Welcome to our round-up of sports news and results from British women both at home and abroad.

Football:

This week England captain Casey Stoney became the first woman to sit on the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) management committee.

“It is an honour and a privilege to be appointed and I’m really looking forward to the new role,” she told the BBC.

“I want to take women’s football forward. This enables us to have a voice for the women’s game and spread awareness of the great things the PFA do and can offer.”

England’s women players have only been members since 2011 with the wider WSL allowed to join last year. Currently there are only 100 female members of the PFA, compared with 3,500 men.

In the Champions League this week, both Arsenal and Birmingham had convincing wins to progress to the quarter-finals.

Both sides took leads into the second legs of their respective ties.

Arsenal reached the quarter finals for the twelfth season in a row with a 3-2 win at Glasgow City.

City took the lead through Suzanne Lappin in just the second minute, before Rachel Yankey and Jordan Nobbs put the English side in front.

Glasgow captain Rachel Corsie drew the home side level with a header, but Arsenal were not to be denied. In stoppage time Alex Scott scored to take the match. The tie aggregate score was 6-2.

Birmingham also won their second leg against Russian side FK Zorkiy Krasnogorsk winning 5-2 at home, taking the tie 7-2 on aggregate.

It was a momentous occasion for the Blues, as it was the first time they had played at St Andrew’s, home of Birmingham City’s men’s team.

Two goals from Kirsty Linnett plus one each from Izzy Christiansen, Kerys Harrop and Melissa Lawley saw Birmingham cruise through to the quarter finals.

Rugby Union:

England’s women claimed their second victory in their autumn internationals against Canada on 13 November, winning 32-3 at the Twickenham Stoop.

Two tries from prop Sophie Hemming and 17 points kicked by Katy McLean ensured the win.

The damage was done in the first half with tries from Hemming and Thompson and some fine kicking by McLean. The hosts went in to half-time 21-3 up.

Canada never recovered this deficit and England were in no mood to let up. Hemming crossed the line again and the result was never in doubt.

Each team had a player sin-binned, but in the end it made no difference as England repelled all Canadian attacks to finish the game strongly and claim a good win.

Rowing:

Six-time world champion and Paralympic rowing gold medallist Naomi Riches has announced her retirement.

The 30 year-old, who is registered blind, only took up rowing seriously in 2004. She won her first world title in the same year.

“I feel that I have achieved everything that I wanted to in the sport,” she said to the BBC.

“What better way to finish than on the high of a home Paralympic Games gold medal in London, followed by the world title?”

Speed skating:

Scottish skater Elise Christie took bronze in the 1000m short-track World cup in Kolomna on 17 November.

This was a great comeback from Christie who had crashed out of the 1500m semi-final on Saturday and needed hospital treatment.

The gold medal went to Arianna Fontana of Italy with Alang Kim of South Korea taking the silver.

Boxing:

Irish boxing star Katie Taylor has received a setback in her plan to turn professional while still aiming to box in the 2016 Olympics.

Currently, male boxers can compete in a professional competition, the World Series of Boxing (WSB), and still be eligible to box in the Olympics. However, there is no female equivalent.

Taylor has been busy campaigning for this to be rectified. However, Sebastién Gillot of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) announced this week that while they were looking into it, a competition for women boxers would probably not be created soon enough for Taylor.

If they don’t come up with a plan in sufficient time, Taylor will have to forego her dreams of boxing in Rio and will turn professional.