMS TAKES STEPS TO RETURN

John Yems may return to management once his extended three-year suspension for 12 counts of using discriminatory language expires in 2026.

The former Crawley manager has already completed training, so the FA wouldn’t stop him from returning to the dugout if offered a job.