Latest news with #WSL2
BBC News
23-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Ipswich Town Women to call Colchester home
Ipswich Town Women will play home games at Colchester's JobServe Community Stadium for the next two agreement will also see the club's men's under-21s play a number of games at the venue, which is 16 miles from Ipswich across the Essex border, in 2025/26 and 2026/ Women will play second-tier football for the first time in 2025/26 after winning promotion to the newly renamed WSL2 (Women's Super League 2) last season, having played home games at Felixstowe & Walton United for more than a deal will see upgrades to the pitch at the JobServe Community Stadium ahead of the new Harris, Town's Head of Women's Football, told the club website, external: "With the additional requirements and challenges following promotion to the second tier for the first time, it sadly wasn't possible to maintain the Martello as our home. We're excited to be playing our WSL2 games at Colchester, and we can't wait to welcome our fans to the stadium as we make the step up next season."Town Chairman Mark Ashton said: "We're excited for the possibilities available to us at Colchester and look forward to seeing as many of our fans there as possible supporting Joe Sheehan and his team."Following record crowds in each of the last two campaigns, the club intends to host the Women's team at Portman Road during the next campaign while work is continuing towards finding a permanent home in the Ipswich area.
eNCA
17-06-2025
- Business
- eNCA
England's top women's league to expand to 14 teams
LONDON - The English Women's Super League (WSL) is set to expand to 14 teams from 12 for the start of the 2026/27 season after the proposal was voted through by clubs on Monday. The changes still require the approval of the English Football Association but are expected to pass with a promotion/relegation play-off as part of the shake up to the women's game. Currently, just one club is relegated and one promoted each season. Next season the top two from the second tier WSL2 will be automatically promoted. Additionally, third-place in the WSL2 will face the team that finishes bottom in the top tier in a play-off. From the 2026/27 campaign, the one automatic relegation and promotion place will return with a play-off between second bottom in the WSL and second top in the second tier. "Subject to the approval from the FA board, expanding the WSL to 14 teams will stimulate movement between leagues and through the pyramid which increases opportunities," said Nikki Doucet, chief executive of Women's Professional Leagues Limited. "The introduction of a promotion/relegation play-off creates distinction for the women's game and introduces a high-profile, high-stakes match." Expansion is part of a 10-year plan to raise standards across the top two tiers of English women's football, focused on improved facilities, staffing and academies. According to financial experts Deloitte, collective revenues in the WSL rose 34 percent to £65 million ($88 million) in 2023/24 and are projected to reach £100 million in the upcoming season. However, Deloitte also found that average attendances across the league dipped by 10 percent last season to 6,642 as the surge in interest generated by England's Euro 2022 success faded.
BBC News
17-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Women's Super League set to expand from 12 to 14 teams
The Women's Super League (WSL) will be expanding from 12 teams to 14 from the start of the 2026-27 season, it's been announced. Currently the bottom WSL club are relegated and the WSL 2 winners are promoted but that is going to new rules aim to grow the league by allowing two extra teams to get complicated! But read on to find out more. How will it work next season in the WSL? Here's how the expansion will happen at the end of the next season - top two teams from the second tier, known as WSL 2, will automatically be promoted as part of the expansion. Also, the team that comes bottom of the WSL and the team that comes third in the WSL 2 will play each other, with the winner getting the final spot in the top league What will happen for the 2026-2027 WSL season? Once next season is over and the expansion is done, things will change again for the 2026-2027 you would expect, the WSL team that comes in last place will be automatically relegated and the team that comes top of the WSL 2 will be automatically promoted. But - there will one other big change. There will be a play-off match between the the WSL team in 13th position (second to bottom) and the team that comes second in the WSL 2. The winner of this match will then play in the WSL in 2027-2028. Nikki Doucet the boss of WSL Football said: "Over the past few months, WSL Football has led a thorough and robust, consultative process backed by research and analysis which explored multiple options that could drive the game forward and help it reach its potential," She said the changes would "stimulate movement between leagues" and "increase opportunities".The Football Association (FA) will now need to formally approve the proposed changes for the 2026-27 season by the 31 July 2025 before they can be officially introduced and before the next season starts.
