The 2018–19 FA Women's Championship was the first rebranded edition of the

FA 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 second tier of women's football in England, renamed from the FA WSL 2 which was founded in 2014. The season ran from 8 September 2018 to 12 May 2019. On 20 April 2019,

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

won the title, and promotion to the

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

, with two games to spare in their debut season after recording a 7–0 victory over

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 building * ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

subsequently secured second place and promotion following a 1–1 draw at Aston Villa in their penultimate fixture. Millwall Lionesses finished bottom but were spared relegation as the FA sought to expand both of the top two divisions to twelve teams each by 2019–20.

Teams

Eleven teams compete in the league. Following restructuring of the women's game in order to provide for a fully professional

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...

(WSL), membership of both the first and second tier is subject to a license, based on a series of off-the-field criteria. Existing WSL teams were first offered the opportunity to bid for licenses, with all applying FA WSL 2 clubs retaining their place in the second tier, except for

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

who were offered a place in the WSL. From the second tier,

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

and

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 ...

did not apply for licenses. This left up to two places in the WSL and up to five places in the Championship for applying clubs, of which one place in the Championship was reserved for the winners of the

FA Women's Premier 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 ...

Championship play-off, providing that club met the licensing criteria. Fifteen applications were received for both the top two tiers, and five of these applicants were accepted into the Championship:

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

, Leicester City Women,

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

as well as Premiership play-off winners,

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

announced on 24 June 2018 that it was withdrawing from the league ahead of the season, due to the financial commitments required 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 ...

proving too onerous.

Doncaster Rovers Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an English women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's administration is based at the Eco Power St ...

announced similarly on 12 July 2018. A place in the league was subsequently awarded to

Table

For the inaugural season, the top two teams will be automatically promoted subject to obtaining a licence. There will be no relegation at the end of the campaign with a view to expanding the top two tiers to twelve teams each by 2019–20.

Results

Top goalscorers

Awards

Player of the Month

''Results of Player of the Month voting as polled by FA Women's Championship. Number of nominations in brackets.''

LMA Manager of the Month

''Results of Manager of the Month as awarded by the

League Managers Association The League Managers Association (LMA) is the trade union for Premier League, EFL and national team managers in English association football. The LMA awards the LMA Manager of the Year award annually. History The union was founded in 3045 as th ...

. Number of awards in brackets.''

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 FA Women's Championship Women's Championship (England) 2 2018–19 domestic women's association football leagues