Women's Super League
Association football league in England / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Women's Super League (WSL), known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features twelve fully professional teams.
Founded | March 2010; 14 years ago (2010-03) Displaced Premier League National as level 1 division |
---|---|
First season | 2011 |
Country | England |
Confederation | UEFA |
Number of teams | 12 |
Level on pyramid | 1 |
Relegation to | Women's Championship |
Domestic cup(s) | Women's FA Cup |
League cup(s) | FA Women's League Cup |
International cup(s) | UEFA Champions League |
Current champions | Chelsea (6th title) (2022–23) |
Most championships |
|
Most appearances | Sophie Ingle (189) |
Top goalscorer | Vivianne Miedema (79) |
TV partners | Sky Sports BBC Sport see broadcasting for international |
Website | womensleagues.thefa.com |
Current: 2023–24 Women's Super League |
The league replaced the FA Women's Premier League National Division as the highest level of women's football in England, with eight teams competing in the inaugural 2011 season. In the WSL's first two seasons, there was no relegation from the division.
The WSL discarded the winter football season for six years, between 2011 and 2016, playing through the summer instead (from March until October). Since 2017–18, the WSL has operated as a winter league running from September to May, as was traditional before 2011.
From 2014 to 2017–18, the Women's Super League consisted of two divisions – FA WSL 1 and FA WSL 2 – and brought a promotion and relegation system to the WSL. Ahead of the 2018–19 season, the second division was renamed the FA Women's Championship.
The WSL champions, runners-up and third-placed team qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League the following season. The current Women's Super League champions are Chelsea, who won their sixth title in the 2022–23 season.
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.