English soccer club London City earned both a trophy and promotion from the UK's second-tier Women's Championship league this weekend, lifting the Michele Kang-owned Lionesses into the top-flight Women's Super League (WSL) next season.

With a 2-2 draw against second-place Birmingham City in Sunday's 2024/25 season finale, London City sealed the single point they needed to claim the second-flight league title and secure their ticket to the 2025/26 WSL campaign.

Originally affiliated with second-tier Millwall FC, the Lionesses separated from the men's side in 2019, and will become the only independent club in the WSL when they join next season.

London City is 'only going up' thanks to Kang

London City's rise is major success story for owner Michele Kang and her multi-team organization Kynisca — which also owns the NWSL's Washington Spirit and French club Lyon — as the Lionesses reach the UK's top-flight just two seasons after Kang's 2023 purchase of the club.

Next fall, London City will take the WSL spot of last season's promoted team, Crystal Palace, who were relegated from the top-tier league last month and currently hold a dismal 2-15-4 record.

Crystal Palace's struggles to compete after leveling up are nothing new, with many promoted clubs often stumbling into relegation after a single season.

That's a pattern Kang aims to break, with the women's sports mogul planning to see the Lionesses rise up the WSL and, later, into Champions League play.

"We have been building a team to be at a minimum, on day one, mid-tier WSL," Kang told the BBC.

"When I first came here a lot of people were concerned for me," Kang explained. "How can an independent women's team survive if you don't have the male team that can provide the brand and resources? Here we are. We made it."

"This is proof, we are only going up."

Longtime England goalkeeper Mary Earps announced her retirement from international play on Tuesday, immediately ending her run just five weeks before the Lionesses begin their 2022 Euro title defense.

"My journey has never been the simplest, so in true Mary fashion, this isn't a simple goodbye — right before a major tournament," Earps said in a retirement post on Instagram. "Nonetheless, I know this is the right decision."

Despite the seemingly snap choice, Earps later clarified that she "spent a long time making this decision and it's not one I've made lightly. For me, ultimately this is the right time for me to step aside and give the younger generation an opportunity to thrive."

Earps led England to their first-ever European Championship plus the 2023 World Cup final in her 53 international caps.

However, Lioness manager Sarina Wiegman told media earlier this year that the 32-year-old Earps would likely take a backseat to Chelsea keeper Hannah Hampton at July's 2025 Euro.

"I had hoped that Mary would play an important role within the squad this summer, so of course I am disappointed," Wiegman said after Earps's retirement news broke.

Hampton to lead new-look England goalkeeping core

Hampton, who shared the 2024/25 WSL Golden Glove with Manchester United's Phallon Tullis-Joyce — a top USWNT keeper prospect — will now take over as England's No. 1 net-minder, though the 24-year-old still lacks experience in a major tournament.

Playing behind Hampton will be 20-year-old Manchester City goalie Khiara Keating and 30-year-old Orlando Pride keeper Anna Moorhouse — who owns the NWSL's single-season shutouts record. Both have been club standouts, though neither has logged a cap for England.

As for Earps, her football journey will continue at the club level with PSG, with the now-former Lioness promising that "There's so much to still look forward to, and I have so much energy to continue to strive for greatness, to continue to learn and push myself to maximise every last ounce of potential I have."

Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun!

Every week on Sports Are Fun! presented by Amazon Business, co-hosts soccer legend Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist Greydy Diaz, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes on the biggest women's sports headlines.

This week, the Sports Are Fun! crew is joined on the couch by retired NWSL star and frequent co-host Merritt Mathias. And to get things started, the sports fans in residence looked back on what was a blockbuster WNBA weekend.

The question on everyone's mind? Whether or not the league-leading Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty can run back their red-hot 2024 WNBA postseason run.

"Teams that are not having declines are the Lynx and the Liberty," O'Hara introduces, coming off a brief chat about the early-season shakeups over at the Indiana Fever. "Both are undefeated. Phee is off to an incredible start. Continuing her monster year from Unrivaled into the league, she's leading in points."

"Do y'all think that we're going to see Lynx-Liberty again in the finals this year?" she asks. "Do you think it's too early to make that assumption? Or are we're like, 'No this is what we're going to do.'"

"It's too early. But I I am hopeful that it happens again," says Mathias. "I thought it was an incredible matchup. When you watched in person, it was incredibly intense. There was competition to the very end of games. It was what you want from a championship series."

