The Women's Super League (WSL) was established in 2010, replacing the FA Women's Premier League National Division, which ran from 1991-2010 as the top flight of women's football in England, before operating as part of the league's second division and then folding completely in 2013.
Initially, there were only eight clubs, though fast-forward to today, and there are now 12, with the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur all having entered the league over the last decade.
Since it's inception, the WSL has gone on to produce a plethora of footballing talent, from defenders who had seasons in which they conceded just single-digit goals, to goalscoring midfielders and some of the best forwards in world football.
As such, GIVEMESPORT has compiled a list of the WSL's greatest ever players, and has ranked them in order based on the following factors:
Ranking factors
Major trophies won
Statistical data - appearances, goals, assists, etc.
Legacy on the women's game
Greatest Ever WSL Footballers
Ranking
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11 Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw
WSL clubs played for: Manchester CityKhadija Shaw Manchester City
Despite only joining the WSL in 2021, when she joined Manchester City from French club Bordeaux, Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw has transcended the modern era of the WSL with her frightening goalscoring form since she burst onto the scene for the Cityzens.
Having made just 65 WSL appearances so far, the Jamaican international has already recorded 57 goals and 14 assists, earning the honour of being the WSL's top goalscorer in the 2023/24 season after scoring 21 goals in just 18 appearances.
Furthermore, with her seven goals in eight appearances in the early part of the 2024/25 campaign, she is on pace to earn that title again, as she seeks to climb up the WSL ranks and chase the league's all-time leading goalscorers.
10 Jordan Nobbs
WSL clubs played for: Arsenal, Aston Villa
Jordan Nobbs
Jordan Nobbs has played in every single season of the WSL since it's inaugural season in 2010, when she was 18-years-old.
Having swapped her childhood club Sunderland for Arsenal, she spent 12 years with the Gunners, winning 12 trophies, including three WSL titles, before making the switch to Aston Villa in the summer of 2023.
In her 15-year career, which has been unfortunately mired by a plethora of serious injuries, she has still managed to score 58 goals across her 198 league appearances, and is the highest-scoring midfielder in WSL history. Nobbs has also made 71 appearances for the Lionesses and was part of the squad that reached the 2023 World Cup final.
9 Steph Houghton
WSL clubs played for: Arsenal, Manchester City
Steph Houghton
Hanging up her boots for good at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, Steph Houghton completed her legacy as one of the greatest defenders in WSL history.
With the WSL beginning in 2010, she was then at Arsenal, but it was her 10-year spell with Man City which began in 2014, that she is most remembered for.
Leading from the back in the heart of the City defence, Houghton wasn't just a prolific defender, but also a free-kick specialist, and under her leadership as captain, City won their first WSL title in 2016, with the backline conceding just four goals in the entire league campaign.
She finished her career having won three WSL titles, five women's FA Cups, and seven Continental Cups.
8 Millie Bright
WSL clubs played for: Doncaster Belles, Leeds Ladies, Chelsea
Millie Bright Chelsea
Millie Bright will go down as one of the greatest ever WSL defenders when her career is all said and done, but that seems a long way off yet.
The 31-year-old Chelsea captain has made over 250 appearances in all competitions for the Blues since her arrival to the club in 2014, having previously started her WSL career with a spell at Doncaster Rovers Belles, before a brief loan move to Leeds United.
The stalwart central defender is just one of two players in history to win seven WSL titles, of which five were won successively under former Chelsea manager Emma Hayes, while she has also been named to the PFA Team of the Year three times.
7 Beth Mead
WSL clubs played for: Sunderland, Arsenal
Beth Mead Arsenal
Having led Sunderland to the top flight of women's English football, Mead's debut season in the WSL in 2015 saw her fire in 12 goals in 14 games, which saw her win the Golden Boot, while also helping the newly-promoted Black Cats to finish fourth in the league.
She also boasts the second-fastest hat-trick in WSL history, having hit three in just 18 minutes that season.
Earning a move to north London, where she joined one of the league's heavy-hitters, Arsenal, she was deployed as a winger, and has since gone on to record 65 WSL goals, whilst she also leads the WSL in assists, having amassed 42 and counting.
6 Ji So-Yun
WSL clubs played for: Chelsea
Ji So-Yun
Ji So-Yun was integral to Chelsea's insurmountable success between 2014 and 2022, in which her 68 goals in 210 appearances across all competitions - 37 of which came in the WSL - helped the club to win the first 13 major trophies in the WSL era, including six league titles.
