The Odisha Women's League (OWL), also known as the FAO Women's League, is the women's top division

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

, India. The league is among the existing top tier women's football leagues in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The league is organised every year by the apex football governing body of

, the

Football Association of Odisha Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' generally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

(FAO), in association with the Department of Sports and Youth Services (DSYS) of the

Government of Odisha The Government of Odisha and its Districts of Odisha, 30 districts consists of an executive branch, executive, led by the List of Governors of Odisha, Governor of Odisha, a judiciary, and a legislative branch. Like other states in India, the ...

. It is currently contested by 6 clubs across the state. Since the inception of the Odisha Women's League, a total of four clubs have been crowned champions.

East Coast Railway The East Coast Railway (abbreviated as ECoR) is one of the 19 railway zones of Indian Railways. It came into existence on 01-April-2003. It headquarters are located at . History Consequent upon the parliament's approval, East Coast Railway wa ...

and

Rising Students Club Rising Students Club is a professional multisports club based in Cuttack, Odisha, India. The club plays in the FAO League, the fourth tier of Indian football and top tier of Odisha state football. It played in the Indian Women's League, the t ...

have won the most titles in league history, being crowned champions thrice. Chand Club,

Odisha Police The Odisha Police, abbreviated either as OP or OPS, is the law enforcement agency for the state of Odisha in India. It is headquartered in Cuttack, the former capital of Odisha. The Odisha Police is headed by a Director General of Police, curr ...

, and SAI-STC have won it once.

History

Odisha Women's League was brought up as AT Group Women's Football League in the year 2011 as Odisha's premier level women's football league. The

(FAO) introduced the league system to provide a platform for women to showcase their footballing abilities. The league system eventually continued to be a hit among the footballing enthusiasts of

. Footballing talents from the FAO Women's League are recruited in the

Odisha women's football team The Odisha women's football team (), earlier the Orissa women's football team, is an Indian women's football team representing the state of Odisha, India. The Football Association of Odisha, a state association of All India Football Federation, ...

, and eventually in

India women's national football team The India women's national football team represents India at women's international Association football, football competitions and is governed by the All India Football Federation. Under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and governed in Asia by ...

. On 27 February 2021, during the press meet and jersey launch ceremony for the 2020-21 season, the league was rechristened as ''Odisha Women's League''. The Department of Sports and Youth Services Principal Secretary and Honorary Secretary of Football Association of Odisha (FAO) attended the ceremony at

Kalinga Stadium The Kalinga Stadium is a Multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose international sports complex in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Its foundation stone was laid by then chief minister of Odisha Biju Patnaik in 1978. It is best known as the home ground ...

Venues

Bhubaneswar

* Capital High School Ground (Capital Football Arena) * OSAP 7th Battalion Ground (Odisha Football Academy Ground) * Unit-1 Ground (Bhubaneswar Football Academy Ground)

Cuttack

Barabati Stadium The Barabati Stadium is an Indian sports stadium used mostly for cricket and association football, and also sometimes for concerts and field hockey, located in Cuttack, Odisha. It is a regular venue for international cricket and is the home gr ...

* Odisha Police Ground * Ravenshaw University Ground * Sports Hostel Ground

Choudwar

* OTM Ground

Clubs

Championships

Championships by team

References

{{Sports leagues of India Regional Women's Football leagues in India Odisha Women's League Football in Odisha Sports competitions in Odisha Sports leagues established in 2011 2011 establishments in Odisha