The 2016–17 FA Women's Premier League is the 26th season of the competition, which began in 1992. It sits at the third and fourth levels of the women's football pyramid, below the two divisions of the

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

and above the eight regional football leagues. The league features six regional divisions: the

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

and Southern divisions at level three of the pyramid, and below those Northern Division 1, Midlands Division 1, South East Division 1, and South West Division 1. 72 teams were members of the league before the start of the 2016–17 season, divided equally into six divisions of twelve teams. At the end of the season

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, respectively the champions of the Northern and Southern Divisions, qualified for a playoff match against each other which Tottenham Hotspur won 3-0 thus becoming the overall league champion, and winning them promotion to

FA WSL 2 The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

Premier Division

Northern Premier Division

Changes from last season: * Guiseley Vixens and Loughborough Foxes were relegated to Northern Division One and Midlands Division One respectively. * Leicester City and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

were promoted into the Northern Division from Midlands Division One and Northern Division One respectively. *Preston North End was renamed Fylde Ladies after changing its affiliation to

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

. *Sporting Club Albion was renamed

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. * Nuneaton Town withdrew from the league the week before the season started.

League table

Results

Southern Premier Division

Changes from last season: *League champions

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

was promoted to

. *

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

was relegated to South West Division One. *

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

and

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

were promoted from South West and South East Division One. *

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

withdrew from the league the week before the season started.

League table

Results

Championship play-off

The overall FA WPL champion was decided by a play-off match held at the end of the season. The winner earned promotion to the

Division One

Division One North

Changes from last season: *

was promoted to the Northern Division. * Guiseley Vixens was relegated from the Northern Division. * Brighouse Town was promoted from the North East Regional League. *

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

was promoted from the North West Regional League. *

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

and Norton & Stockton Ancients were relegated to the regional leagues.

League table

Results

Division One Midlands

Changes from last season: *

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

was promoted to the Northern Division. * Loughborough Foxes was relegated from the Northern Division. *

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, commonly known as The New Saints () or TNS FC, are an English professional football club that play in the , but are based completely within England, in Oswestry, Shropshire. They a ...

was promoted from the

West Midlands Regional League The West Midlands (Regional) League is an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Worcestershire, southern Staffordshire and northern Herefordshire. It has tw ...

. * Long Eaton United was promoted from the

East Midlands Regional League The East Midlands Regional League was a football league in the East Midlands region of England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which ...

. * Peterborough Northern Star and Leafield Athletic were relegated to the regional leagues.

League table

Results

Division One South East

Changes from last season: *

was promoted to the Southern Division. *

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

was promoted from the Eastern Region League. *

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

was promoted from the London & South East Regional League. *

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

was relegated to the regional leagues. *Old Actonians was renamed Actonians.

League table

Results

Division One South West

Changes from last season: *

was promoted to the Southern Division. *

was relegated from the Southern Division. *

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

was promoted from the Southern Region League. *

Brislington Brislington is an area in the south east of the city of Bristol, England. It is on the edge of Bristol and from Bath, Somerset, Bath. Brislington Brook runs through the area in the woodlands of Nightingale Valley and St Anne's Wood. Brislingto ...

was promoted from the

South West Regional League South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. * Gloucester City and Swindon Spitfires withdrew from the league during the 2015–16 season. Shanklin withdrew from the league after playing 18 of 22 matches. All results involving Shanklin were expunged.

League table

Results

Reserve Division

Reserve Northern Division

League table

Results

Reserve Midland Division

League table

Results

Reserve Southern Division

League table

Results

References

External links

Official website of the FA Women's Premier LeagueLeague results and standings
{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 FA Women's Premier League FA Women's National League seasons 3

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...