The North West Women's Regional Football League (NWWRFL) is one of the eight English regional leagues comprising the fifth and sixth tiers of the English women's football pyramid. The other seven leagues are the

North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, L ...

, West Midlands,

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

, London and South East,

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

and

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

. The NWWRFL includes teams from several counties in the north west of England. Broadly, these are

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

. The league has two levels: the tier five Premier Division and, split geographically, the tier six Division One North and Division One South. The Premier Division has promotion into the FA Women's National League Division One (tier four). Division One North and Division One South have relegation into four county leagues (all tier seven): Cheshire Women's & Youth Football League Premier Division; Greater Manchester Women's Football League Premier Division; Lancashire FA Women's County League Division One; and Liverpool Women's & Youth Football League Division One.

History

The league was founded in 1989, with the merger of the Greater Manchester and Merseyside League, the North West Women's League, and the Three Counties League. On formation, it had 42 teams, spread over four divisions. The former

Women's Football Association The Women's Football Association (WFA) was the governing body of women's football in England. It was formed in 1969 and was disbanded in 1993, as responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the game of women's football in England passed to Th ...

(WFA) was established in 1969, independently of

the FA The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

. While progress was made at the national and international levels, grassroots development was hindered by lack of funding and, by 1993, there were only 80 girls' teams nationwide, including some in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

and

Manchester 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 Salford to the west. The ...

. In 1993, the WFA disbanded as governance of women's football was accepted by the FA. Among the FA's priorities were, as in men's football, to develop a pyramid system of leagues throughout the country and to establish regional governance by county associations. These include the

Lancashire County Football Association The Lancashire County Football Association, also known simply as the Lancashire FA, is the governing body of football within the historical county boundaries of Lancashire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of foot ...

which, in 1996, established the Lancashire FA Women's County League, originally known as the Lancashire FA Girls League. As the number of teams and local leagues grew, the women's pyramid was restructured and the North West Women's Regional Football League was formally reconstituted in 2003. Growth was boosted by affiliation of women's teams to professional clubs – for example, when the NWWRFL began in 2003–04, the Premier Division included teams affiliated to Bury,

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, all members of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

. Originally, the NWWRFL had four levels – a Premier Division and three lower levels called Divisions One, Two and Three – with promotion and relegation in between. The Premier Division had promotion into the former Northern Combination Women's Football League. The league's inaugural season was 2003–04 when the Premier Division champions were Preston North End WFC, who were unbeaten in their 17 matches. There were ten founder members of the Premier Division: AFC Darwen Ladies, Bolton Wanderers Ladies, Bury FC Women, Chorley Women FC, Hopwood Ladies, Liverpool Feds, Preston North End WFC, Stretford Victoria, Warrington Town Ladies and Witton Albion Ladies. In 2005, the NWWRFL's structure was changed from four levels to two by the combination of the old Divisions One, Two and Three into Division One North and Division One South, which are both in level six of the pyramid and split geographically. During the 2000s, there was further reorganisation of women's football at county level and, in addition to the tier seven Lancashire League, others were established in

, and

. The top divisions of these four leagues have promotion into NWWRFL Divisions One North and One South. The Premier Division was unchanged in 2005 and is now a level five league with promotion into the level four FA Women's National League Division One. It is one of eight level five leagues nationally, the others being the

, West Midlands,

, London and South East,

and

. The NWWRFL's first season as a two-level structure was 2005–06 in which the Premier Division champions were Stretford Victoria. The first winners of Division One North and South were Saint Domingo's (based in

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which ...

, Liverpool) and AFC Urmston Meadowside (based in Davyhulme, Manchester) respectively. The league's 2019–20 season was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and all matches were declared null and void. The 2020–21 season began but, after more Covid-related disruption, it was curtailed on 16 March 2021 with no titles, promotions or relegations. For the 2021–22 season, the league has been enlarged from 30 to 34 clubs as both Division One North and South now have twelve members.

2021–22 teams

Premier Division

There are ten teams (with venues in parentheses) in the Premier Division with a geographical spread covering Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside: * AFC Darwen Ladies (Anchor Road,

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the s ...

) * Cheadle Town Stingers (Park Road, Cheadle; formerly Manchester Stingers) * Crewe Alexandra Ladies (Cumberland Arena, Thomas Street,

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

) * Fleetwood Town Wrens (Poolfoot Farm, Butts Road, Thornton-Cleveleys) * Merseyrail Ladies (Admiral Park, Admiral Street,

; formerly Merseyrail Bootle) * Mossley Hill Athletic Ladies (Mossley Hill Road, Liverpool) * Salford City Lionesses (Partington Sports Village, Chapel Lane,

) * Tranmere Rovers Ladies (Ellesmere Port Sports Village, Stanney Lane,

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...

) * West Didsbury & Chorlton Ladies (Step Places Stadium, Brookburn Road,

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the city centre. Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the 2011 census, and Chorlton Park 15,147. By the 9th century, there was an Anglo-Saxon settlement her ...

