Watford Women and Burnley played out a goalless draw in the opening match of the Championship regular season on Friday evening. The contest finished 0-0 after ninety minutes at the home ground. Neither side managed to break the deadlock despite both showing reasonable intent.
A. Filbey received a yellow card in the forty-fourth minute when she dallied on the ball, giving the referee reason to caution her. After that, the match settled into a pattern where both teams held their shape. To be fair, neither side threw everything at it with reckless abandon.
Coaching staff made eight substitutions across the second half. D. Cooper came on just after the break in the forty-sixth minute, followed by M. Perry in the fifty-eighth. A. Filbey herself was substituted in the sixty-third, replaced by A. Paul. The remaining changes came in quick succession, with S. Noonan and Z. Bailey both on in the seventy-third minute. C. Walker and B. McPartlan completed the reshuffle in the eighty-fifth and ninety-third minutes respectively.
The result leaves both sides on one point after their first game. Watford sit seventh while Burnley occupy eighth place, though by then that distinction hardly matters when both have played exactly one match. The table is still being written.
Watford's recent record suggests they can attack — they beat Solihull United 4-0 and Actonians Women 5-0 in earlier fixtures. Burnley's form has been more mixed, with a heavy defeat to Manchester United Women contrasting with a seven-goal victory over Peterborough United. Neither side carried that momentum into this encounter.
Both teams now hold the tie in their own hands for the next round. The draw means neither side starts with a psychological edge, and the season has barely begun. By then, these opening points will either matter or not depending on what follows.