Lia Walti's Return to Brighton: A Quest for Value in Women's Football

Lia Walti did not leave Juventus for a new adventure. She left because, in her words, she stopped feeling valued as a footballer.

The Switzerland captain has returned to England and the Women's Super League with Brighton after just one season in Italy, and she is blunt about why.

"I missed the feeling of being valued as a footballer, feeling like we're getting the full support we needed," she told BBC Sport. "It's such a huge difference."

From Arsenal cornerstone to Italian frustration

Walti knows what a high-performance environment looks like. Across seven years at Arsenal, she made 183 appearances, became a key figure in midfield and helped the club win four major trophies, including the Champions League and WSL titles. She lived through the league’s rapid growth, the rising crowds, the shift to full-time professionalism.

That is the standard she carried with her when she left for Juventus last summer in search of a fresh challenge. The reality she found in Serie A Femminile jarred.

She describes the gap in professionalism between England and Italy as "extreme". Not just in one area, but everywhere she looked.

"It's more that it's just the reality that football in England, in the WSL, has a standard which is not comparable with any other league," she said. "It's a bit sad and disappointing to see a lot of girls abroad do not have the same opportunities or standards in terms of being in professional environments."

The shock was cultural as much as structural. Walti had grown used to playing inside a strong football culture, to feeling the game around her.

"In Italy, it was just [empty]. Every game felt a bit like that," she said. "We had absolutely no fan culture – not just at Juve – in general in Italy.

"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. I missed the feeling I had before when I was playing football."

‘You kind of have to force people to watch it’

Walti, who has more than 100 caps for Switzerland and captained her country at Euro 2025 on home soil, speaks with the perspective of a player who has seen both sides: the polished product in England and the rough edges elsewhere.

Her diagnosis goes beyond attendances.

"I think you have to bring the game to the people. You kind of have to force people to watch it. I felt that that's how it maybe started in England," she said.

In too many countries, she argues, the game never even reaches the audience properly.

"In Italy, and in a lot of other countries, I think they have bad coverage. It's not shown [on TV] at all, or if it's shown, from where they film it, is really poor.

"It affects the way you watch a game. You don't really see the speed, the tactics or anything and you don't enjoy watching the game.

"In England, in the big stadiums, you can have great camera angles. I think people enjoy watching it more."

For Walti, that is just one piece of a wider problem.

The basics still missing

"The biggest lacking starts with pitch quality," she said. "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 because it's just not possible to play nice football on it."

She does not spare her homeland either.

"All of the other leagues, where do you even start? It's so hard. We have the same [issues] in Switzerland.

"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."

Her passion comes from lived experience. Walti remembers when conditions in England were far from glamorous.

"We used to not have good conditions. It wasn't professional. Our first salaries were not enough to live from," she said.

Now she looks around the WSL and sees how far it has come, while knowing many of her peers elsewhere remain stuck.

"Seeing the growth in England and being with players who try to push the game in their own countries, it makes you feel frustrated to still see the reality.

"You forget sometimes, when you're in your own bubble, that this is not the norm. You're just one of the lucky ones who can experience it.

"A lot of talent in women's football gets lost because they are in bad environments where nobody sees them or they don't have the chance to reach their potential.

"I try to make an impact and I think that was really hard in Italy because I felt like when we spoke up, nothing happened, and that was frustrating."

Why Brighton felt right

When it came to deciding her future, with a year still left on her Juventus deal, Walti knew exactly what she wanted – and what she would not accept again.

"After that experience in Italy, I knew a bit more about what I probably wanted, or didn't want," she said.

Brighton had been on her radar for a while. She had faced them many times in the WSL, watched their off-field plans, listened to what other players said.

"I had a pretty big trust in Brighton before we had the conversations because I had been in the league and seen what the club was doing.

"I've heard from other players about the club investing a lot and I only heard really positive things. There is no better feedback than from other players."

The facts back that up. In 2021, Brighton’s women moved into their own space at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre after an £8.5m investment. In April this year, the club revealed plans for Europe’s first purpose-built women's football stadium, a £75-80m project. On the pitch, they reached the Women's FA Cup final for the first time in May and have strengthened again in this transfer window.

Dario Vidosic’s side talk openly about breaking into the WSL’s top three. Walti sees a club aligning words with action.

"Once I started to have the first moments with the club, it proved to me that this is the right place – that cares about women's football, that invests in women's football, and who has the right people in place."

From Arsenal mainstay to disillusioned Juventus midfielder, and now to Brighton’s new standard-bearer, Walti has chosen an environment that matches her demands. The question now is whether the rest of Europe is willing – or able – to catch up to the level she insists should be the norm.