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
Women's football has been played in England for over a century, sharing a common history with the men's game as the country in which the Laws of the Game were codified.
Women's football was originally very popular in the early 20th century, b ...
. Established in 2010, it is run 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 ...
and features twelve fully professional teams.
The league replaced the
FA Women's Premier League National Division as the highest level of women's football in England, with eight teams competing in the
inaugural 2011 season. In the WSL's first two seasons, there was no relegation from the division.
The WSL discarded the winter football season for six years, between 2011 and 2016, playing through the summer instead (from March until October). Since
2017–18, the WSL has operated as a winter league running from September to May, as was traditional before 2011.
From season 2014 to 2017–18, the Women's Super League consisted of two divisions – FA WSL 1 and
FA WSL 2
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 brought a promotion and relegation system to the WSL. From 2018–19, the second division was renamed the
FA Women's Championship.
The WSL champions, runners-up and third-placed team qualify for the
UEFA Women's Champions League
The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA.
The ...
the following season. The current Women's Super League champions are
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 ...
, who won their fifth title in the
2021–22 season.
History
The FA WSL was due to start in 2010 to replace the
FA Women's Premier League National Division as the top level of women's football in England but was deferred for a year due to the
global economic downturn. Sixteen clubs applied for 8 places in the inaugural season of the league:
Arsenal,
Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
* Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
,
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
,
Bristol Academy,
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 ...
,
Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...
,
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 ...
,
Everton,
Leeds Carnegie
Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include:
Current
* Leeds Carnegie Handball Club
Changed name
* Leeds Carnegie ...
,
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
,
Lincoln Ladies,
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 popul ...
,
Millwall Lionesses,
Newcastle United,
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 ...
, and
Sunderland. Leeds Carnegie later withdrew their application. Women's Premier League clubs
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. 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 ...
declined to apply. FA Chief Executive
Ian Watmore
Ian Charles Watmore (born 5 July 1958) is a British management consultant and former senior civil servant under three prime ministers, serving from October 2016 as the First Civil Service Commissioner.
Early life and business career
Born in C ...
described the creation of the league as a "top priority" in February 2010.
The
inaugural WSL season kicked-off on 13 April 2011 — at Imperial Fields, Chelsea's home ground — with a match between Chelsea and Arsenal, which Chelsea lost 1–0.
For the 2014 season a second division was created named
FA WSL 2
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 ...
, with nine teams and one team being relegated from the WSL 1. WSL 1 remained as eight teams, with the WSL 2 having ten teams. The new WSL 1 licence was awarded to
Manchester City. Doncaster Rovers Belles were relegated to the WSL 2. They appealed against their demotion, but were unsuccessful.
In December 2014, the FA WSL announced a two-year plan to expand the WSL 1 from an eight to a ten-team league. Two teams were promoted from the WSL 2 at the end of the 2015 season, while one team was relegated to the WSL 2 with the same happening at the end of the 2016 season. Also, for the first time, a team from the FA Women's Premier League earned promotion to WSL 2, effectively connecting the WSL to the rest of the
English women's football pyramid.
The FA announced in July 2016 that the league would move from a summer league format to a winter one in line with the traditional football calendar in England, with matches played from September to May the following year. A shortened bridging season took place, branded as the
FA WSL Spring Series
The FA WSL Spring Series was an interim edition of the FA WSL between the sixth and seventh full seasons. The Spring Series ran from February to May 2017 to bridge the gap from the 2016 FA WSL season which ran from March to September as a summer t ...
, with teams playing each other once from February to May 2017.
Following the
2017–18 FA WSL season, WSL 1 was renamed back to the FA Women's Super League, becoming a fully professional league for the first time, with eleven teams for the
2018–19 season.
Teams had to re-apply for their licence to earn their place in the league, requiring clubs to offer their players a minimum 16-hour a week contract and to form a youth academy as compulsory for the new licence criteria. Sunderland were moved down to tier 3 in the women's football pyramid after not receiving a licence whilst
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 ...
and
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
were added to the league.
