The , officially the , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top flight of

women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known simply as women's football or women's soccer, is a team sport of association football when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries and 176 national te ...

in Japan, starting from the 2021–22 season. It is the first fully-professional women's soccer league in Japan.

History

On 3 June 2020, the

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football, futsal, beach soccer and efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the national team, as well as club competitions. History The organisat ...

(JFA) announced the formation of the WE League to become Japan's new top-flight, professional women's football league. The semi-professional

Nadeshiko League The , commonly known as the , is a semi-professional women's association football Sports league, league in Japan. The Nadeshiko League consists of two divisions that correspond to the second and third levels of the Japanese association football ...

would become the second level on the women's football pyramid in Japan once the WE League begins play in the autumn of 2021. United States-based business executive and former Japan international footballer Kikuko Okajima was announced as the WE League's inaugural chairwoman. 17 clubs applied to join the WE League; eight to ten of them would be admitted and the results to be announced in October 2020. On 15 October 2020, 11 clubs were announced as founding members of the WE League, including seven with

J. League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most succe ...

affiliations.

Competition format

The WE League's inaugural season in 2021–22 features 11 teams playing a double round-robin, home-and-away competition. Unlike the

, the WE League will play a

winter season Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures d ...

that conforms with most European leagues. Similar to the American National Women's Soccer League, there will be no relegation from the WE League to the

, but teams may be promoted from the latter in the first several seasons for the WE League to reach a desired number of teams. Each team in the WE League must have at least five players signed to fully professional contracts that are not subject to a salary cap. In addition to bringing professionalism to Japanese women's football, the WE League also implemented measures to bringing in international players. The JFA subsidizes salaries for players from Southeast Asian member federations, while the league itself subsidizes players from top-ranked FIFA countries. The league actively recruits players from top-ranked federations such as France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States, and it also provides additional subsidies to encourage internationalization for expenses such as interpreters.

Clubs

2022–23 season

The following 11 clubs will be competing in the WE League during its inaugural, 2022–23 season.

List of winners

Sponsorship

Title partner

Gold partner/grassroots partner

Silver partner

Official broadcasting partner

Official equipment partner

Official ticketing partner

References

External links

WE League – official website
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Japan Football Association (JFA)
{{Football in Japan

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

1 Football leagues in Japan Sports leagues in Japan Professional sports leagues in Japan WE League