This week's podcast is a live recording from the Expected Goals Live event at SOOO London on June 19th 2025. It starts with Maggie and Matt hosting a panel of investors and advisors to investors, who give an open and honest conversation about the decision-making processes for where the flow of money goes into women's football globally. Those panellists are: Nicki Boyd (Founder and Managing Partner of Sphera Partners) Richard Thomas (Co-Founder and Principal of Octosport) Olivia Hall (Founder of ...
Jun 25, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 3Ep. 6
The WSL has just announced promotion and relegation changes for next season - but which clubs are best positioned to benefit? Maggie and Matt are on the case, also covering what the lively situation at Hamilton Academical in Scotland tells us about the importance - or not - of sharing club IP between a men’s and women’s side. If you're enjoying the podcast, please give us a like and a review! It will help us become more discoverable. Expected Goals is an Unofficial Partner production. Get in tou...
Jun 18, 2025•48 min•Season 3Ep. 5
In this week’s episode Maggie and Matt look at why another club has withdrawn from the pyramid - Barnsley - but this time explicitly laid the blame at the FA’s door. Is their criticism valid or a convenient excuse? They also look at female football participation in the UK and whether that is connected to attendance decline in the WSL, and with the Premier League deciding not to hold a vote to change rules around teams selling assets to related companies, whether this will be an added catalyst fo...
Jun 11, 2025•51 min•Season 3Ep. 4
This week Maggie and Matt are joined by a special guest - Adrian Jacob, Head of Football at World Sevens Football. Before joining the global 7 on 7 women’s football series this March, Adrian was Chairman and Executive Manager at Chelsea Women for more than a decade, a period that saw the team move from a part-time club with 16 players training twice weekly to the most successful club in England. He discusses: The secret sauce of Chelsea Women's rise to dominance Player feedback from the inaugura...
Jun 04, 2025•53 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Disney+ has made a move into European women's football by acquiring broadcast rights for the UEFA Women’s Champions League, but is the fragmentation of the media landscape for women’s football in the UK a negative rather than a positive? Maggie and Matt are here to tell you the answer. They also look at how clubs should be positioning themselves for sponsors, with Glasgow City becoming one of the first women's football clubs - if not the first club - to publicly say who they will and won’t work ...
May 28, 2025•51 min•Season 3Ep. 2
It's the start of a new season - at least for the podcast - and to kick-off Maggie and Matt are giving their take on the big stories that have broken since they last recorded...just two weeks ago. So that means why Alexis Ohanian has become the first major external investor into the WSL, and what the transaction means for the other clubs looking for investment. The new WSL branding, the financial situation at Blackburn, the 10% year-on-year attendance decline for the WSL, the confirmed move to m...
May 21, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Why are Women's Super League attendances going to decline by 10% year-on-year while Championship attendances have doubled? Matt and Maggie have answers as they do a deep-dive into attendance trends for the top two leagues in England this season. They also answer YOUR questions, including why a club wouldn’t put fans in the stand most visible on broadcast camera, and what promoted and relegated clubs will be doing, or should be doing, in preparation for next season. If you're enjoying the podcast...
May 07, 2025•56 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Maggie and Matt tackle the really quite strange story of Wolverhampton Wanderers, who narrowly missed promotion to the Championship this weekend but later revealed to players that they hadn't actually submitted to required paperwork for them to be promoted, had they finished top. What does this tell us about the over-reliance on men's football in England, and will this debacle go any way to helping end that? They also look at who the new sponsors of women’s football in England will be as the WSL...
Apr 30, 2025•51 min•Season 2Ep. 15
London City Lionesses are in pole position for promotion to the Women's Super League in Michelle Kang’s first full season in charge. What does their journey to becoming "the best team in England" (which is Michelle's objective) tell us about what it takes to bring a team from the Championship into the WSL - and stay there over the long-term? They also explore the relationship between women’s football and luxury fashion - what football can learn from the world of basketball in the States - and ha...
Apr 23, 2025•59 min•Season 2Ep. 14
No professional women's soccer league has ever existed in Canada - until today that is, with the Northern Super League (NSL) kicking off with six teams across the country. And a listener has contacted Maggie and Matt asking them whether they think it can success in a battle of attention against the long-established and still fast-growing NWSL south of the border. They also look at the influence Olympic football has on the women’s game following the IOC’s decision to increase the number of teams ...
