| Date | R | Home vs Away | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/01 12:00 | 7 |
Chelsea (W) vs London City Lionesses (W)
|
View |
| 11/01 12:00 | 7 |
Man City (W) vs West Ham (W)
|
View |
| 11/02 12:00 | 7 |
Leicester (W) vs Arsenal (W)
|
View |
| 11/02 12:00 | 7 |
Tottenham (W) vs Liverpool (W)
|
View |
| 11/02 12:00 | 7 |
Brighton (W) vs Man Utd (W)
|
View |
| 11/02 12:00 | 7 |
Aston Villa (W) vs Everton (W)
|
View |
| 11/08 12:00 | 8 |
Man Utd (W) vs Aston Villa (W)
|
View |
| 11/08 12:00 | 8 |
Arsenal (W) vs Chelsea (W)
|
View |
| 11/09 11:55 | 8 |
London City Lionesses (W) vs Tottenham (W)
|
View |
| 11/09 12:00 | 8 |
Liverpool (W) vs Brighton (W)
|
View |
| 11/09 12:00 | 8 |
West Ham (W) vs Leicester (W)
|
View |
| 11/09 14:30 | 8 |
Everton (W) vs Man City (W)
|
View |
| Date | R | Home vs Away | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10/12 15:45 | 6 |
[11] Liverpool (W) vs Man City (W)
[3]
|
1-2 |
| 10/12 13:30 | 6 |
[6] Arsenal (W) vs Ipswich Knights
[7]
|
1-0 |
| 10/12 11:00 | 6 |
[1] Chelsea (W) vs Tottenham (W)
[3]
|
1-0 |
| 10/12 11:00 | 6 |
[7] London City Lionesses (W) vs West Ham (W)
[12]
|
1-0 |
| 10/12 11:00 | 6 |
[8] Aston Villa (W) vs Leicester (W)
[10]
|
0-0 |
| 10/12 11:00 | 6 |
[9] Everton (W) vs Man Utd (W)
[4]
|
1-4 |
| 10/05 10:55 | 5 |
[12] West Ham (W) vs Aston Villa (W)
[10]
|
0-2 |
| 10/05 10:55 | 5 |
[9] London City Lionesses (W) vs Liverpool (W)
[11]
|
1-0 |
| 10/05 10:55 | 5 |
[4] Tottenham (W) vs Brighton (W)
[6]
|
1-0 |
| 10/05 10:55 | 5 |
[8] Leicester (W) vs Selfless Female
[7] |
1-1 |
| 10/04 11:00 | 5 |
[3] Man City (W) vs Arsenal (W)
[5]
|
3-2 |
| 10/03 18:30 | 5 |
[2] Man Utd (W) vs Chelsea (W)
[1]
|
1-1 |
The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently operated by WSL Football, the league was established in 2010 by the Football Association (FA) and features twelve fully professional teams. 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. After the 2024–25 season, it was rebranded once again and is now known as the Women's Super League 2.
The WSL champions, runners-up and third-placed team qualify for the UEFA Women's Champions League the following season. Since its inception, four clubs have won the title: Chelsea (8), Arsenal (3), Liverpool (2) and Manchester City (1). The current WSL champions are Chelsea, who won their record-extending eighth title in the 2024–25 season, as well as their sixth consecutive title.
The FA WSL was due to start in 2010 to replace the FA Women's Premier League National Division as the top level of women's football in England but was deferred for a year due to the global economic downturn. Sixteen clubs applied for 8 places in the inaugural season of the league: Arsenal, Barnet, Birmingham City, Bristol Academy, Chelsea, Colchester United, Doncaster Rovers Belles, Everton, Leeds Carnegie, Leicester City, Lincoln Ladies, Liverpool, Millwall Lionesses, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, and Sunderland. Leeds Carnegie later withdrew their application. Women's Premier League clubs Blackburn Rovers and Watford declined to apply. FA Chief Executive Ian Watmore described the creation of the league as a "top priority" in February 2010.
The inaugural WSL season kicked off on 13 April 2011 at Imperial Fields, Chelsea's home ground, with a match between Chelsea and Arsenal, which Chelsea lost 1–0.
For the 2014 season, a second division was created named FA WSL 2, with nine teams and one team being relegated from the WSL 1. WSL 1 remained as eight teams, with the WSL 2 having ten teams. The new WSL 1 licence was awarded to Manchester City. Doncaster Rovers Belles were relegated to the WSL 2. They appealed against their demotion but were unsuccessful.
In December 2014, the FA WSL announced a two-year plan to expand the WSL 1 from an eight to a ten-team league. Two teams were promoted from the WSL 2 at the end of the 2015 season, while one team was relegated to the WSL 2 with the same happening at the end of the 2016 season. Also, for the first time, a team from the FA Women's Premier League earned a promotion to WSL 2, effectively connecting the WSL to the rest of the English women's football pyramid.
The FA announced in July 2016 that the league would move from a summer league format to a winter league, in line with the traditional football calendar in England, with matches played from September to May the following year. A shortened bridging season took place, branded as the FA WSL Spring Series, with teams playing each other once from February to May 2017.
Following the 2017–18 FA WSL season, WSL 1 was renamed back to the FA Women's Super League, becoming a fully professional league for the first time, with eleven teams for the 2018–19 season. Teams had to re-apply for their licence to earn their place in the league, requiring clubs to offer their players a minimum 16-hour a week contract and to form a youth academy as compulsory for the new licence criteria. Sunderland was moved down to tier 3 in the women's football pyramid after not receiving a licence whilst Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United were added to the league.
The league was extended to twelve teams for the 2019–20 season, with Yeovil Town relegated after going into administration and being replaced by Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, who gained promotion from the Championship.
In May 2020, the league was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Chelsea were declared champions of the season based on a points-per-game average.
At the conclusion of the 2020–21 season, four first-team managers resigned from their positions at WSL clubs Birmingham, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Aston Villa. Birmingham's outgoing manager Carla Ward questioned the commitment of some of the clubs involved in WSL, whilst Manchester United's outgoing manager Casey Stoney allegedly quit because of unresolved issues surrounding lack of training facilities and other infrastructure.
In November 2023, all 24 Women's Super League and Women's Championship clubs unanimously agreed to form a new organisation to run the women's professional game in England, taking over from the FA. The organisation was named NewCo, and Nikki Doucet was named CEO. Starting with the 2024–25 season, the company was known as Women's Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL). After the season, the organisation rebranded once again and is now known as WSL Football.
In June 2025, it was announced that the WSL would expand to 14 teams from the 2026–27 season onwards. As a result, the 2025–26 Women's Super League 2 season will directly promote two teams, while the bottom side WSL team will play in a promotion/relegation play-off against the third-placed WSL 2 side.