Guardian writers’ predicted position: 7th (NB: this is not necessarily Suzanne Wrack’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 1st in the Championship
Prospects
To assess the prospects of a team you would usually think about prior performances, new signings, prior consistency, ambition and so many more variables. Doing so for the WSL newbies London City Lionesses is nigh-on impossible because they have undergone a complete squad overhaul. A staggering 15 players have come in (with two then going out on loan) and 11 have exited. Change isn’t limited to the pitch either, with the training ground in flux, buildings coming down and going up as the club try to turn Cobdown Park in Aylesford into an environment fit for elite professionals.
There isn’t a precedent set by another promoted club that would give us an indication of the side’s potential because no promoted team have had the level of investment that London City have had pumped in this summer. They are an anomaly, powered by the investment of their billionaire owner, Michele Kang.
The ambition is high. As Kang said to Sky Sports at the end of last season: “We have been building a team to be at a minimum, on day one, mid-tier WSL”.
The five-time Champions League winning midfielder Saki Kumagai, who joined Kang’s project in January, echoed that sentiment last week. “For us, it’s not about staying in the WSL, though of course we want to, but it’s about pushing towards that top three or four so the following season we can start pushing for Champions League qualification,” she said.
The task will be stitching together a patchwork quilt of players. London City have signed some big names, in Daniëlle van de Donk, Nikita Parris, Katie Zelem and others, who join players such as Kumagai and the Swedish forward Kosovare Asllani, but these are arguably players closer to the end of their careers than the start. Marrying that experience with the young talents who have joined into a team capable of competing in the league consistently is a big ask, but the quality is there.
The manager
Jocelyn Prêcheur was poached by Kang from Paris Saint-Germain in 2024. He had taken the reins there after his father, Gérard Prêcheur, departed, stepping up from being an assistant coach. That was the second time 43-year-old had worked with his father, having assisted him at Jiangsu Suning in the Chinese Super League. He won his first and only trophy with PSG in 2024, the Coupe de France, and helped guide London City to the Championship (now WSL2) title in his first season. The test gets harder in the WSL but having gelled a side capable of helping the club achieve their objective of reaching the WSL he has shown he can get new players working together.
Off-field picture
The purchase and redevelopment of their 28-acre training facility is symbolic of Kang’s commitment towards her growing women’s football empire – with Washington Spirit and Lyon also owned by the billionaire. Kang has made clear she is not expecting short-term returns on these investments, though she sees the potential for profit in the long term given the trajectory of the women’s game. London City’s promotion on the final day of the season was justification for the investment. A mid-table finish this season would do that further.
after newsletter promotion
Star signing
Who do you choose out of the 15 incoming players? How about one with experience and one rising in Van de Donk and Jana Fernández respectively. The Dutch midfielder Van de Donk returns to London, where she won the FA Cup, League Cup and WSL title with Arsenal, after four years and eight trophies, including a Champions League with Lyon. Fernández represents the desire to build a squad with a future, the 23-year-old defender recruited from Barcelona, where she was part of a squad that won three Champions Leagues.
Stepping up
Isobel Goodwin returns to the WSL after leaving Aston Villa for Coventry United in January 2023 having made three top-flight appearances. After six months with Coventry she joined Sheffield United and her 15 goals in 19 games for the Blades caught the eye of promotion-hungry London City. Last season she scored 16 times in 18 games as London City battled their way to the title. How will she fare on her return to the WSL and with star-studded signings providing for her? It’s an exciting prospect.
It was a good summer for …
With London City spending big, selling clubs have probably had the best summer. A host of their new squad competed at the 2025 Euros this summer, though with England emerging victorious none will have walked away particularly happy. The 20-year-old Freya Godfrey made her loan move permanent this summer, having spent time with Ipswich and Charlton on loan from Arsenal before spending last season with London City. The young midfielder scored in a 3-1 friendly defeat by Lyon in August.
Main initiative to attract more fans
Attracting fans is one of London City’s biggest challenges. As an independent club, unconnected to a men’s team, they have no existing fanbase to pull from, unless some Millwall Lionesses fans switched across when the women’s team broke away from the club in 2019. Playing at Princes Park in Dartford hasn’t helped. A move to Bromley’s Hayes Lane has come with attempts to build a local fanbase, and investment is being made in the matchday experience. The club have also connected with about 40 local girls’ teams across London, who have become sister clubs.