Arsenal Women’s trip to Villa Park has been moved to Saturday May 9 with a noon kick off after the Gunners secured their place in the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi finals.

The fixture will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, giving fans plenty of opportunity to watch what promises to be a fascinating encounter between two sides with very different objectives for the remainder of the season.

Arsenal are offering subsidised coach travel for supporters making the journey to Birmingham, with full ticket and travel information available through the club’s official website. This is a smart touch from the Gunners, who clearly want a strong away following at Villa Park for what could be a significant fixture in their WSL title push.

Champions League Success Disrupts Domestic Schedule

Arsenal’s progression through the Women’s Champions League continues to create scheduling headaches for the WSL, though these are the problems every ambitious club wants to have. Defending European champions are naturally expected to go deep into these competitions, and the fixture calendar inevitably suffers as a result.

The Gunners have been forced to reschedule multiple domestic fixtures this season due to their continental commitments, placing considerable demands on Renee Slegers’ squad during the business end of the campaign. Managing that workload while competing on two fronts remains the ultimate test of squad depth.

Villa Desperate for Points in Tight WSL Midtable Battle

The rescheduled date carries huge significance for Aston Villa, who currently sit ninth with three matches remaining and desperately need points to finish the season strongly.

Villa are just one point behind Brighton in sixth, meaning this Arsenal fixture on May 9 could prove absolutely decisive in determining where Natalia Arroyo’s side finish their transitional campaign. Arsenal will be formidable opponents regardless of where their own title ambitions stand by then.

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Aston Villa’s accounts for the year ended June 30, 2025, published on Companies House, reveal the club booked a combined £113.6 million profit from selling their women’s team and The Warehouse operating rights to NSWE, the holding company of billionaire owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.

The £77.6 million profit came from the disposal of Aston Villa Women’s Football Club Limited, with a further £36 million generated from The Warehouse sale.

Both transactions are subject to the Premier League’s associated party transaction rules, meaning the governing body must still determine whether the valuations reflect genuine fair market value. The club could be forced to adjust the figures if the Premier League concludes otherwise.

Selling your own women’s team to your own holding company and calling it a profit is a creative accounting exercise that makes an absolute mockery of financial regulation.

PSR Loophole Saves Aston Villa From Player Fire Sales

Villa explicitly stated both businesses were repositioned within the wider group structure to facilitate external investment without requiring investors to put money directly into the men’s football team.

Chelsea used the identical trick previously, and from the 2026/27 season, Premier League clubs will be banned from selling assets such as hotels and women’s teams to themselves to circumvent financial rules, with Squad Cost Ratio replacing PSR next term. The timing was everything for Villa, who got this deal over the line just in time.

Warehouse Project Still Awaiting Green Light

Despite the profit booked on The Warehouse disposal, the venue development continues awaiting full planning approval. Ownership of Aston Villa Women now sits at 90 per cent with NSWE and 10 per cent with a US-based company, whose involvement was crucial in justifying the overall valuation to the Premier League.

The women’s team continues operating within the same group structure regardless. Nothing fundamentally changed except the accounting treatment, which tells you everything about what PSR was really designed to achieve.

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Aston Villa goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck and midfielder Lucia Kendall have been named in Sarina Wiegman’s latest England squad as 13 Villa players prepare to represent their countries during the April international break.

The Women’s Super League season has been put on hold with England gearing up for World Cup qualifiers against defending champions Spain at Wembley on 14 April.

The Lionesses then travel to Iceland four days later for another Group A3 encounter, with both England and Spain having won their opening two matches. Top spot in the group guarantees qualification to the 2027 World Cup, while second place means a route through the play-offs.

Roebuck Unlikely to Add to England Caps

While Kendall has already played twice for England in 2026, the same cannot be said for Roebuck. The Villa goalkeeper is unlikely to add to her 11 caps, with Hannah Hampton the undisputed number one. Roebuck will be hoping to secure a place as third choice keeper at next year’s World Cup.

Rachel Maltby is linking up with England’s Under 19s for their UEFA Women’s U19 EURO second round qualifiers against Latvia, Wales, and Switzerland. Sofia Kelly, who is on loan at Rangers, has been named in Wales’ Under-19s squad.

Villa Hope for International Break Boost

Heading into the February March international break, Villa fans were frustrated over their poor run of form. A 2-1 loss to Everton was followed by a thumping 4-1 defeat to lowly Liverpool, before they were thrashed 7-3 by Tottenham at Villa Park.

But since the WSL returned in mid-March, Villa held runaway leaders Manchester City to a goalless draw and beat basement side Leicester City 2-1, before giving Chelsea a scare in a 4-3 defeat.

Also read: Alisha Lehmann Suffers Injury Blow as Leicester Star Forced to Withdraw From Switzerland Squad for Crucial Turkey World Cup Qualifiers