Everton's start to the season, and their performance last year, has been impressive to many. The landscape of the Women's Super League is changing, with the dominance of the 'top three' being joined by other opposition who have proved that they can compete with the division's best teams.

No team exemplifies that better than Everton, whose position in women's football has gone full-circle in the past decade, going from winning the FA Cup and competing in the Champions League, to the second flight, and now back to the top-end of English women's football once again.

It was in the 2009-10 season where the Toffees last lifted a domestic trophy, overcoming Arsenal at the City Ground to seal the FA Cup. Ten years on, Willie Kirk will be looking to recreate that moment at Wembley Stadium on Sunday when his side faces Manchester City in the final of the Vitality Women's FA Cup.

A top five is emerging

Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City have been the dominant forces in English women's football for a number of years, but they are now being joined by Everton and Manchester United. For the Toffees, Sunday is a chance to prove their status:

"I think there's a top five, I think Manchester United would argue that they're part of that as well," he said "We definitely want to be part of that top five, we definitely want to be competing for trophies. I think already, we can say that we are part of that, I don't think we need to win a trophy to justify that statement but obviously it would go a long way in proving it.

"Just now, it's talk, it's five league games into the season, we're sitting in a healthy position, but to add silverware would add to that, would probably justify our teams that we are a top team or we're trying to be a top team and that we can compete on a regular basis."

Increased investment

Everton have proven that if you take your women's side seriously, then you can reap the rewards. While one Merseyside club languishes in the Championship, the Toffees have secured big-name signings such as Valerie Gauvin, who joined for a transfer fee, have their own purpose-built ground, and have access to the USM Finch Farm training facilities. Most recently, a deal was secured for Russian telecommunications company Megafon to sponsor the women's side's shirts for this season. For Kirk, he appreciates the backing he is given by the club:

"It's huge. That is, I think, reciprocated in terms of we, myself, the players even more so, have put us in a position where the club trust us, the club believe in us and the club want to invest in us because I think without those results over the last couple of years, without the way the players conduct themselves around Finch Farm and their professionalism, I don't think the club potentially would invest in the way that they have. But, they have, and that's greatly appreciated, as I say, it works both ways, we are hoping to give something back - what a start for Megafon's sponsorship of us if we can lift the FA Cup under their name."

Fixture clash

As was the case for West Ham when they played in the final of the 2018/19 campaign, the game sadly clashes with Everton's men's side's fixture against Newcastle. One young supporter set up a petition, signed by over 2,600 others, to get the kick-off of the men's game moved, but it sadly could not be. However, Kirk is just happy that the game is able to be played, and says that Carlo Ancelotti also feels that it's a shame the games clash:

"I think we're just grateful that the FA Cup got resurrected. The scheduling was a nightmare, I know that from FA calls that I was in, in terms of trying to sort out the fixture list for the new season and squeezing the FA Cup.

"It was a unique situation in terms of the fact that we had the quarter-final and the semi-final within four days of each other. It was then about finding a date you could get Wembley - it must have been a scheduling nightmare - so, of course, it's a shame.

"I spoke to Carlo [Ancelotti] yesterday and he finds it a shame that kick-off's so close to each other but there's very little we could do about it in terms of what we could control and it was out of our hands. It is what it is, but I'm sure the news of a victory, if that is the case, will quickly get up to Newcastle and I'm sure the men will celebrate."

Advice from Ancelotti

The two Everton managers spoke over a Zoom call earlier in the week, with Carlo Ancelotti and Willie Kirk exchanging a conversation prior to the women's team's final.

Ancelotti himself has won an FA Cup, winning the competition ten years ago with Chelsea against Portsmouth. When asked about if he had received any advice from the Italian, Kirk said that he is probably dealing with the game different to how Ancelotti may have done:

"The way he prepared for his FA Cup was completely different from the way I've prepared for it I think, but that was because the week before he won the FA Cup, he won the league, so he was probably in a very strong position. This is our first proper chance of winning silverware so I'm probably dealing with it slightly differently to how he did."