Former England star and commentator join ahead of season start in October

Izzy Christiansen Pien Meulensteen Sky Sports WSL

Sky Sports has added former England international Izzy Christiansen and commentator Pien Meulensteen to its WSL team.

Ahead of the season beginning 1 October, the pair will complement the existing team that includes Karen Carney and presenter Caroline Barker. They will also work on other Sky Sports coverage, including of the Premier League and EFL. 

Christiansen arrives after retiring from playing at the end of last season. She announced that she was hanging her boots up on Sky’s Three Players And A Podcast, after 14 years’ playing for Everton, Birmingham City, Manchester City and Lyon as well as the Lionesses.

Meanwhile, Meulensteen became the first lead female Sky Sports commentator for a Premier League match last season, and has also worked on World Cup games.

35 WSL games will be live on Sky Sports this season, in addition to 22 matches being shown free-to-air by the BBC. Sky’s games aren’t free-to-air, but are available to all Sky subscribers, not just sport, through the Sky Showcase channel.

Christiansen said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Sky Sports and working on their unrivalled coverage across men’s and women’s football and that was key in my decision to join. The 2023/24 WSL season will be fascinating coming off the back of one of the tightest title races for many years and a World Cup.”

Meulensteen added: “I’m privileged and excited to continue working with the incredible team of broadcasters at Sky Sports and to bring the best coverage for an exciting season ahead, in both the men’s and women’s game.”

Sky Sports’ director of football, Gary Hughes, commented: “We are very fortunate to be able to add two extremely talented names to our already stellar WSL cast. Izzy’s recent experience of playing in the WSL will bring great relevance and insight to our coverage, while Pien has proven ability of commentating on the men’s and women’s game.”