While the midfielder is known more for her creativity and brilliance on the ball, former manager Emma Hayes put it best, praising the South Korean for the uniqueness that she brought to not just the club, but women's football overall.
She is a dream to watch and Ji at her best, I don’t think there’s been anyone better in this country. I think she has won more trophies than most but it’s the way she plays football. She’s mesmerising to watch.
The South Korean's five PFA Team of the Year nominations still remains the most in WSL history, and the fact she did so in just nine seasons with the west London outfit really highlights both just how important she was to the team, and the legacy she left behind.
5 Kim Little
WSL clubs played for: Arsenal
Kim Little Arsenal
While Kim Little first laced up for Arsenal in 2008, netting 54 times in 87 appearances between 2009-13, before going abroad for a few years, and returning to the Gunners in 2017, where she has been the heartbeat of the midfield.
In her time with Arsenal, so far, the club captain has won 15 major honours, including three WSL titles, whilst also having been named PFA Players' Player of the Year, and named to the PFA Team of the Year three times.
Having racked up 55 WSL goals, the Scottish midfielder is inside the top 10 on the WSL's all-time goal-scorers list, with all those above her, aside from Jordan Nobbs, recognised as attackers.
4 Fran Kirby
WSL clubs played for: Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion
Fran Kirby
Fran Kirby is currently plying her trade with Brighton & Hove Albion, but before her move down to the south coast in the 2024 summer window, she started her career with Reading before moving up to the WSL and becoming an integral player under Emma Hayes at Chelsea.
Standing at just 5-foot-2 in stature, when in full flow, and on the pitch – having suffered from an array of injuries and illnesses throughout her career – Kirby is a player who is virtually unplayable. The ball would often look glued to her feet, as she would glide past the opposition defenders in front of her with ease, leaving spectators unable to take their eyes off of her.
Like her former teammate, Bright, Kirby has won seven WSL titles, and has scored 66 league goals to date, of which 16 came in the 2020/21 campaign, along with 12 assists, which saw her named as the WSL Player of the Year.
3 Sam Kerr
WSL clubs played for: Chelsea
Sam Kerr Chelsea
Unlike some others on this list, Sam Kerr has enjoyed a relatively short spell in the WSL.
Arriving at Kingsmeadow mid-way through the 2019/20 campaign, the Australian striker would finish as the WSL's top scorer in her first full season, scoring 21 times in 22 appearances, leading the Blues to the title.
Since then, she has gone on to win 10 major trophies, as well as an additional Golden Boot, three Player of the Year awards and three PFA Team of the Year nods.
After just eight appearances in the 2023/24 season, in which she had scored four goals, Kerr ruptured her ACL, which has seen her out of action since. Nonetheless, with 58 goals in 75 league appearances, once she is able to return to the pitch, she will more than likely add to her prolific tally.
2 Fara Williams
WSL clubs played for: Chelsea, Charlton Athletic, Everton, Liverpool, Arsenal, Reading
Fara Williams
While Fara Williams made 246 appearances in her two-decades-long club career, only 144 of those came in the WSL, in which she scored 42 goals, with her having been playing long before the WSL was established in place of the FA Women's Premier League.
Her move to Liverpool in 2012 was where she found league success, being part of the squad that won back-to-back WSL titles in 2013 and 2014, scoring nine goals in 35 appearances.
Making the switch to Arsenal in 2016 saw her spend a season in north London, where she won her second FA Cup, which would be the last domestic honour of her career, moving to Reading in 2017, where she scored 25 goals in 67 appearances before retiring at the age of 37.
1 Vivianne Miedema
WSL clubs played for: Arsenal, Manchester City
Vivianne Miedema
It is still unbelievable to this day that Arsenal let arguably the greatest player in WSL history walk away from the club for free, and move to title-challenging rivals, Man City.
In her seven seasons with the club, she finished with 80 league goals in 106 league appearances, making the devastating finisher the all-time leading goalscorer in WSL history, with her having since added one more goal to her tally, scoring for City against who other than the Gunners.
Miedema holds so many WSL records that they can't all be mentioned, though a few highlights include being just one of two players (the other being Kerr) to have scored against every team they have faced in the league, as well as scoring 10-plus goals in four consecutive seasons, and 15-plus goals in three straight seasons.
Furthermore, she also ranks third in WSL history for assists (34), and ranks top in overall goal contributions, with 116 in 109 appearances, truly standing in a league of her own.
All statistics courtesy of FBRef - accurate as of 08/12/2024.
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