Women's Super League: Brighton midfielder Lia Walti 'missed feeling of being valued'

Brighton midfielder Lia Walti said she "missed the feeling of being valued as a footballer" at Juventus and craved a return to the Women's Super League.

The Switzerland captain helped former club Arsenal win four major trophies during a seven-year spell there, including the Champions League and WSL titles.

She moved to Italy last summer in search of a new challenge but quickly realised the differences in professionalism were "extreme".

After one season, Walti returned to England, joining ambitious WSL club Brighton last month for an undisclosed fee.

"It's such a huge difference. It's always hard to speak about it. I don't want to speak too negatively about the Italian league, that is not my aim," Walti told BBC Sport.

"It's more that it's just the reality that football in England, in the WSL, has a standard which is not comparable with any other league.

"It's a bit sad and disappointing to see a lot of girls abroad do not have the same opportunities or standards in terms of being in professional environments."

Walti said she realised the WSL's standards "are not the norm" and she missed playing in front of an established football culture.

"I missed the feeling of being valued as a footballer, feeling like we're getting the full support we needed," added Walti.

"We have good structures, good fields where we can play our games. We had absolutely no fan culture - not just at Juve - in general in Italy.

"When you have been part of that growth in England, with the fan cultures, the full stadiums - even stadiums that are really small, they are exciting to play in.

"In Italy, it was just [empty]. Every game felt a bit like that. I missed the feeling I had before when I was playing football."

The 33-year-old made 183 appearances for Arsenal and established herself as a key player for the club.

She captained her country at Euro 2025 on home soil and has over a century of appearances for Switzerland.

Walti's experiences have come as part of a generation that has catapulted women's football growth in England and she believes others can follow suit.

"I think you have to bring the game to the people. You kind of have to force people to watch it. I felt that that's how it maybe started in England," said Walti.

"In Italy, and in a lot of other countries, I think they have bad coverage. It's not shown [on TV] at all, or if it's shown, from where they film it, is really poor.

"It affects the way you watch a game. You don't really see the speed, the tactics or anything and you don't enjoy watching the game.

"In England, in the big stadiums, you can have great camera angles. I think people enjoy watching it more."

While the standard of coverage is a key issue according to Walti, she says there are "so many different things" that are also lacking in women's football globally.

"The biggest lacking starts with pitch quality. In a lot of countries, you play either on the worst artificial pitches or the worst natural grasses," added Walti.

"Even if a Premier League team were to play there, it would probably look rubbish because it's just not possible to play nice football on it.

"All of the other leagues, where do you even start? It's so hard. We have the same [issues] in Switzerland.

"You have to do the first step - invest money for all those things before you get something back. I think a lot of countries don't have that money or patience."

Walti said she is "passionate" about pushing for change because she is privileged to have experienced professionalism in England.

"We used to not have good conditions. It wasn't professional. Our first salaries were not enough to live from," said Walti.

"Now, seeing the growth in England and being with players who try to push the game in their own countries, it makes you feel frustrated to still see the reality.

"You forget sometimes, when you're in your own bubble, that this is not the norm. You're just one of the lucky ones who can experience it.

"A lot of talent in women's football gets lost because they are in bad environments where nobody sees them or they don't have the chance to reach their potential.

"I try to make an impact and I think that was really hard in Italy because I felt like when we spoke up, nothing happened, and that was frustrating."

When Walti was weighing up her future, with a year left on her Juventus contract, she knew Brighton were a club who could offer her a quality environment.

In April, Brighton released their plans for Europe's first purpose-built women's football stadium, which will cost £75-80m.

In 2021, the women's team moved into their training facilities at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre - the result of an £8.5m investment.

On the pitch, they have invested during the transfer window and reached the Women's FA Cup final for the first time in May.

Dario Vidosic's side have ambitions of breaking into the WSL's top three and Walti believes she has joined a club "that cares" about women's football.

"After that experience in Italy, I knew a bit more about what I probably wanted, or didn't want," said Walti.

"I had a pretty big trust in Brighton before we had the conversations because I had been in the league and seen what the club was doing.

"I've heard from other players about the club investing a lot and I only heard really positive things. There is no better feedback than from other players.

"Once I started to have the first moments with the club, it proved to me that this is the right place - that cares about women's football, that invests in women's football, and who has the right people in place."

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