"And I think Phee deserves all the time in those moments," she adds. "So does Breanna Stewart. The players on those teams are just really fun to watch."

Along with predicting this year's WNBA finals matchup, the Sports Are Fun! hosts break down Caitlin Clark’s injury, the latest USWNT roster, and so much more!

'Sports Are Fun!' congrats Lo’eau LaBonta on her first USWNT roster call-up

Next up, the team subsequently hashes out the latest USWNT roster. More specifically, the surprise call-ups. And that includes a first-ever camp invitation for KC Current star — and celly queen — Lo’eau LaBonta.

"Moving from the court to the pitch, this past week the US women's national team announced their next camp's roster," O'Hara starts. "I want to shout out Lo’eau [LaBonta] — I'm super stoked about her call-up."

"I think this is just awesome, from a perspective of how your play in the NWSL matters," she continues. "And she's maybe the oldest player to ever get called in to a camp for the first time."

"She's 32," adds Diaz.

"I definitely did see on social media that she's the oldest," agrees BJ.

"I think Lo’eau should have been called in awhile ago," says O'Hara. "But I really like that it's happening now. And she's not getting looked over because she is 32, because she's never been called in before. This shows Emma [Hayes] is watching the NWSL."

"Emma came out with a quote saying that they were agonizing over trying to decide if she should have called in Lo’eau for the Olympics last summer," says BJ. "But she ended up ultimately not going with it because they wanted more experience."

"I really think that she is a special player," says O'Hara. "How she's led Kansas City — I'm really excited to see her take that to the national team."

About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara

'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place.

Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.

From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

The LPGA Tour's largest purse is back on the line, as the 2025 US Women's Open hits the links at Wisconsin's Erin Hills Golf Course on Thursday.

The oldest of the Tour's five major championships, the US Women's Open is now in its 80th year.

In partnership with tournament sponsor Ally, the event's $12 million overall prize money makes it the most lucrative competition in women's golf, with a $2.4 million check going to the eventual winner.

World No. 35 Yuka Saso of Japan, the 2021 and 2024 US Women's Open champion, is back to defend her title alongside eight other former tournament winners, including 2023 victor and current No. 38 Allisen Corpuz (USA) and 2022 champ No. 22 Minjee Lee (Australia).

Also vying for this year's trophy are all 12 2025 LPGA Tour victors, headlined by world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul (Thailand) and No. 3 Lydia Ko (New Zealand), as well as the two title-winners from the US — No. 11 Angel Yin and No. 18 Yealimi Noh.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda leads 24 of the sport's Top 25 players on the 2025 US Women's Open course, as the US star still searches for her first victory of the season.

How to watch the US Women's Open

The US Women's Open tees off at 6:45 AM ET on Thursday, with coverage of the LPGA major kicking off at 12 PM ET across USA Network and Peacock.

Sunday's championship-winning final round will air live beginnning at 2 PM ET on NBC.

The 2024 WNBA Finals set the stage for this season in more ways than one, as last year's title contenders — the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty — carry their winning ways into 2025.

The undefeated Lynx cruised to a 5-0 record on Tuesday, downing a surging Seattle Storm 82-77 behind 23 points from guard Courtney Williams.

The reigning champion Liberty are keeping pace at 4-0, earning their fourth win with a 95-67 Tuesday night takedown of 2025 expansion side Golden State. Forward Breanna Stewart's 24 points led New York past the Valkyries.

Liberty, Lynx standouts race up the 2025 WNBA stat sheet

While many WNBA teams spent the offseason instituting major coaching and roster shakeups, the Lynx and Liberty kept last year's lineups mostly intact.

Minnesota star forward Napheesa Collier currently dominates scoring on the WNBA stat sheet with 26.8 points per game, and her block and steal rates are in the league's Top-5.

Meanwhile, teammate Alanna Smith also tops the leaderboard thanks to a 62.5% field goal percentage, and sits in fourth for both block and three-point rates.

The Liberty's Kennedy Burke has also been lights-out, leading the league in three-point percentage at 63.6% while shooting 60.9% from the field — good for fourth on the stat sheet.

Proving New York's few offseason moves were effective is 2025 Liberty addition Natasha Cloud, who sits in second with 8.3 assists per game. At the same time, the team as a whole is outpacing the rest of the league in field goal percentage (49.8%), as well as points (94), assists (25.3), and blocks (6.0) per game.

The league's top dogs won't clash on the court until July 30th — but early odds of a 2024 WNBA Finals rematch closing out the 2025 season grow stronger by the day.