Women's football in Wales is overseen by the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; ) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, its Wales women's national football team, correspo ...

and is affiliated with both the world (

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

) and European (

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

) football governing bodies. As such the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

are eligible to compete in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

and the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

. The winners of the top tier league is invited to join the qualifying stage of the Champions League.

History

Women's football first became popular in Wales during WW1. In March 1922, following complaints from religious congregations, the

also implemented a total ban. However, the ban was initially less comprehensive and less consistently applied than in England, with the Marquis of Bute authorising

Dick, Kerr Ladies F.C. Dick, Kerr Ladies Football Club was one of the earliest known women's association football teams in England. The team remained in existence for over 48 years, from 1917 to 1965, playing 755 games, winning 682, drawing 39, and losing 34. During i ...

to hold a charity match against Olympic de Paris just three weeks after the FAW announced the ban. The match, held at

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park (), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily a rugby union stadium, and also has a bowling green. It is situated in Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. The Arms Park was host to the 1958 British Empire and Common ...

, attracted an audience of 15,000 and raised funds for the restoration of

Reims Cathedral Notre-Dame de Reims (; ; meaning "Our Lady of Reims"), known in English as Reims Cathedral, is a Catholic cathedral in the French city of the same name, the seat of the Archdiocese of Reims. The cathedral was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and wa ...

. In 1939, the FAW instituted a stronger version of the ban, decreeing that "no football match in which any lady or ladies take part in any way whatsoever shall be permitted to be played on any football ground within the jurisdiction of this Association. Clubs, officials, players or referees are not permitted to associate themselves in any way whatsoever with Ladies Football matches." The ban was lifted on 29 May 1970, and the sport experienced a revival in the 1990s.

Domestic League

The

pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

in Wales consists of four tiers. The top two are run directly by the Welsh FA, whilst Tiers 3 and 4 are run by local FA's. Starting in 2009, the top level of domestic football was the

Welsh Premier Women's Football League The Adran Premier (, formerly the Welsh Premier Women's League), currently known for sponsorship reasons as Genero Adran Premier, is the highest level of league competition for women's football in Wales. Established in 2009, it is organised by th ...

. Below that, Tier 2 was split into Northern and Southern sections, the North Wales Women's Football League and South Wales Women's & Girls' League, respectively. Levels 3 and 4 were regionalised still further. The winner of the Premier League each season qualifies 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. ...

. Three teams have been crowned champions since: Cardiff Met. Ladies (6 times), Swansea City Ladies (6 times) and

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

(3 times). There is also a two-tier Under 19 Development system running parallel to the open age one. In 2021, a full restructure of the league system was announced. The new league system would be see the

Adran Premier The Adran Premier (, formerly the Welsh Premier Women's League), currently known for sponsorship reasons as Genero Adran Premier, is the highest level of league competition for women's football in Wales. Established in 2009, it is organised by th ...

become the top flight of women's football in Wales, with tier 2 remaining split into North and South sections,

Adran North The Adran Leagues (for sponsorship reasons called the Genero Adran Leagues) is the senior women's football league in Wales. Founded in 2009 as the Welsh Women's League, it rebranded in 2021 as the Adran Leagues. It consist of three divisions – t ...

and

Adran South The Adran Leagues (for sponsorship reasons called the Genero Adran Leagues) is the senior women's football league in Wales. Founded in 2009 as the Welsh Women's League, it rebranded in 2021 as the Adran Leagues. It consist of three divisions – t ...

respectively. Tiers 3 & 4 would remain regionalised and managed by the local FA. The

FAW Women's Cup The FA of Wales Women's Challenge Cup, better known as the Welsh Women's Cup is the national women's football cup competition for Wales. It is run by the Football Association of Wales. As Wales had no national league for women until the establ ...

is the premier national cup competition which was founded in 1992. The current holders from the 23/24 season are

after a 2-0 win in the final versus

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

A Premier League Cup was started in 2014. The restructure in 2021 saw the Premier League Cup be rebranded to the

Adran Trophy The Adran Leagues (for sponsorship reasons called the Genero Adran Leagues) is the senior women's football league in Wales. Founded in 2009 as the Welsh Women's League, it rebranded in 2021 as the Adran Leagues. It consist of three divisions – t ...

. The current holders from the 23/24 are

, after a 5-1 win in the final versus

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

National team

The

are affiliated with both

and

. Founded in 1973, they first entered the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

and

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men's UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between nationa ...

in 1995. They are yet to qualify for the final stages of either tournament, their best effort being during the attempt to reach the 2019 World Cup, when they came second in their group. In June 2018 they reached an all time high position of 29 in the

FIFA rankings The FIFA Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, first introduced in December 1992. The List of men's national football teams, men's teams of the member nations of FIFA, football's world governi ...

, in contrast to their lowest position of 57 in 2006. There are also national teams for women and girls at age restricted levels (under 19, under 17 etc.). As of November 2021 current internationals

Jess Fishlock Jessica Anne Fishlock (born 14 January 1987) is a Welsh professional footballer and coach who plays as a midfielder for Seattle Reign FC and the Wales national team. She is Wales’s all-time record goal scorer. She previously played for Br ...

and Helen Ward are the most capped and highest scoring senior national players in history. Wales qualified for their first major tournament Euro 2025.

References

{{Football in Wales

History

Domestic League

National team

See also

References