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Bournemouth has reached an agreement to appoint Marco Rose as their new head coach, succeeding Andoni Iraola.

The Women's Super League (WSL) faces a nearly four-week hiatus due to an extended international break, impacting momentum just as interest in the season was rising. The scheduling conflict arises from a new 11-day window for international fixtures, which has led to fewer games being played by European teams compared to others globally.
Momentum can be extremely powerful. Just ask Wrexham, anyone involved in English womenâs football in the aftermath of Euro 2022 or the scientists calculating Artemis IIâs route for Nasa.
The climax to the domestic womenâs football season in England, and around Europe, has lost its momentum as an extended international break has arrived. That, coupled with the Easter weekendâs Womenâs FA Cup quarter-finals before the international window, means there will be nearly four weeks without WSL fixtures, at a time when the weather is improving, jeopardy surrounding fixturesâ permutations is increasing and interest should be swelling.
The main culprit is the 11-day window for up to three international fixtures, rather than the traditional eight-day window for up to two matches. In Europe, though, it has the feel of a normal window but with an extra weekâs preparation and slow buildup because no European national teams have opted to utilise the chance for a third game. England, for example, are hosting Spain on 14 April before 18 Aprilâs game in Iceland â the Lionessesâ 500th fixture â but did not opt for a friendly on 10 or 11 April.
Many countries have opted to play three games. The USA will host Japan in a trio of friendlies on 11, 15 and 18 April. Brazil are playing three games, as are Pakistan, Zambia and many others from Asia and Africa. There is seemingly a disconnect, though, between the global and European schedule.
It was similar during Februaryâs window. That also allowed national teams to play three matches but few took the opportunity. Sarina Wiegman, Englandâs head coach, said: âMy opinion, and the FA opinion, is that, at this moment, we think itâs best to play two, because with the congested agenda and the amount of games the players play, we didnât want to use the third one.â
For domestic leagues around Europe, the consequence is that this weekend is blank in a calendar that can ill-afford to waste a weekend. For those not on international duty there is surely a risk of underloading and there are potential fitness impacts of going a month without a game. In the Frauen Bundesliga there are no matches between 30 March and 22 April and most teams do not play between 29 March and 25 April, with even fewer teams in domestic cup action over the Easter weekend because it was their semi-finals.

The England coach, Sarina Wiegman, has opposed the idea of a three-match international break. Photograph: Bradley Collyer/PA
These are missed opportunities to suck in fans during a run-in. Everton, for example, drew 5,292 fans to the Merseyside derby before going a month without a game. Leicester, bottom of the Womenâs Super League and badly needing their fans to rally behind the team, do not play at home between 29 March and 3 May. In the second tier, bottom-placed Portsmouth have the longest gap between games, from 28 March to 26 April, and will then have two games to save themselves.
Sunderland attracted 10,156 fans to their most recent home game, a draw with their rivals Newcastle, and were taken over by American investors this week, but have to wait until 26 April for their next home game. And the promotion race, in which goal difference separates the top two of Birmingham and Charlton, similarly has most of April off.
Not everybody is against the hiatus. The Charlton head coach, Karen Hills, said after their cup tie against Liverpool: âThere will be a reset moment for those players, just mentally, because weâve had a tough block. This league is unforgiving, so itâs a moment [now] for us to mentally switch off and I think the players need that. Itâll be a chance for them to go away with their friends and family, try and forget about football for a couple of days, and then we come back in â weâll be ready to go against Southampton in a few weeksâ time.â

Liverpool's Cornelia Kapocs (left) and Charlton's Mary McAteer battle for the ball during the FA Cup quarter-final. Photograph: Nigel French/PA
Gareth Taylor, the Liverpool manager, seemed to agree, saying: âItâs nice to have a bit of a breather to realise there are other things going on in this world apart from football and our jobs.â His side have hit a good form and will hope to add another fixture to their list by reaching 31 Mayâs Wembley FA Cup final.
Rest and recovery are of huge importance and there are benefits to this pause, the calm before the storm that will be the final push in May, but if this weekend were properly utilised the domestic season could conclude earlier and allow players a longer off-season break.
More pertinently, for a sport trying hard to grow a fan culture, gaps such as this disrupt the rhythm and make it less likely that new fans can build going to the womenâs game into the routine.
It adds to the list of logistical frustrations that must make it exasperating to be a womenâs football fan at times. Through no fault of their own club, Aston Villa fans do not know when their next match will be played. Their home game versus Arsenal is listed as 26 April but will move because of Arsenalâs involvement in the Womenâs Champions League semi-finals which are â to the inconvenience of domestic leagues and fans â still held on weekends rather than midweek.
That means Villaâs final weekend home game of the season will have come on 15 March. How can anyone hope to grow a match-going movement in such circumstances?
We should be braced for similar in 2027, 2028 and 2029 because â you guessed it â there are three-game international windows scheduled for February, April and November-December for the next three seasons too. This is a problem that will not go away soon.
The WSL is facing a nearly four-week break due to an extended international window allowing for up to three international fixtures, which has disrupted the domestic schedule.
The international break coincides with the Women's FA Cup quarter-finals, leading to a significant gap in WSL fixtures and potentially diminishing fan engagement during this period.
While European teams are mostly opting for two matches in the new 11-day window, teams from regions like the USA and Brazil are taking advantage of the opportunity to play three games.
Sarina Wiegman, England's head coach, stated that both she and the FA believe it's best to limit the team to two matches due to the congested schedule and player workload.

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