The Women's Championship (formerly The FA Women's Championship) is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The division was established in 2014 as the FA Women's Super League 2 (WSL 2).
 | |
| First season | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Promotion to | Women's Super League |
| Relegation to | National League North National League South |
| Domestic cup(s) | Women's FA Cup |
| League cup(s) | FA Women's League Cup |
| Current champions | Crystal Palace (1st title) (2023–24) |
| Most championships | Aston Villa, Sunderland, Reading, Yeovil Town, Doncaster Rovers Belles, Manchester United, Leicester City, Liverpool, Bristol City, Crystal Palace, (1 title each) |
| Website | womensleagues.thefa.com |
| Current: 2023–24 Women's Championship | |
WSL 2 replaced the previous level 2 division, the FA Women's Premier League (WPL) National Division, which ended after the 2012–13 season. The WPL's last national division champions, Sunderland A.F.C. Women, were not promoted and also became the first winners of WSL 2 in the 2014 season. In addition to Sunderland, other WPL clubs that joined WSL 2 in 2014 were Watford and Aston Villa.
From 2014 to 2016, WSL 2 ran a summer-based season calendar before reverting to the winter season in 2017–18, the same as WSL 1.
FA WSL 2 was renamed the FA Women's Championship prior to the 2018–19 season.[1] Ahead of the 2022–23 season the top two tiers unveiled a new visual identity, dropping "The FA" from the league names as part of the long term strategy for the leagues to be under new ownership in the future.[2] Having sponsored the first tier since the 2019–20 season, it marked the first season of Barclays as the title partner of the Women's Championship.[3]
In November 2023, all 24 Women's Super League and Women's Championship clubs had unanimously agreed to form a new organisation, named NewCo, to run the women's professional game in England, taking over from the FA.
For the 2023/24 season, changes were made meaning that two clubs would be relegated from the league allowing one team each from National League North and South to be promoted to the Championship rather than having to play a season end playoff. This change resulted in two teams being relegated from the Championship at the end of the season. No changes were made to promotion from the league to the WSL with still only one promotion and one relegation respectively. [4]
History
For the 2014 season, the FA Women's Super League was expanded to create a second division with nine new teams added and one team being relegated from the WSL 1. WSL 1 remained as eight teams, with one new team inserted, with the WSL 2 having ten teams.[5][6][7][8]
The new WSL 1 licence was awarded to Manchester City in 2014. Doncaster Rovers Belles were relegated to WSL 2, with nine new licences awarded to London Bees, Durham, Aston Villa, Millwall Lionesses, Yeovil Town, Reading, Sunderland, Watford, and Oxford United.[9] Doncaster Belles appealed against their demotion, but were unsuccessful.[10]
In December 2014, the FA WSL announced a two-year plan to expand WSL 1 from an eight to ten-team league. Two teams would be promoted from WSL 2, while one team would be relegated to WSL 2.[11][12] Also, for the first time, a team would earn promotion to WSL 2 from the Women's Premier League (now National League), effectively connecting the WSL to the rest of the English women's football pyramid.[13]
This left WSL 1 with nine teams and WSL 2 with ten teams for the 2016 season, and with the process repeated the following year, both WSL 1 and WSL 2 consisted of ten teams each for the 2017–18 season.[11] In addition to being able to prove their financial solvency, clubs applying for entry to the WSL had to show they would attract an average of 350 spectators in 2016, increasing to at least 400 in 2017.[14]
FA WSL 2 was renamed the Women's Championship prior to the 2018–19 season.[1]
In May 2020 the Championship season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] In 2022 the league was renamed to simply the Women's Championship, with the FA part being dropped.[16]
In November 2023, it was announced that all 24 Women's Super League and Women's Championship clubs had unanimously agreed to form a new organisation to run the women's professional game in England, taking over from the FA. The organization is called NewCo, and Nikki Doucet has been named CEO.[17][18]
Clubs
The following twelve clubs are competing in the 2023–24 season.
Winners
- Unless noted, only teams in first were promoted to the WSL.
Notes