This day in football history

On 30 January 2012, three-year old women’s league WPS announced the suspension of its fourth season, which, as it turned out, was never played.

The USA’s second attempt at a top flight women’s league—Women’s Professional Soccer—started play in 2009 with seven teams. The Washington Freedom and Boston Breakers were the only two holdovers from the previous league, WUSA. But financial problems plagued the new league, including the folding of 2009 champions Los Angeles after the end of the season.

Although two new teams joined for 2010, another team folded after only six games, followed at the end of the season by newly-crowned champions FC Gold Pride. Still another team left for a lower league, while Washington was bought by Dan Borislow and relocated to Florida as magicJack.

Borislow and the league clashed several times, with WPS alleging that his “unprofessional and disparaging treatment of his players to failure to pay his bills” was damaging to the league, then voting to terminate the franchise in October 2011. Borislow won reinstatement in a January 2012 court ruling, but rather than readmit him, WPS decided to suspend the season.

In May, the league officially ceased operations. It was replaced later that year by the National Women’s Soccer League, which will play its fifth season this year.