The Women’s Super League Hall of Fame celebrated its newest inductees at an event on Monday night as the contributions of four more pioneers in women’s football were recognised.
Established in 2021 to mark the league’s 10th anniversary, the Hall of Fame is the highest single honor in WSL and recognizes 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 who paved the way for the growth of the WSL into what is now regarded as one of the best women’s football leagues in the world.
Steph Houghton, Gilly Flaherty, Alex Scott and referee Rebecca Welch are the latest to be honored as they join the elite group. Speaking on a panel he hosted 90 min and introduced 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 honor is deeply emotional. “It means the world, to be honest,” she said.
“When you start playing football, you don’t really imagine that you’re going to be inducted and inducted into the Hall of Fame. To be inducted tonight, alongside Gilly, Alex and Rebecca, some really influential people in 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 that she represented Arsenal and Manchester City. She spent 10 years with the latter between 2014 and 2024, helping to establish the Manchester club as one of the elite forces in the WSL.
Houghton also fondly recalled her days playing alongside Flaherty and Scott at Arsenal, another club synonymous with the early dominance of the women’s game in England. “Arsenal is probably the biggest [memory]”, she added.
“I moved to Arsenal and Gilly was there, Alex was in America but eventually came back. Playing with these two, Gilly was younger and progressing but he played a lot for Arsenal and Alex was the best right-back in England and he was the one who scored the winning goal for Arsenal in the Champions League, so it was a huge honor to play with two of them.
“I really feel like we pushed each other, but we also had fun at the same time. You look at it like football and it’s dead serious, but I feel if you can enjoy it, be with your friends and push each other in a good way, success comes and it definitely came at Arsenal.”
For Flaherty, who won the UEFA Women’s Cup with Arsenal in 2007 and later represented ChelseaWest Ham and Liverpool before retiring in 2023, the induction was also a special moment. Now working as a physical education teacher, she admitted that she underestimates her colleagues and students.
“They [the kids] I love it, but I don’t talk about it [being inducted into the Hall of Fame]”, she said. “My mum also works at the school and my sister, so it’s a family thing, but everyone was talking about it in the office. I tried not to talk about it, but they did [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 his era. She retired from playing in 2018 and has since become one of the most recognizable faces in sports broadcasting.
“For me, being here with all the girls, it just takes me back to those moments of going to practice every day, being in the locker room and being a part of that family and that sisterhood,” Scott said. “I love every moment. It’s really special because I guess a lot of people see me now just because of what I’ve accomplished in my television career.
“But I’m only doing it because of what I’ve been able to achieve in my football career, so it’s a full-circle moment and a very proud moment to share with my mum as well.”
Rebecca Welch’s induction marked a significant milestone as she became the first female judge to be honored in the Hall of Fame. She is undoubtedly a pioneer in refereeing as she made history in 2021 by becoming the first woman to be appointed as the referee for a men’s English football league match between Harrogate and Port Vale.
She did it again a few years later in 2023 as the first woman to referee a Premier League game, this time between Burnley and Fulham. Welch hung up her whistle at the end of last season and is now working in a managerial role at PGMOL.
“When I was told I was going to be inducted, I thought Jeremy Beadle was going to walk through the door because I think it’s unheard of for an umpire to be inducted into the Hall of Fame,” admitted the former umpire. “I think it just shows how different the women’s game really is, and we should embrace that.
“I’m the first, but I hope I won’t be the last.”
The evening was not only a celebration, but also an opportunity to reflect on the progress of the game in recent years and the contribution of the four guests to its unprecedented development. Scott rightly pointed out the need to continue the momentum and responsibility she still feels, despite no longer playing herself.
“He has to keep improving,” concluded the former Arsenal star. “I keep saying, yes, it’s here and we celebrate all the amazing moments, but I also feel like it’s a responsibility, especially in the chair that I sit in and the platform that I have to continue to push in all other areas within certain parts of the game.
“And I take that responsibility and I will 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 what I said at that moment was that the train had finally left the station and you were either on it or you weren’t at that moment.
“Yes, the path [of the women’s game] it was amazing, but we know how much more this game can grow.”
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