What is FA WSL

After the 2017-18 season, WSL 1 was renamed the FA Women’s Super League; the 2018-19 season became an 11-team professional league for the first time. From the 2014 season to the 2017-18 season, the Women’s Super League consisted of two divisions – FA WSL 1 and FA WSL 2 – and introduced a promotion and relegation system for the WSL. The FA WSL was initially scheduled to start in 2010 to replace the FA Women’s Super League National Division as England’s top division of women’s football but was delayed by a year due to the global economic downturn. 

The 12-team FA WSL enters its 10th season, with Chelsea currently possessing the championship trophy. The campaign runs from September to May, with Chelsea being the current league title holders. Each match comes with mounting pressure, as Chelsea could win the title by one point if they win the rest of the games. Next season, the champions and teams finishing second and third in the WSL will qualify for the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Operated by the Football Association (FA) and sponsored by Barclays, the league currently consists of 12 professional teams. There are 12 clubs in the Barclays Women’s Premier League, including established clubs such as Manchester United, top players such as Arsenal and US women’s football midfielder Tobin Heath.

Today, the English Football Association (FA) released an ambitious three-year game strategy for professional women to transform their two women’s football leagues – the Women’s Super League and the Women’s Champions League – into the best women’s league, ranking no. 1 in the World Sports League by 2024. The FA wants to have two leagues of 24-28 professional clubs competing in the world’s first sustainable women’s football league by 2030. Ensuring that the new wealth of the Women’s Super League does not encourage club recruitment, the FA hopes to introduce local rules, player protection and compensation to promote youth investment and to promote and support players looking to work in football.

Women’s football will reach a wider audience after the WSL negotiates TV deals with the BBC and Sky Sports. Sportsnet will broadcast 50 games of the regular season and the semi-finals and finals of the Women’s FA Cup. Now, young superstar Jesse Fleming can be seen across Canada as Sportsnet signed its deal to acquire exclusive national broadcast rights to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League (FA WSL), England’s top women’s soccer league. In September 2021, the Women’s Super League announced the first nominees for the Barclays FA WSL Hall of Fame, recognising outstanding individuals who have contributed to the development of women’s football in England and the WSL.