FA Women's National League
Founded | 1992 |
---|---|
Country | England |
Confederation | UEFA (Europe) |
Divisions | 6 |
Number of teams | 72 |
Level on pyramid | 3–4 |
Promotion to | FA Women's Championship (since 2015) |
Relegation to | Regional Leagues |
Domestic cup(s) |
FA Women's Cup FA Women's National League Cup FA Women's Premier League Plate |
Most championships | Arsenal (12 titles) |
Website | thefa.com/wpl |
|
The FA Women's National League is a Football Association-branded league and is run by an elected management committee. It sits at step 3 and 4 of the Women's Pyramid of Football pyramid in England, supporting and underpinning the Women's Super League (WSL) and the Women's Championship.
Name
It was known as the 'Women's Premier League' prior to the 2018–19 season.[1]
Format
The Women's National League consists, as of 2017–18, of 2 tier 3 divisions, the Northern Division and the Southern Division, and four tier 4 divisions: Northern Division 1, Midlands Division 1, South East Division 1, and South West Division 1. In the 2017–18 season, 70 teams competed in the 6 divisions of the Women's Premier League, 12 in each division except South West Division 1.
From its foundation in 1992–93 through until 2012–13, the league was run in a pyramid format, with the FA Women's Premier League National Division at the top, and the Northern and Southern divisions running on an equal basis underneath the National Division. The winners of these leagues each season were promoted to the National Division. The terms Women's Premiership and Ladies Premiership were generally used for the National Division only. The National Division had been the top tier of women's football on its foundation, but was demoted after the creation of the FA Women's Super League in 2011.[2] Following the 2012–13 season, the National Division was scrapped due to the FA's decision to add a second division to the WSL for the 2014 season – WSL 2. (Note that the WSL is a summer league, as opposed to the Premier League's winter format.)
For the 2014/15 season, the Premier League was restructured to have a second level. To accomplish this, the four Combination Women's Football Leagues were incorporated as the Premier League's new Division 1. At level 3 in the pyramid now is the Northern and Southern division; a level below are four groups of Division 1 leagues: Northern, Midlands, South-East and South-West.
In addition, the winners of the Northern and Southern Divisions would play each other in a one-off play-off at a neutral venue for an opportunity to be promoted into the WSL, the first instance of promotion between the WPL and the WSL. This play-off was contested between Portsmouth F.C. Ladies and Sheffield F.C. Ladies at Stratford FC's ground, with the latter winning through a stoppage time goal. For the 2015/16 season, there will again be a play-off between the champions of the Southern and Northern divisions.
Champions
Below is a list of National Division champions and Premier League winners up to 2012-13. The Premier League was run by the Women's Football Association for its first two seasons before being taken over by the FA from the 1993–94 season. (Similarly, the Women's FA Cup, which dates from 1970, was run by the Women's Football Association from 1970–71 to 1992–93 inclusive, and was taken over by the FA from the 1993–94 season.)
National Division Champions
Season | Premier League winners and English champions |
---|---|
1991–92 | Doncaster Belles |
1992–93 | Arsenal |
1993–94 | Doncaster Belles |
1994–95 | Arsenal |
1995–96 | Croydon WFC |
1996–97 | Arsenal |
1997–98 | Everton |
1998–99 | Croydon WFC |
1999–00 | Croydon WFC |
2000–01 | Arsenal |
2001–02 | Arsenal |
2002–03 | Fulham |
2003–04 | Arsenal |
2004–05 | Arsenal |
2005–06 | Arsenal |
2006–07 | Arsenal |
2007–08 | Arsenal |
2008–09 | Arsenal |
2009–10 | Arsenal |
Season | Premier League winners |
2010–111 | Sunderland |
2011–12 | Sunderland |
2012–132 | Sunderland |
- 1 First season without the top teams, as FA WSL became top tier of women's football.
- 2 Last season of a single national division.
Croydon W.F.C. changed their name to Charlton Athletic in the summer of 2000, and competed as Charlton Athletic for 2000–01 and subsequent seasons.
Regional Division Champions
Following the incorporation of the Women's Combination Leagues into the Women's Premier League in 2014, the Women's Premier League consisted of an additional four regional leagues below the Northern and Southern Divisions:
Season | Northern Division One | Midland Division One | Southeast Division One | Southwest Division One |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014–15 | Guiseley AFC Vixens | Loughborough Foxes | C & K Basildon | Forest Green Rovers |
2015–16 | Middlesbrough L.F.C. | Leicester City W.F.C. | Crystal Palace | Swindon Town |
*Due to the formation of the WSL, Cardiff City and Coventry City were also promoted to the National Division after finishing runners-up in the Southern and Northern Divisions respectively.
From the 2014–15 season onwards, the club promoted to FA WSL (via a play-off between the Northern and Southern division champions), and overall champions of the FA WPL, are marked in bold.
Cup competitions
The main cup competition of the WPL is the FA Women's Premier League Cup, a knock-out competition involving all of the teams within each of the six divisions that make up the WPL. Due to the changing structure of women's football, this competition has historically varied from a straight knock-out competition to a competition with a preliminary group stage before reaching the knock-out stage.
From the 2014/15 season, the FA Women's Premier League Plate was introduced. Within the current structure of the Women's Premier League Cup, each of the teams compete in the preliminary round. The losers of this round then compete for the FA Women's Premier League Plate.
Sponsorship
- AXA (until 2004)
- Nationwide Building Society (2004–2007)
- Tesco (2007–present)
Clubs
Seventy-two clubs throughout England and Wales compete in the Women's Premier League, with six divisions of twelve teams, though this number has varied historically due to the changing structure of women's football. Following the formation of the FA Women's Super League, the number of clubs competing in the national division decreased from 12 to 8. Likewise the number of teams in both the Northern and Southern Divisions decreased from 12 to 10, resulting in the total number of team's in the Women's Premier League decreasing from 36 to 28.
Following the expansion of the WSL with the addition of a second division, the National League was abolished. As a result, both the Southern and Northern Divisions increased to 11 teams each. Several clubs which had previously been competing in the National Division were moved into the Southern Division including Charlton Athletic, Cardiff City, Portsmouth and Coventry United (formerly Coventry City).
For the 2014/15 season, the Combination Leagues were incorporated into the newly rebranded FA Women's Premier League, as a result, the WPL now consisted of 72 teams in 6 divisions.