
Arsenal exit Europe, City leave it late and WSL promotion parties
From BBC Women's Football Weekly by BBC Radio 5 Live
May 5, 2026 · 47 min
About this episode
The episode discusses Arsenal's exit from Europe, Manchester City's late victory, and the promotion of Birmingham City and Crystal Palace to the Women's Super League.
Ellen White, Jen Beattie and Ben Haines reflect on a busy weekend of football from European exits to the finale of the WSL 2 season. Arsenal’s hopes of defending their European title ended on Saturday as they were beaten by Lyon. The team react to a standout display from Melchie Dumournay and Arsenal’s European campaign as a whole. Barcelona also became the first club to reach six consecutive UWCL finals, but can we read anything into Alexia Putellas’ emotional departure from the pitch at the Camp Nou? Manchester City left it late to ensure that winning the Women's Super League remains in their hands. Ellen and Jen discuss the importance of City finding a way to win and touch on the brilliance of Lauren James after Chelsea secured European football for next season. Plus, the WSL 2 came to a dramatic conclusion with Birmingham City and Crystal Palace gaining promotion to the Women's Super League. Hayley Ladd joins the pod to chat Crystal Palace making an immediate return to the WSL and Martha Harris chats to the team about promotion parties after beating Charlton the final day to finish top of the table! Ellen, Jen and Ben also look ahead to this weekend’s FA Cup semi-finals as…
People in this episode
Hosts: Ellen White, Jen Beattie, Ben Haines
Topics covered
- European football
- Women's Super League
- WSL promotion
- FA Cup
- football analysis
Keywords
- Arsenal
- Lyon
- Manchester City
- WSL
- promotion
- FA Cup
- Barcelona
- Chelsea
- Melchie Dumournay
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Arsenal, Lyon, Barcelona, Manchester City, Chelsea, Birmingham City, Crystal Palace
Places: Camp Nou
More episodes of BBC Women's Football Weekly
- Lionesses bound for play-offs as WSL braces for summer transfer shake up! · June 10, 2026 · 48 min
- Extra: Inside England with Freya Godfrey and Lucia Kendall · June 3, 2026 · 38 min
- Takeover Tuesday with Wales head coach Rhian Wilkinson! · June 2, 2026 · 37 min
- Extra: The big FA Cup Final preview · May 29, 2026 · 30 min
- Bunny Shaw stays, Alexia Putellas leaves and Charlton are promoted! · May 26, 2026 · 41 min
- Big name departures, Man City celebrate, and a blockbuster Saturday · May 19, 2026 · 48 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the BBC Women's Football Weekly podcast page.