FA Women's Super League

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FA WSL
Fa wsl.jpgTemplate: Infobox football competition / maintenance / logo format
Full name The FA Women's Super League
abbreviation FA WSL
Association The Football Association
First edition 2011
hierarchy 1st League
Teams 12
master Chelsea LFC
Record champions Arsenal LFC (3)
Website www.fawsl.com
Qualification for FA Women's Cup
FA WSL Continental Cup
UEFA Women's Champions League
↓ FA Women's Championship

The The Football Association Women's Super League (since the season 2019/20 "Barclays FA Women's Super League") is the highest football league for women's football crews of in England . The league temporarily consisted of two divisions, with the WSL1 acting as the higher one. This is organized by the English football association The Football Association and started playing in April 2011.

The league replaced the FA Women's Premier League , which was previously the highest league in English women's football and has been the association's third highest league since 2014. For the 2018/19 season, the FA Women's Premier League was renamed the "FA Women's National League". The WSL2 was introduced in 2014. There was a promotion and relegation regulation between these two divisions. However, no teams from the WSL2 relegated to the lower class Women's Premier League.

The official name The FA WSL and the associated logo were presented on November 19, 2010.

history

The league was originally supposed to start playing in 2010, but this was postponed by a year due to the economic crisis. 16 teams competed in advance for the new league: Arsenal WFC , Barnet FC Ladies, Birmingham City LFC , Bristol Academy WFC, Chelsea LFC , Colchester United, Doncaster Rovers Belles , Everton LFC, Leeds Carnegie , Leicester City WFC, Lincoln Ladies, Liverpool LFC, Millwall Lionesses, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland. Leeds Carnegie withdrew his application a little later. The Women's Premier League clubs Blackburn Rovers LFC and Watford LFC turned down applications.

For the 2014 season, the league was expanded to include a second division with ten teams. A team from WSL1 was transferred to WSL2. This means that there are two leagues within the FA WSL.

League format

Teams in the league
year WSL 1 WSL 2
2011-2013 8th -
2014-2015 8th 10
2016 9 10
2017/18 10 10
2018/19 11 -
2019/20 12 -

The WSL has consisted of twelve teams since the 2019/20 season. Until 2017/18 it was played in two levels. A change took place for the 2018/19 season. The previous WSL2 is now running as the FA Women's Championship with currently eleven teams. Until 2016, the season did not start in autumn and end in spring, as is usual with other English leagues, but rather over the summer months. Then, in 2017, a mid-season called "Spring Series" was added, in which each team only played against each other team once. In autumn 2017, both levels started the 2017/18 season.

Originally, the league was supposed to be professional, with the top four players on each team receiving a salary of £ 20,000 per year. In November 2010 it was announced that a semi-professional league would be established in which only a few players receive a salary. If the league turns out to be successful in the future, it should get professional status, according to the FA.

There was a system of promotion and relegation between WSL1 and WSL2. The WSL2 winner usually rose to WSL1, with the team relegated to the bottom of the WSL1 table in the second division. In 2016 and 2017 there should be a second promoted team to increase the number of teams in WSL1. In order to maintain the team strength of the WSL2, teams of the FA Women's Premier League can apply for admission.

Sponsors

The FA stated that it wanted to find a league sponsor by summer 2010. This did not succeed. In November 2010 the person in charge of the FA announced that he wanted to create a pool of sponsors. Shortly before the first season started, Continental AG was able to win a sponsor of the league. In 2013 this agreement was extended to 2018. This also includes sponsorship activities for the English women's national football team and the two competitions, the FA Women's Cup and the FA WSL Continental Cup.

In March 2019, the British bank Barclays was found as a name sponsor.

media

On December 8, 2009, the FA and the sports broadcaster ESPN UK agreed an exclusive partnership for the next four years. In addition to a weekly summary, there will also be up to five live games on the station.

In March 2013 it was announced that the British broadcaster BBC Two will broadcast Highlights of the FA WSL games in its program.

Teams

The following twelve teams are currently playing in the WSL:

team place Stadion Started
Arsenal WFC London Meadow Park 2011
Birmingham City LFC Birmingham Damson Park 2011
Brighton & Hove Albion Birmingham Damson Park 2018/19
Bristol City Bristol Stoke Gifford Stadium 2011
Chelsea LFC London Wheatsheaf Park 2011
Everton LFC Liverpool Halton Stadium 2011
Liverpool FC Women Birkenhead Prenton Park 2011
Manchester City WFC Manchester Manchester Regional Arena 2014
Manchester United Women Manchester Leigh Sports Village 2019/20
Reading High Wycombe Adams Park 2016
Tottenham Hotspur Canons Park The Hive Stadium 2019/20
West Ham United Romford Rush Green Stadium 2018/19

Championships with two league levels

WSL 1

season master Top scorer Gates
2011 Arsenal LFC Rachel Williams
Birmingham City LFC 		14th
2012 Arsenal LFC Kim Little
Arsenal LFC 		11
2013 Liverpool LFC Natasha Dowie
Liverpool LFC 		13
2014 Liverpool LFC Karen Carney
Birmingham City LFC 		11
2015 Chelsea LFC Beth Mead
Sunderland AFCL 		12
2016 Manchester City WFC Eniola Aluko
Chelsea LFC 		9
2017 Chelsea LFC Fran Kirby
Chelsea LFC 		6th
2017/18 Chelsea LFC Ellen White
Birmingham City 		15th

WSL 2

season master Top scorer Gates
2014 Sunderland AFC Ladies Francesca Kirby
Reading FCW 		24
2015 Reading FCW Courtney Sweetman-Kirk
Doncaster Rovers Belles 		20th
2016 Yeovil Town LFC Iniabasi Umotong
Oxford United LFC
Jo Wilson
London Bees 		13
2017 Everton LFC Courtney Sweetman-Kirk
Doncaster Rovers Belles 		9
2017/18 Doncaster Rovers Belles Jessica Sigsworth
Doncaster 		15th

Championships with one league level

season master Top scorer Gates
2018/19 Arsenal LFC Vivianne Miedema
Arsenal 		22nd
2019/20 Chelsea LFC Vivianne Miedema
Arsenal LFC 		16

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ shekicks.net ; FA Unveil New League Title And Logo
  2. ^ Tony Leighton: Anger at delay of women's summer Super League . In: The Guardian , April 6, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010. 
  3. ↑ Super League's Sixteen Applicants . In: Shekicks , January 7, 2010. Archived from the original on March 24, 2010. Retrieved on March 8, 2010. 
  4. ^ Tony Leighton: Leeds Carnegie could fold after ending Super League interest . In: The Guardian , January 25, 2010. Retrieved March 8, 2010. 
  5. ^ Rovers decide against Super League . In: Blackburn Rovers , January 20, 2010. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved on March 8, 2010. 
  6. ^ Tony Leighton: FA to launch full-time professional Women's Super League in 2011 . In: The Guardian , November 1, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010. 
  7. ↑ a b Tony Leighton: FA confident 'Super League' will not suffer financial meltdown . In: The Guardian , November 14, 2010. Retrieved November 23, 2010. 
  8. ↑ Two promotion spots in 2015! FA announce that two WSL2 teams will be promoted next season. December 2, 2014, accessed August 30, 2015 .
  9. ↑ bbc.com: Women's Super League: Barclays agree multi-million sponsorship deal
  10. ^ FA agree Cup deal with ESPN . In: The Football Association , December 8, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2010. 
  11. ↑ Season ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic