The Womens Super League Hall of Fame celebrated its latest inductees at an event on Monday evening as the contributions of four more trailblazers in womens football were recognised.
Established in 2021 to mark the leagues 10th anniversary, the Hall of Fame is the highest individual honor in the WSL and recognises players, coaches and officials who have left a lasting legacy and positively impacted the game. Previous inductees include luminaries such as Jill Scott, Emma Hayes, and Fara Williams, who were among those to pave the way for the WSL's growth into what is now regarded as one the best womens football leagues in the world.
Steph Houghton, Gilly Flaherty, Alex Scott, and referee Rebecca Welch are the latest to be honoured as they join an elite group. Speaking on a panel hosted by 90min and presented by Betty Glover, the four reflected on their own inductions and offered insight into their contributions to the growth of the game.
For former England captain Houghton, who announced her retirement from the game at the end of last season, the honour is deeply emotional. "It means the world, to be honest, she said.
When you start playing football, you dont ever really envisage being involved in and inducted into the Hall of Fame. To be inducted tonight, along with Gilly, Alex, and Rebecca, some really influential people throughout the league over the last 10 to 12 years, is pretty impressive.
The central defender won three league titles, five FA Cups and seven League Cups during her career as she represented the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City. She spent 10 years with the latter between 2014 and 2024, helping establish the Manchester club as one of the elite forces in the WSL.
Houghton also fondly recalled her playing days alongside Flaherty and Scott at Arsenal, another club synonymous with the early dominance of the womens game in England. Arsenal is probably the biggest [memory], she added.
I moved to Arsenal and Gilly was there, Alex was in America but ended up coming back. To play with these two, Gilly was younger and coming through but played a lot for Arsenal and Alex was Englands best right back and was the one who scored the winning goal for Arsenal in the Champions League so it was a massive honour to play with these two.
I really do feel we pushed each other but we also had fun at the same time. You look at it as football and its dead serious but I feel if you can enjoy it, be with your mates and push each other in a good way, success comes and it definitely came at Arsenal.
For Flaherty, who won the UEFA Womens Cup with Arsenal in 2007 and later represented Chelsea, West Ham, and Liverpool before retiring in 2023, the induction was also a special moment. Now working as a P.E teacher, she admitted to downplaying the accolade to her colleagues and students.
They [the kids] love it, but I dont talk about it [being inducted into the Hall of Fame], she said. My mum also works in the school and my sister, so its a family affair, but everyone was talking about it in the office. I was trying to not talk about it, but they [the kids] know about it today.
Scott, an Arsenal legend and former England international, is highly regarded as one of the best right backs of her era. She retired from playing in 2018 and has since become one of the most recognisable faces in sports broadcasting.
For me, to be up here with all the girls, it just takes me back to those moments of going into training every day, being in the changing rooms and being part of that family and that sisterhood, Scott said. Ive been loving every moment of it. Its really special because I suppose a lot of people now just see me for what Ive achieved in my broadcasting career.
But, Im only doing that because of what Ive managed to achieve in my football career, so its kind of a full circle moment and a very proud moment I get to share with my mum as well.
The induction of Rebecca Welch marked a significant milestone as she becomes the first referee to be honoured in the Hall of Fame. She is undoubtedly a trailblazer in officiating as she made history in 2021 to become the first woman to be appointed to referee a mens English Football League game between Harrogate and Port Vale.
She did so again a few years later in 2023 as the first woman to officiate a Premier League match, on this occasion between Burnley and Fulham. Welch hung up her whistle at the end of last season and is now working in a managerial role at the PGMOL.
When I was told I was going to be inducted, I was thinking Jeremy Beadle was going to walk through the door because I think its unheard of for a referee to be inducted in a leagues Hall of Fame, the former referee admitted. I think it just shows how the womens game is really different, and we should embrace that.
Im the first, but hopefully, I wont be the last.
The evening was not just about celebration, but also a chance to reflect on the progress of the game in recent years and the four inductees contributions to its unprecedented development. Scott rightfully highlighted the need to continue the momentum and the responsibility she still feels, despite no longer playing herself.
It needs to keep improving, the former Arsenal star concluded. I keep saying, yes its here and were celebrating all the amazing moments, but I also feel its a responsibility, especially in the chair Im sat and with the platform I have to continue to push in all the other areas within certain parts of the game.
I shoulder that responsibility as well and Ill never stop shouting about that side, as well as celebrating it all. I remember when we were at Wembley watching the Lionesses lift that trophy [Euro trophy in 2022] and the thing I said in that moment was the train has finally left the station and youre either on board or youre not in that moment.
Yes, the trajectory [of the womens game] has been amazing, but we know how much further this game can grow.
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