The 2016
Scottish Women's Premier League
The Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) is the highest level of league competition in women's football in Scotland. Its two divisions are SWPL 1 and SWPL 2. The league was formed when the Premier Division of the Scottish Women's Football League ...
was the 15th season of the SWPL, the highest division of
women's football in Scotland
Women's association football in Scotland has an organised history including the first international women's match in 1881, the president of the British Ladies' Football Club in 1895, Lady Florence Dixie, the Edinburgh–Preston "World Championship ...
since
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
. For the first time, the league was split into two divisions of eight teams each, SWPL 1 and SWPL 2.
The split into two divisions reduced the number of top-division teams from 12 to 8. The change was made to increase competitiveness in the league. SWPL 2 became the new level 2 Scottish women's league, displacing the
First Division (SWFL 1) to level 3.
The restructuring had begun in 2015 by requiring four SWPL clubs to be effectively relegated. Lewis Melee quoted a manager critical of the SWF's consultation and lack of notice for the league's new clubs: "Rather than saying we need to finish 11th for our first year in the league they were having to finish 8th and they didn’t have a 6 to 12-month plan to prepare… they were probably the ones that suffered more than anyone".
At the end of the season in October 2016,
Glasgow City were champions, ahead of
Hibernian. City became the first senior football club to win
ten Scottish league titles in succession. The champions of SWPL 2 were
Hamilton Academical
Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...
.
Teams
SWPL 1
SWPL 2
SWPL 1
Format
In the first season after the reduction to eight teams a new format is played. Teams will play each other three times, with the bottom placed team being relegated after the season. The split into a championship and relegation group is discontinued.
Standings
Teams will play 21 matches each.
Results
; Matches 1 to 14
; Matches 15 to 21
SWPL 2
Format
In the first season after the reduction to eight teams a new format is played. Teams will play each other three times, with the bottom placed team being relegated after the season. The split into a championship and relegation group is discontinued.
Standings
Teams will play 21 matches each.
Results
; Matches 1 to 14
; Matches 15 to 21
References
External links
Seasonat soccerway.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish Women's Premier League, 2016
1
Scot
The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...
Scot
The Scots ( sco, Scots Fowk; gd, Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded t ...
Scottish Women's Premier League seasons