The 2019–20 FA WSL season (also known as the Barclays FA Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth edition of the

FA 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 ...

(WSL) since it was formed in 2010. It was the second season after the rebranding of the four highest levels in English women's football and the twelve teams contesting the season was the greatest number in the league's history to date, following a steady increase from the original eight. It is the first under the new Barclays title sponsorship following a landmark multi-million pound investment. On 13 March 2020, in line with the FA's response to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

, it was announced the season was initially suspended until at least 3 April 2020. After further postponements, the season was ultimately ended prematurely on 25 May 2020 with immediate effect. On 5 June 2020,

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

were named as champions, moving them up one place ahead of Manchester City on sporting merit after The FA Board's decision to award places on a points-per-game basis. Manchester City were awarded the second Champions League place and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

were relegated using the same method.

Teams

After the WSL's restructure going into the 2018–19 season, membership of the league returned solely to performance in the previous season, though the league expanded from eleven teams to twelve as Manchester United and

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

were both promoted after finishing first and second respectively in the

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 system ...

during the 2018–19 season, while only

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

Stadium changes

In response to the record viewing figures during the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. I ...

, three select fixtures were initially moved to

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

grounds: The

Manchester derby The Manchester derby refers to football matches between Manchester City and Manchester United, first contested in 1881. City play at the City of Manchester Stadium in Bradford, east Manchester, while United play at Old Trafford in the borough of ...

at the City of Manchester Stadium, Chelsea v Tottenham at Stamford Bridge and the

North London derby The North London derby is the meeting of the association football clubs Arsenal F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., both of which are based in North London, England. Fans of both clubs consider the other to be their main rivals, and the derby is co ...

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in north London, replacing the club's previous ground, White Hart Lane. With a seating capacity of 62,850, it is the third-largest football stadium in England and the ...

. In total, eight of the twelve teams have moved FA WSL fixtures to the larger grounds of their men's affiliate teams:

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

later announced their opening game would be played at Ashton Gate,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

moved one of their league fixtures (as well as all three

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

games) to the Madjeski Stadium and

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

announced they would host Spurs at the

London Stadium London Stadium (formerly and also known as Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multi-purpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford, London, Stratford district of London. It is located ...

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 ...

moved their match against

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

to the

Falmer Stadium The Falmer Stadium, known for sponsorship purposes as the American Express Community Stadium and also referred to as the Amex, is a football stadium in the village of Falmer, in the City of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. With a capacity of 31, ...

to coincide with the FA's Women's Football Weekend, held during a men's international break.

later moved their

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is the association football, football matches between Everton F.C., Everton and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, the two primary clubs in Liverpool, England. Named after the county of Merseyside, in which Liverpool is located, it ...

, held on the same weekend, to

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

and Everton scheduled the reverse fixture in February at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a association football, football stadium in the Walton, Liverpool, Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area ...

(the match was ultimately left unplayed when the season was suspended and then cancelled). After originally planning to permanently relocate to their new Walton Hall Park stadium in October 2019 following their opening two home games, delays meant Everton had to postpone the move until February 2020 and eventually scheduled six of their 11 home league games at

Haig Avenue Haig Avenue is a football stadium in Blowick, Southport, Merseyside, England, that holds 6,008 people (1,660 seated, 4,164 standing) Since its opening in 1905 it has been the home ground of Southport F.C. Everton Reserves also use the stadium f ...

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

Top assists

Clean sheets

Records

The match between Arsenal and Bristol City on 1 December 2019 ended 11–1, setting a new WSL record scoreline, surpassing the 9–0 win of Liverpool Ladies over

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 admin ...

in 2013.

Awards

Monthly awards

Annual awards

Prize money

An FA WSL prize fund was put in place for the first time, following the new Barclay's sponsorship deal, with the entire pot totaling £500,000. The money was awarded in decreasing increments with the champions winning £100,000 and the last placed team being awarded £6,000.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 FA WSL Women's Super League seasons 1 FA WSL

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...