The league was extended to twelve teams for the
2019–20 season, with
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 ...
relegated after going into administration and being replaced by
Manchester United and
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 ...
, who gained promotion from 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 ...
.
In May 2020 the league was curtailed by the
covid-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
pandemic. Chelsea were declared champions of the season based on a points-per-game average.
At the conclusion of 2020–21 campaign, four first-team managers resigned from their positions at WSL clubs Birmingham, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Aston Villa. Birmingham's outgoing manager Carla Ward questioned the commitment of some of the clubs involved in WSL, whilst Manchester United's outgoing manager
Casey Stoney
Casey Jean Stoney (born 13 May 1982) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of San Diego Wave FC. A versatile defender, she was capped more than 100 times for the England women's national footbal ...
allegedly quit because of unresolved issues surrounding lack of training facilities and other infrastructure.
In July 2022, it was announced that the Women's Super League will feature in the
FIFA 23
''FIFA 23'' is a football video game published by Electronic Arts. It is the 30th installment in the '' FIFA'' series that is developed by EA Sports, and the final installment under the ''FIFA'' banner, and released worldwide on 30 September 20 ...
video game, with all twelve of its clubs fully licensed.
Competition structure
The FA Women's Super League currently consists of twelve clubs. Initially the league was described as professional, with the top four players on each team being paid an annual salary in excess of £20,000. However, in November 2010 it was confirmed that the WSL would be
semi-professional, with only a "handful" of top players full-time.
Clubs' annual wage bills were expected to be approximately one-tenth of those in the now-defunct American
Women's Professional Soccer
Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...
.
The 2011 season included a mid-season break from 12 May 2011, to allow for the
2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. The season then resumed in early July, finishing in August 2011.
After the league fixtures, the teams compete for a knock-out cup competition, the
FA WSL Continental Cup
The FA Women's League Cup is a league cup competition in England, English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since the WSL's restructuring to two divisions, it has featured 23 t ...
. For the
2014 season, the teams were placed into three regional groups of six. The group winners and best-performing runners-up all advanced to a knockout semi-finals. Since the
2015 season, the WSL Continental Cup have been played simultaneously with the league season.
Following a review, the FA announced in September 2017 that a restructuring of the league and its licensing criteria would follow from the 2017–18 season with a goal of a fully professional top division of between 8 and 14 teams, and a second division of up to 12 semi-professional teams.
For the 2018–19 season, the league became fully professional.
Clubs
The following twelve clubs compete in the 2022–23 season, with foundation clubs displayed in bold text.
Players
In the first season of the WSL clubs were subject to a squad cap of 20 players. This proved unpopular with both managers and players. Ahead of the 2012 season, the rule was reviewed and the cap increased to 23 players. Players from outside the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, like their male counterparts, are subject to
Home Office work permit regulations.
The FA said in April 2012 that the salary rule of allowing only four players per team to earn over £20,000 and the fact that all clubs are paid £70,000 per season from a Club Development Fund should limit any financial "imbalance" between clubs.
However, the introduction of a genuine
salary cap
In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...
remained under consideration for 2013 and beyond.
Doncaster manager
John Buckley revealed that his club lost
Rachel Williams
Rachel Williams (born April 29, 1967) is an American model, TV presenter, and landscape designer.
Early life
Williams is the daughter of architect Tod Williams and Patricia Agnes Jones, a dancer. Her parents divorced when she was five years ...
and other players to Birmingham City because he was working to a budget eight times smaller than that enjoyed by Birmingham.
When the 2012 WPS season was cancelled in the United States, Lincoln Ladies manager Glen Harris said that the next destination of that league's British players would be decided by "pounds, shillings and pence." Ultimately
Kelly Smith
Kelly Jayne Smith (born 29 October 1978) is an English former football forward who spent three spells with FA WSL club Arsenal Ladies. After moving to the United States, Smith broke records with Seton Hall University then played professionall ...
