INTRODUCTION: Higher-level female football players have better physical qualities compared to lower-level counterparts (1) and therefore it is important to develop players` physical qualities. Typically, in team sports, the aim is to maximize physical qualities in pre-season and then maintain the level throughout in-season (2). However, previous evidence in female football players show no systematic changes in physical qualities in either pre-season or in-season, suggesting inadequate training methods (3,4). Such observations come from only a single team and, thus, those findings may reflect a single team`s training approach. Therefore, this study confirmed potential changes in physical qualities over a single season using a leaguewide study. METHODS: One hundred and fifty-eight players from seven (of ten) Finnish national league teams voluntarily participated in the study. Players were tested at three times during season 2023: at the beginning of the pre-season (PREstart, January), at the end of the pre-season (PREend, March) and at the end of the in-season (INend, October). The following field tests were conducted to characterize physical qualities of the players: 30-meter sprint test with 10-meter split time for speed, countermovement jump (CMJ) for lower-body power, and 1200-meter shuttle running test (i.e., Bronco test) was used to calculate maximal aerobic speed (MAS). Generalized linear mixed model was used to investigate potential differences between season phases. RESULTS: MAS improved significantly (p < 0.05) during pre-season and after that remained stable throughout the in-season (PREstart 4.00 ± 0.19 m/s, PREend 4.10 ± 0.19 m/s and INend 4.11 ± 0.19 m/s). The 30-meter sprint time also improved significantly (p < 0.05) during pre-season and after that remained stable (PREstart 4.77 ± 0.13 s, PREend 4.66 ± 0.13 s and INend 4.66 ± 0.13 s). The 10-meter sprint time was significantly better (p < 0.05) at the end of the in-season than at the beginning of the pre-season (PREstart 1.94 ± 0.06 s, INend 1.91 ± 0.06 s). CMJ did not change in either pre- or in-season. CONCLUSION: This leaguewide study showed that elite female football players` speed and endurance qualities improved during the pre-season and the level was maintained during the in-season. The results are largely consistent with previous findings on team sports but challenge the findings of previous single football team observational studies where female players appeared not to develop during the season.
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