) * Wigan Athletic Ladies & Girls (Billinge FC, Barrows Farm, Carr Mill Road, Billinge) This division also had ten teams in the aborted 2020–21 season, including eight of the above. The other two were FC United of Manchester Women, who gained promotion to the FA Women's National League Division One North via the FA's application process; and Morecambe Ladies First, who were unable to raise a team for 2021–22. They were replaced by Salford City Lionesses, promoted from Division One South; and AFC Darwen Ladies, promoted from Division One North.

Division One North

Division One North has twelve teams from Cumbria and Lancashire: * Accrington Stanley Community Trust Ladies (Thorneyholme Road,

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

) * Blackburn Community Sports Club Ladies (Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Lammack Road,

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

) * Blackpool FC Ladies (HASSRA Sports Pavilion, Anchorsholme Lane East, Thornton-Cleveleys) * Carlisle United Ladies (Creighton Rugby Club, Sycamore Lane, Parkland,

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

) * Chorley Women FC (Horwich St Mary's FC, Scholes Bank, Horwich,

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

) * Haslingden St Mary's Ladies & Girls (Valley Leadership Academy, Fearns Moss,

Bacup Bacup ( , ) is a town in the Rossendale Borough in Lancashire, England, in the South Pennines close to Lancashire's boundaries with West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. The town is in the Rossendale Valley and the upper Irwell Valley, east of ...

) * Morecambe Ladies Reserves (Vale of Lune RUFC, Powderhouse Lane, Lancaster) * Penrith AFC Ladies (Frenchfield Park, Carleton Road, Penrith) * Penwortham Town Ladies (Vernon's Sports Club, Factory Lane,

Penwortham Penwortham () is a town in South Ribble, Lancashire, England, on the south bank of the River Ribble facing the city of Preston. The town is at the most westerly crossing point of the river, with major road and rail links crossing it here. T ...

) * Preston North End Women's FC (Penwortham Priory Academy, Crow Hills Road,

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

) * Sir Tom Finney FC Ladies (UCLAN Sports Arena #1, Tom Benson Way, Cottam, Preston) * Workington Reds Ladies (St Benedict's School 3G, Red Lonning,

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It i ...

) This division had ten teams in the aborted 2020–21 season, including nine of the above. AFC Darwen Ladies were promoted to the Premier Division for 2021–22 and the three new teams are Accrington, Chorley and Haslingden St Mary's.

Division One South

Division One South has twelve teams from Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Staffordshire: * Alder FC Women (Alder Sports Club, Alder Road, Liverpool) * Altrincham FC Women (Manor Farm Complex, Ridgeway Road, Timperley,

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

) * Chester FC Women (Ellesmere Port Sports Village 3G, Stanney Lane,

) * Curzon Ashton FC Women (Armitage Centre, Moseley Road,

Fallowfield Fallowfield is a suburb of Manchester, England, with a population at the 2011 census of 15,211. Historically in Lancashire, it lies south of Manchester city centre and is bisected east–west by Wilmslow Road and north–south by Wil ...

) * Didsbury FC Ladies (Didsbury Sports Ground, Simons Fields, Ford Lane, Manchester) * Hindley Juniors Women (Hindley Juniors FC, Park Lane, Hindley,

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

) * Mersey Valley Ladies (Mersey Valley Sports Club, Banky Lane,

Ashton upon Mersey Ashton upon Mersey is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 9,693 at the 2011 census. It lies on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. Historically pa ...

) * Northwich Vixens (Park Stadium, Manchester Road, Lostock Gralam,

Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

) * Runcorn Linnets FC Ladies (Millbank Linnets Stadium, Murdishaw Avenue,

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

) * Warrington Wolves Foundation Women (Tetley Walker Recreation Ground, Long Lane,

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

) * West Kirby Ladies (Marine Park, Greenbank Road,

West Kirby West Kirby is a resort town on the north-west corner of the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, England, at the mouth of the River Dee. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, to the north-east lies Hoylake, to the east Grange ...

) * Wythenshawe Amateurs Women (Hollyhedge Park, Altrincham Road,

Sharston Sharston is an area of Wythenshawe, south Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 16,754. History Built on former farming land (as was most of Wythenshawe when the estate was first being built in the 1920s), the area was i ...

) This division had ten teams in the aborted 2020–21 season, including nine of the above. Salford City Lionesses were promoted to the Premier Division for 2021–22 and the three new teams are Alder FC, Hindley Juniors and Mersey Valley Ladies.

Champions

The league began in the 2003–04 season with four divisions which were reduced to two before the 2005–06 season. Since then, the structure has been a Premier Division (tier five) and a Division One (tier six) which is itself geographically partitioned into North and South sub-divisions. Some of the teams listed below were short-lived and are now defunct.

References

External links

North West Football Trust
{{Women's football in England 5