The 2023–24 FA Women's National League is the 33rd 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 (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 oldest footb ...
. 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 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 ...
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 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 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 ...
. 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 Premier Division
Changes from last season:
* Despite winning the Northern Division,
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football.
Founde ...
lost the Championship play-off and therefore remained in the Premier Division.
*
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
were promoted from
Division One North as champions.
*
Stourbridge
Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham,
at the southwester ...
were promoted from
Division One Midlands as champions.
*
Boldmere St. Michaels were relegated to Division One Midlands.
*
Loughborough Lightning Loughborough Lightning may refer to one of three women's sports teams based at Loughborough University:
* Loughborough Lightning (netball)
* Loughborough Lightning (cricket)
* Loughborough Lightning (rugby union)
{{disambiguation ...
were relegated to Division One Midlands.
* Brighouse Town rebranded as
Halifax F.C. Women in May 2023.
League table
Results
Top scorers
Southern Premier Division
Changes from last season:
*
Watford
Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne.
Initially a smal ...
were promoted to
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this sys ...
as
National League
National League often refers to:
*National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada
*National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
champions.
* Coventry United were relegated from
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this sys ...
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.
League table
Results
Top scorers
Division One
Division One North
Changes from last season:
*
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
were promoted to Northern Premier Division as
Division One North champions.
*
Doncaster Rovers Belles
Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admi ...
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, more commonly known as FC United, is a semi-professional association football, football club based in Moston, Manchester, Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English ...
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 club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander.
The club was founded in 1903 and ...
were relegated to
North East Regional Women's Football League.
*
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a commuter rail network which serves Merseyside and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire in the North West England, North West of England. Merseyrail serves 69 Railway station, stations, 67 of which it manages, across two lin ...
were relegated to
North West Women's Regional Football League.
League table
Division One Midlands
Changes from last season:
*
Stourbridge
Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham,
at the southwester ...
were promoted to Northern Premier Division as
Division One Midlands champions.
*
Boldmere St. Michaels were relegated from
Northern Premier Division.
*
Loughborough Lightning Loughborough Lightning may refer to one of three women's sports teams based at Loughborough University:
* Loughborough Lightning (netball)
* Loughborough Lightning (cricket)
* Loughborough Lightning (rugby union)
{{disambiguation ...
were relegated from
Northern Premier Division.
*
Doncaster Rovers Belles
Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admi ...
were realigned to Division One North.
*
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...
were promoted from
East Midlands Regional Women's Football League as champions.
*
Sutton Coldfield Town 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 Parkside, Aveley.
History
Hashtag United Football Club was formed in March 2016 by Spencer Carmichael-Brow ...
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 and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...
were promoted from
London and South East Women's Regional Football League as champions.
*
AFC Sudbury
Amalgamated Football Club Sudbury is a association football, football club based in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. The club was formed in 1999 by the merger of Sudbury Town F.C., Sudbury Town and Sudbury Wanderers F.C., Sudbury Wanderers, the proc ...
were promoted from
Eastern Region Women's Football League as champions.
* As a result of
Wymondham Town and
Hounslow
Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...
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 association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...
were promoted from
South West Regional Women's Football League 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 ...
as champions.
*
Larkhall Athletic
Larkhall (, ) 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 Avon Water to the West. Larkhall ...
were relegated to
South West Regional Women's Football League.
*
AFC St Austell were relegated to
South West Regional Women's Football League.
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) was the 13th season of the Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010. It was the fifth season after the rebranding of t ...
(tier 1)
*
2023–24 Women's Championship
The 2023–24 Women's Championship season (known Barclays Women's Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the sixth season of the rebranded Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England, and the ninth season since the crea ...
(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
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 ...