Lia Walti spent seven years helping build women's football in England, won four major trophies with Arsenal, and then left for Juventus last summer to test herself in Italy. One season was enough to remind her what she had taken for granted.

The Switzerland captain — 183 Arsenal appearances, over a century of international caps — has joined Brighton on an undisclosed fee and is already clear-eyed about why she came back. "I missed the feeling of being valued as a footballer," she told BBC Sport. "Feeling like we're getting the full support we needed."

The gap is 'extreme'

Walti chose her words carefully, stressing she did not want to be purely negative about Italian football. The numbers, though, tell their own story. She described the difference in professionalism between Serie A Femminile and the WSL as "extreme" — a word that carries weight from someone who was part of Arsenal's squad throughout a decade of WSL development.

The most immediate problem was the atmosphere, or the absence of it. "We had absolutely no fan culture — not just at Juve — in general in Italy," she said. "Every game felt a bit like that. I missed the feeling I had before when I was playing football."

She contrasted that with what she had experienced in England, where even smaller WSL grounds generate genuine atmosphere. "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."

Coverage and pitch quality compound the problem

Walti identified two structural issues — beyond fan culture — that hold back women's football globally. The first is television coverage. She argued that poor camera angles in many countries actively prevent audiences from appreciating the quality of the game, making it harder to grow that audience in the first place. "You don't really see the speed, the tactics or anything and you don't enjoy watching the game," she said.

The second is pitch quality. "The biggest lacking starts with pitch quality," said Walti. "In a lot of countries, you play either on the worst artificial pitches or the worst natural grasses. Even if a Premier League team were to play there, it would probably look rubbish." It is a point worth noting: infrastructure constraints can flatten the quality of football regardless of player ability.

She was equally candid that the WSL's current standards are the product of investment that most nations — including her native Switzerland — simply cannot yet replicate. "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."

Why Brighton?

The 33-year-old, who captained Switzerland at Euro 2025 on home soil this summer, acknowledged she is "one of the lucky ones" to have experienced professional women's football at its current English level. She described Brighton as a club that "cares about women's football" — a deliberate choice of phrase from a player who now has a direct comparison point for what caring, and not caring, actually looks like in practice.

Walti also raised a broader concern: that talent globally is being lost because players are stuck in environments where nobody sees them develop. It is a structural argument, not a personal grievance, and it is made more credible by the fact she walked away from Juventus to make it.

Frequently asked

Why did Lia Walti leave Juventus after just one season?
Walti found the gap in professionalism between Serie A Femminile and the WSL to be 'extreme'. She cited a lack of fan culture, poor pitch quality, and limited TV coverage as factors that left her feeling undervalued. She returned to the WSL by signing for Brighton.
What trophies did Lia Walti win at Arsenal?
According to Walti, she won four major trophies during her seven-year spell at Arsenal, including the Champions League and the WSL title. She made 183 appearances for the club.
Is the WSL the best women's league in the world?
Walti stated that the WSL has 'a standard which is not comparable with any other league', pointing to its professional environments, fan culture, broadcast quality, and pitch standards as areas where it leads women's football globally.