The 2023–24
FA Women's National League
The FA Women's National League, formerly WFA National League and FA Women's Premier League (WPL), is a group of six football divisions run by the English Football Association. Founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, the League includ ...
is the 32nd season of the competition, and the sixth since a restructure and rebranding of the top four tiers of English football by
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
. Starting in 1991, it was previously known as the FA Women's Premier League. It sits at the third and fourth levels of the
women's football pyramid, below the
Women's Championship
The Women's Championship (formerly The FA Women's Championship) is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The division was established in 2014 as the FA Women's Super League 2 (WSL 2).
WSL 2 replaced the previous level 2 d ...
and above the eight regional football leagues.
The league features six regional divisions: the
Northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ra ...
and
Southern
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, M ...
Premier divisions at level three of the pyramid, and Division One North, Division One Midlands, Division One South East, and Division One South West at the fourth level. The league consists of 72 teams, divided into six divisions of 12 each. In a change from previous seasons, both winners of the Northern and Southern Premier divisions will be promoted to the
Women's Championship
The Women's Championship (formerly The FA Women's Championship) is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The division was established in 2014 as the FA Women's Super League 2 (WSL 2).
WSL 2 replaced the previous level 2 d ...
. The bottom two teams will be relegated to the appropriate fourth tier FA WNL Division One. The winner of each Division One will be promoted to the Northern or Southern Premier Division, with the bottom two teams in those leagues relegated to respective regional leagues.
Premier Division
Northern Division
Changes from last season:
* Despite winning the Northern Division,
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
lost the Championship play-off and therefore remained in the Premier Division.
*
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
were promoted from
Division One North as champions.
*
Stourbridge were promoted from
Division One Midlands as champions.
*
Boldmere St. Michaels were relegated to Division One Midlands.
*
Loughborough Lightning were relegated to Division One Midlands.
* Brighouse Town rebranded as
Halifax F.C. Women in May 2023.
League table
Results
Top scorers
Southern Division
Changes from last season:
*
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
were promoted to
Championship as
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
champions.
* Coventry United were relegated from
Championship and re-affiliated as
Rugby Borough.
*
Cardiff City Ladies were promoted from
Division One South West as champions.
*
Hashtag United were promoted from
Division One South East as champions.
*
Bridgwater United were relegated to Division One South West.
*
Crawley Wasps were relegated to Division One South East.
* Gillingham re-affiliated as
Chatham Town
Chatham Town Football Club is an English association football club based in Chatham, Kent. It currently plays in the and is nicknamed "The Chats”.
Former Premier League club Portsmouth and current Premier League club West Ham United played ...
.
League table
Results
Top scorers
Division One
Division One North
Changes from last season:
*
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
were promoted to Northern Premier Division as
Division One North champions.
*
Doncaster Rovers Belles were realigned from Division One Midlands.
*
Chester-le-Street Town were promoted from
North East Regional Women's Football League as champions.
*
F.C. United of Manchester
Football Club United of Manchester is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home matches at Broadhurst Park.
Found ...
were promoted from
North West Women's Regional Football League as champions.
*
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
were relegated to
North East Regional Women's Football League.
*
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated electri ...
were relegated to
North West Women's Regional Football League.
League table
Division One Midlands
Changes from last season:
*
Stourbridge were promoted to Northern Premier Division as
Division One Midlands champions.
*
Boldmere St. Michaels were relegated from
Northern Premier Division.
*
Loughborough Lightning were relegated from
Northern Premier Division.
*
Doncaster Rovers Belles were realigned to Division One North.
*
Notts County were promoted from
East Midlands Regional Women's Football League as champions.
*
Sutton Coldfield Town
Sutton Coldfield Town Football Club is an English association football club based in Sutton Coldfield. The club participates in the .
Despite being the largest team in a town with a population of over 105,000 people (more than that of the home ...
were promoted from
West Midlands Regional Women's Football League as champions.
*
Long Eaton United were relegated to
East Midlands Regional Women's Football League.
*
Wem Town were relegated but were not allocated to a division by The FA.
League table
Division One South East
Changes from last season:
*
Hashtag United
Hashtag United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Len Salmon Stadium.
Founded in 2016 by YouTube personality Spencer Carmichael-Brown, the club original ...
were promoted to Southern Premier Division as
Division One South East champions.
* Crawley Wasps were relegated from
Southern Premier Division and merged to become
Haywards Heath Town.
*
Worthing
Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...
were promoted from
London and South East Women's Regional Football League {{{Use dmy dates, date=January 2021
{{Infobox football league
, name = London and South East Women's Regional Football League
, logo =
, pixels =
, country = {{ENG
, founded = 2005
, folded =
, divisions = 3
, teams ...
as champions.
*
AFC Sudbury
Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury is a football club based in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. The club was formed in 1999 by the merger of Sudbury Town and Sudbury Wanderers, the process giving rise to the name Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury. ...
were promoted from
Eastern Region Women's Football League as champions.
* As a result of
Wymondham Town and
Hounslow both withdrawing during the 2022–23 season, no teams were relegated from Division One South East.
League table
Division One South West
Changes from last season:
*
Cardiff City Ladies were promoted to Southern Premier Division as
Division One South West champions.
*
Bridgwater United were relegated from
Southern Premier Division.
*
Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
were promoted from
South West Regional Women's Football League
The South West Women's Football League is at the fifth and sixth levels of the English women's football pyramid, with the seven other Regional Leagues – Eastern, London & SE, Southern, West Mids, East Mids, North East and North West. The S ...
as champions.
*
Abingdon United were promoted from
Southern Region Women's Football League
The Southern Region Women's Football League is at the fifth and sixth levels of the English women's football pyramid, with the seven other Regional Leagues – Eastern, London & SE, South West, West Midlands, East Midlands, North East and Nor ...
as champions.
*
Larkhall Athletic
Larkhall ( sco, Larkhauch, gd, Taigh na h-Uiseig) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, around southeast of Glasgow. It is twinned with Seclin in northern France.
Larkhall sits on high ground between the River Clyde to the East and the ...
were relegated to
South West Regional Women's Football League
The South West Women's Football League is at the fifth and sixth levels of the English women's football pyramid, with the seven other Regional Leagues – Eastern, London & SE, Southern, West Mids, East Mids, North East and North West. The S ...
.
*
AFC St Austell were relegated to
South West Regional Women's Football League
The South West Women's Football League is at the fifth and sixth levels of the English women's football pyramid, with the seven other Regional Leagues – Eastern, London & SE, Southern, West Mids, East Mids, North East and North West. The S ...
.
League table
See also
*
2023–24 FA Women's National League Cup
*
2023–24 FA Women's National League Plate
*
2023–24 Women's Super League
The 2023–24 Women's Super League season (also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) is the 13th season of the Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010. It is the fifth season after the rebranding of the ...
(tier 1)
*
2023–24 Women's Championship (tier 2)
References
External links
Official website of the FA Women's National League
{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 FA Women's National League
FA Women's National League seasons
2023–24 in English women's football
FA Women's National League
The FA Women's National League, formerly WFA National League and FA Women's Premier League (WPL), is a group of six football divisions run by the English Football Association. Founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, the League includ ...