By 90min | Created at 2024-11-27 03:48:34 | Updated at 2024-11-27 05:42:23
2 hours ago
Panini fans, rejoice! The 2024/25 Barclays WSL sticker collection goes on sale this week, marking the second ever album launch following on from the success of last season.
WSL stickers have been a natural progression following the popularity boom that women's football has experienced in recent years, particularly in England. The inaugural book surpassed expectations, with fans buying up packets as fast as they could get their hands on.
The album has grown to 397 stickers across 60 pages to better serve what Women's Professional Leagues Ltd chief executive Nikki Doucet describes as the "great appetite" among supporters.
Manchester City's Chloe Kelly takes centre stage on the cover, alongside Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, Tottenham Hotspur winger Jessica Naz and others. Rising stars Hampton and Naz are two of the players in this season’s collection who will be immortalised as 'shinies' for the first time.
All 12 WSL clubs will have special Impact Players and Power Pairs stickers, as well as nods to the future stars of the women's game.
The full 2024/25 WSL range / Panini
"The response to the collection last year was incredible," said Katie Gritt, Panini's head of marketing for sport. "As well as enabling us to bring the game closer to the fans, it also brought communities together across the country as fans formed swap groups to help them complete the collection.
"Many WSL players were also collecting and swapping stickers became a favourite activity after training! Panini sticker collections are about bringing people together through the fun of collecting and we cannot wait for this to begin again and see fans, players and parents across the nation swapping and trading their 2024/25 WSL stickers."
Chelsea captain Millie Bright has been on hand this week to help launch the 2024/25 collection, attending a surprise training session with grassroots club Balham FC as part of the Goals Girls Hour community initiative. Bright coached the girls, aged 9-14, who all walked away with an album.
Millie Bright took the collection to grassroots club Balham FC Girls / Panini
Bright called it "another incredible moment for the women’'s game", further underlining the growing visibility of female players in the national and international psyche.
"All we ask for from brands is the opportunity and the consistency of support," she said.
"Panini launching their second album is evidence of that and I can certainly say, me and the girls were so into this last year! I'm a stickler for sticking straight and in the lines but I am also excited to see new players see themselves in the collection for the first time and start that collecting hype once again!"
The 2024/25 Barclays Women’s Super League sticker collection by Panini will be available to buy in stores and online from Thursday 28 November, with pre-orders from Panini available now.
