Walti: WSL standard 'not comparable' to any other league
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- Lia Walti left Arsenal for Juventus in 2025 but left after one season, citing "extreme" differences in professionalism, and joined Brighton last month for an undisclosed fee
- Walti won four major trophies at Arsenal in seven years — including the Champions League and WSL titles — and made 183 appearances for the club before departing
- Walti said the WSL's standard is "not comparable with any other league," criticizing Italian football for lacking fan culture, offering poor TV coverage with bad camera angles, and using substandard pitches
- Brighton released plans for Europe's first purpose-built women's football stadium, costing £75-80m, and reached the Women's FA Cup final for the first time in May under manager Dario Vidosic
- Brighton invested £8.5m in the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre in 2021, where the women's team now trains
- Walti, 33, captained Switzerland at Euro 2025 on home soil and has over 100 international caps, and said she felt speaking up in Italy changed nothing
Why it matters: Walti's public verdict — that the WSL is in a class of its own — comes from a Champions League winner who spent a year in Italy, giving the English league a powerful recruitment pitch just as Brighton commits £75-80m to a purpose-built women's stadium and reaches its first FA Cup final.
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