Apr 16, 2025•47 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Much is being made of Chelsea's "sale" of Chelsea Women to BlueCo, the company owned by the same consortium that owns the club. In particular the valuation of £200m. Well, Matt's got a lot to say on the matter and where he thinks many of the analysts are taking the wrong approach to assess whether the valuation is accurate (or not). Matt and Maggie also examine supply and demand for hosting major women’s football competitions, following FIFA’s recent awards of the 2031 and 2035 Women’s World Cup...
Apr 09, 2025•54 min•Season 2Ep. 12
In the WSL this season, 39% of games to date have been played in main stadia - the primary stadium of the men’s first team - compared to a third at the same stage last season. But what are the motivations, and can you actually make money hosting club women's football in these venues? Maggie has been asking clubs, and will break down the economics - including how much it costs to create and maintain a pitch worthy of professional football, which has very much been in the spotlight. Matt also look...
Mar 26, 2025•55 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Formally announced tomorrow, World Sevens is a new women’s club football competition this May that will feature eight clubs from across the world and has a HUGE prize pot believed to be in the seven figures. Matt and Maggie look at why it's been set up, the incentives to compete, and whether fans will be interested or not. They also delve into the cross-section of toys, collectables and women’s football following Angel City's big new tie up with Tamogatchi, and answer a listener question about M...
Mar 19, 2025•51 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Last week Maggie and Matt talked about the WPL’s proposal for the top two leagues in English football to increase to 16 teams each, supported by removing relegation from the top two tiers for at least a period of four years. In many ways, the proposals have raised more questions than they have answered - so they are on and to fill the gaps. They also look at how how much it costs to hire and fire a women’s football manager - topical as just two days ago Gareth Taylor was sacked by Manchester Cit...
Mar 12, 2025•45 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Without doubt the biggest story in women’s football since last week's episode has been the next step in the WPL’s motion for the top two leagues in English football to become a closed shop. So Maggie and Matt bring y9ou the inside track and the angles no-one else has talked about yet. They also look at the new NWSL documentary being launched on Amazon and explore how documentaries around women’s football both have and haven’t helped grow interest in the game, and answer a listener question about...
Mar 05, 2025•49 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Off the back of last week’s podcast, Maggie and Matt have been told by various sources that WSL team Everton are planning on building a women’s football stadium on the area where Goodison Park currently sits. So they look at why Everton would do that, and what would it look like. They also cover how the written/print media covers women’s football and whether it’s at risk of wider “reversals” of DEI commitments currently spreading through business and society, and tackle a listener question about...
Feb 26, 2025•58 min•Season 2Ep. 7
How big should a women's football stadium be? Maggie and Matt are on hand to try and give you a definitive answer, off the back of recent comments from Glasgow Rangers’ head of women’s football about building an 8,000 capacity stadium. They also analyse a record deal for Gotham in the NWSL with personal care brand Dove - and explore what it indicates about the next wave of sponsors in women’s football - and tackle a "listener" question about new Euros Adidas kits. If you're enjoying the podcast,...
Feb 19, 2025•48 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Lee Sanders and Mark Donnelly, the driving forces behind English Championship side Durham, are special guests this week. Lee has spent much of his life and career as a youth football coach, and was the driving force of establishing Durham Women. He also managed the team for a significant period of its existence, and now serves as the club’s Head of Football. A former journalist, Mark meanwhile joined the club in 2015 in a part-time role and a decade later, as Operations and Marketing Manager, pl...
Feb 12, 2025•52 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Chelsea signed the best defender to have ever graced women's football, according to Emma Hayes, for a world record transfer fee. Several other high-profile players left the NWSL for Europe. And Chloe Kelly had to take to social media to force a move. Matt and Maggie explain what the movements from this January’s transfer window tell you about the changing power dynamics across players, leagues and clubs globally. They also look at the demand for and supply of women’s football in pubs across the ...
Feb 05, 2025•49 min•Season 2Ep. 4
There's a consultation out from the English Football Association to allow B teams from Women’s Super League and Championship clubs to play in the National League from 2026/27. Maggie and Matt lay out the pros, cons and likelihood of it happening. They also look at the third edition of the Deloitte Football Money League for women’s football - what we can learn from it and what it demonstrates about the data gap that still exists in women’s sport - and answer a listener question about what we shou...