,
Alex Scott and
Gemma Davison
Gemma Suzanne Davison (born 17 April 1987) is an English footballer who plays as a winger. She has previously played for Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Reading whom she joined from Chelsea in 2018. After joining Arsenal at youth team level f ...
all joined Arsenal, while
Ifeoma Dieke
Ifeoma Nnenna Dieke (born 25 February 1981) is an American-born Scottish football defender, currently playing for Apollon Ladies F.C. of the Cypriot First Division. She previously played for several professional clubs in Sweden and the United S ...
and
Anita Asante joined the Swedish
Damallsvenskan
The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...
in preference to the WSL.
Champions
By season
Teams in just bold indicate
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* Th ...
s with the
Women's FA Cup
The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship rea ...
. Teams in bold and in ''italics'' indicate
trebles with the Women's FA Cup and
FA Women's League Cup
The FA Women's League Cup is a league cup competition in English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since the WSL's restructuring to two divisions, it has featured 23 teams. Pri ...
.
By team
Records
. All current WSL players are in bold.
Most appearances
Top scorers
Most clean sheets
Hall of Fame
In September 2021, the Women's Super League announced the first inductees into the Barclays FA WSL Hall of Fame, recognising significant individuals who have contributed to the growth of the women's game in England and the WSL.
Sponsorship
In March 2019, the Women's Super League agreed a multi-million sponsorship deal with British bank
Barclays from the start of the 2019–20 season. The three-year sponsorship deal is reported to be in excess of £10 million with a prize money pot of £500,000 for the league champions for the first time. The FA described the deal as "the biggest ever investment in UK women's sport by a brand".
The league's lead sponsor from 2012 to 2019 was Continental Tyres. Continental sponsored the FA's new commercial programme from 2014 to 2018 including the
England women's national football team
The England women's national football team, also known as the Lionesses, have been governed by the Football Association (FA) since 1993, having been previously administered by the Women's Football Association (WFA). England played its first i ...
,
FA Women's Cup
The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...
and the
FA WSL Continental Cup
The FA Women's League Cup is a league cup competition in England, English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since the WSL's restructuring to two divisions, it has featured 23 t ...
in addition to the WSL. During the 2011 season,
Yorkshire Building Society
Yorkshire Building Society is the third largest building society in the UK, with its headquarters in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is a member of the Building Societies Association.
The society also owns the Chelsea Building Society a ...
was also a sponsorship partner along with Continental.
Broadcasting
, matches are broadcast and streamed in the United Kingdom and Ireland via the FA Player, BT Sport, and the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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(UK only). Internationally, select matches are broadcast in at least 12 countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden, and the United States.
, online and red-button by the BBC (UK only), and via the league's Facebook page.
has continued to air one game a weekend digitally via their iPlayer service and website, while subscription channel
also holds the rights to televise a selection of matches.
Since the 2019–20 season, league matches have been streamed via the FA Player, as well as some
games. Some games in the FA Player are excluded, such as those broadcast on BT Sport in the UK and Ireland due to licensing rights.
In March 2021, the FA WSL announced a new record-breaking three-year domestic television rights deal with Sky Sports and BBC, beginning with the 2021–22 season. Sky would broadcast 44 matches per season with a further 22 matches shown on BBC platforms including a minimum of 18 on BBC One or Two. All other fixtures would remain available to stream for free on the FA Player, the governing body's own over
service. Believed to be worth around £8 million a season, it is the biggest broadcast deal of any professional women's football league in the world and marked the first time that the WSL's rights had been sold separately from the men's game.
Previously, FA women's competitions were broadcast on
from 2009 to 2013 as part of a four-year broadcast rights deal. Six live matches were broadcast in 2011 in addition to weekly highlights, with ten games expected to be shown in 2012.