The Guardian
17-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
How WSL's expansion to 14 teams will reshape the women's football pyramid
The announcement that the Women's Super League is to expand to 14 teams is welcome and long overdue. For years there has been a clamour for expansion and it was a matter of time before it happened, but how did we get here? The transfer of ownership of WSL and WSL2 last summer from the Football Association to WSL Football, in which the clubs are shareholders, prompted an in-depth analysis of the leagues' future. Every format and variation was on the table and explored, with fans, clubs and other stakeholders consulted. Some possibilities – such as a pause in relegation and promotion as the league expanded – were widely condemned after being reported. What has been settled on is a two-club expansion of the WSL from 2026-27, with WSL2 remaining a 12-team league. From then, the WSL's bottom club will be relegated and 13th will play off against the WSL2 runners-up for a top-tier spot. At the bottom of the second division, things remain the same, with two relegated and the champions of the Women's National League (WNL) North and South promoted, providing they meet the licensing criteria. This is a solid conclusion, the playoff adding extra jeopardy at the bottom of the WSL, an extra something to play for in WSL2, and a one-off showpiece game that will hopefully prove engaging audience-wise. In the interim 2025-26 season, which is needed to build a 14‑team WSL, things will get very interesting. Two teams will be promoted automatically from WSL2, and the WSL's bottom club will enter a playoff against third place in WSL2 for the final spot in the new top flight. That is a one-year pause in relegation by default, because it is unlikely the team third in WSL2 will beat the club bottom of the WSL, given upsets when teams from the leagues meet in cup competitions are extremely rare. For a single season this slight manipulation of the principle of promotion and relegation can be forgiven. At the bottom of WSL2 and top of the WNL, there will be a further one-off easing of the bottleneck, a process that started with the switch in the 2023-24 season from a single WNL promotion place to the WNL North and WNL South champions being promoted. Next season a third promotion spot will be available, a playoff between the runners-up from both leagues determining who joins the two league winners. Why will there be 14 teams and not 16 in the WSL? That is understood to be in part because research suggests the competitiveness of the league would be reduced should it expand further at present. There are also big issues with the international match calendar, which has seven international windows for the women's game and five for the men's. Meanwhile, WSL Football's player‑welfare‑centred ethos means an array of principles affect the number of match rounds available in the calendar, including a minimum six-week gap between a major tournament and new season, no midweek games after international windows, no more than two consecutive midweek fixtures, few midweek fixtures during the winter to allow for postponements and maintaining the winter break. However, further expansion has not been ruled out in the future and this is viewed as the first phase of the development of the leagues under WSL Football. Sign up to Moving the Goalposts No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football after newsletter promotion It is valid to ask why WSL2 is not expanding. However, given the two extra teams entering the WSL and the knock-on impact of three teams being promoted from the WNL next season, this feels like a reasonable move in the context of the changes being made to minimum standards in the division. With WSL2 becoming fully professional the financial demands on clubs in the division have ramped up. Blackburn have self-relegated out of the second tier to avoid having to meet the new requirements. Wolves failed to apply for a WSL2 licence despite the club being in a battle for promotion to the end of the season. These clubs have the financial resources to meet the minimum standards, and the onus is on those owners to step up and properly back their women's team. There will be hope that the extra incentive of a playoff place for the runners-up and the benefits of WSL football will encourage further investment and commitment, but there will be only so many clubs at this stage willing and ready to make the leap up into WSL2 and professionalism. Sustainable leagues and the integrity of the pyramid matter and it will be vital for WSL Football to build a strong relationship with the WNL, which is run by the FA, and WNL clubs to ensure that clubs facing promotion to WSL2 are able and willing to reach the minimum standards. That said, WSL2 clubs need more matches and moving towards expansion has to be a priority. Despite the hiccup around the potential scrapping of promotion and relegation and the fury that caused, WSL Football has settled on an, overall, solid solution to expanding the WSL and raising minimum standards across the top two tiers.
The Independent
17-06-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
What you need to know about Women's Super League expansion
The Women's Super League (WSL) will expand from 12 to 14 teams starting in the 2026/27 season, following a vote by WSL clubs. The top two teams from WSL 2 will be promoted next season, with a play-off between the third-placed WSL 2 team and the bottom WSL team to determine the final spot. After the initial expansion, a play-off format will continue, with the WSL 2 champion automatically replacing the bottom WSL team, and the second-best WSL 2 side facing the 13th-placed WSL team. A proposal to eliminate relegation was withdrawn after public criticism; the changes were approved after consulting players, fans, and stakeholders. The expansion plans are pending approval from the Football Association through its 'golden share,' following WSL Football's takeover of the league's management from the FA last season.