Jan 29, 2025•55 min•Season 2Ep. 3
This week Matt and Maggie discuss the rumpus being caused by news that Celtic and Rangers have been in talks about joining English football, and how that’s related to the WSL potentially becoming a closed league. They also do a deep-dive into finances in the lower tiers of English football, and answer a listener question about the launch of the Bay Collective, a new multi-club ownership group that will be headed up by Kay Cossington, the English FA’s Women’s Football Technical Lead. If you're en...
Jan 22, 2025•51 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Happy New Year and welcome to Season Two of Expected Goals. Because you've not heard from Maggie and Matt since before Christmas, in this first episode of the year they've got short and sharp analysis of all the news from the business of women’s football from the last month. Consider it a cheat sheet to bring you up to speed as you get cracking for 2025. This includes: The English Championship, which will have fans boozing in the stands from next week The NWSL, where Denver have been awarded the...
Jan 15, 2025•53 min•Season 2Ep. 1
This week Matt and Maggie are joined by a special guest, Jonas Baer-Hoffmann, who is the former General Secretary of FIFPro, the representative body for more than 65,000 professional men’s and women’s football players. So it's the perfect chance to answer all your questions on arguably the most important stakeholder in the women's football ecoystem: the players. The podcasts focuses on three areas: The power dynamic between players and clubs, leagues and governing bodies - where does that curren...
Dec 18, 2024•55 min•Season 1Ep. 12
With reports that the second-tier league in England, the Championship, is set to be rebranded as the WSL2, Maggie and Matt take a look at the rationale behind it, whether branding experts believe it’s a good idea, and what can be learnt from women’s leagues and clubs who have changed their identity. They also give an update on the Independent Review into women’s football chaired by Karen Carney following last week's ITV documentary, and answer a listener question about how fans can use their own...
Dec 11, 2024•48 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Are we seeing a popularity and therefore commercial contest developing between the NWSL and WSL? This was suggested in a recent article from Mike Darcey, the former COO of Sky in the UK, who compared the domestic broadcast deals for the two leagues. Maggie and Matt are at hand to analyse. They also look at why almost all the main women's fantasy football platforms are run by unofficial providers and not the official competitions themselves, and answer a listener question about refereeing - how g...
Dec 04, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 10
This week's episode of Expected Goals was recorded live at Edgbaston, home of Warwickshire County Cricket Club, at the launch of Bears Women on November 20. Bears Women will be one of eight professional women's cricket teams competing in new regional "tier one" competitions from 2025, meaning for the first time, a professional Warwickshire women’s team will compete alongside the men’s. Maggie and Matt took the chance to see what football can learn from the approach Warwickshire are taking to the...
Nov 27, 2024•58 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Twitter, now known as X, has played an important role in the promotion and growth of women's football across the last decade. So what would an exodus of accounts and users mean for the game? Matt and Maggie take a detailed look, with the help of a Mary Earps social media case study. They also look at attendances in the Women's Super League and Championship for the weekend just gone, with both leagues playing all games in club's "main stadia" for the first time. If you're enjoying the podcast, pl...
Nov 20, 2024•45 min•Season 1Ep. 8
With Arsenal having to move their women’s Champions League game against Bayern Munich at the Emirates to make way for a men’s Carabao Cup game, Matt and Maggie ask the question: are clubs being too ambitious about playing games in “main” stadia? They also look at the pros and cons of bundling and unbundling commercial rights for women's football properties, and answer a fantastic question about how they would spend a hypothetical cheque for £10 million. If you're enjoying the podcast, please giv...
Nov 13, 2024•51 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Wrexham's Hollywood owners want its women's team to become "the best in the world". But if they are serious about achieving that lofty ambition, it's going to cause some serious headaches at a league, national association and international federation level. Matt and Maggie explain why. They also dissect the new broadcast deal for the Women’s Super League, and look at the women's football strategies released by UEFA and The Football Association - why they’ve been so public, what they're planning,...
Nov 06, 2024•51 min•Season 1Ep. 6
This week Maggie and Matt are joined this week by their first ever guest, Polly Bancroft. Polly is currently CEO of Grimsby Town - whose men’s team are in League 2, and whose women’s team play regionally in the sixth tier - and spent several years heading up women’s club football at the highest level, including Manchester Utd and Brighton. And they are only taking listener questions, which include how far off clubs are from player trading being a viable revenue stream, and whether clubs in the C...
Oct 30, 2024•52 min•Season 1Ep. 5
