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FA Women's Championship
FA Women's Championship
Country England England
Founded 2014
Number of teams 12
Promotion to FA Women's Super League
Relegation to National League North
National League South
Levels on pyramid 2
Domestic cup(s) FA Women's Cup
FA Women's League Cup
Current champions Bristol City (1st title) (2022–23)
Website Official website
Football current event 2023–24

The Women's Championship (formerly The FA Women's Championship) is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The division was established in 2014 as the FA Women's Super League 2 (WSL 2).

WSL 2 replaced the previous level 2 division, the FA Women's Premier League (WPL) National Division, which ended after the 2012–13 season. The WPL's last national division champions, Sunderland A.F.C. Women, were not promoted and also became the first winners of WSL 2 in the 2014 season. In addition to Sunderland, other WPL clubs that joined WSL 2 in 2014 were Watford and Aston Villa.

From 2014 to 2016, WSL 2 ran a summer-based season calendar before reverting to the winter season in 2017–18, the same as WSL 1.

FA WSL 2 was renamed the Women's Championship prior to the 2018–19 season. In 2022 the league was again renamed to its current one.

History[]

For the 2014 season the FA Women's Super League was expanded to create a second division with nine new teams added and one team being relegated from the WSL 1. WSL 1 remained as eight teams, with one new team inserted, 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, with nine new licences awarded to London Bees, Durham, Aston Villa, Millwall Lionesses, Yeovil Town, Reading, Sunderland, Watford, and Oxford United. Doncaster Belles appealed against their demotion, but were unsuccessful.

In December 2014, the FA WSL announced a two-year plan to expand WSL 1 from an eight to ten-team league. Two teams will be promoted from WSL 2, while one team will be relegated to WSL 2. Also, for the first time, a team from the FA Women's Premier League earned promotion to WSL 2, effectively connecting the WSL to the rest of the English women's football pyramid.

This left WSL 1 with nine teams and WSL 2 with ten teams for the 2016 season, and with the process repeated the following year, both WSL 1 and WSL 2 consisted of ten teams each for the 2017–18 season. In addition to being able to prove their financial solvency, clubs applying for entry to the WSL must show they will attract an average of 350 spectators in 2016, increasing to at least 400 in 2017.

Clubs[]

The following twelve clubs are competing in the 2022–23 season.

Team Location Ground Capacity 2021-22 season
Birmingham City Birmingham St Andrew's 29,409 WSL 12th
Blackburn Rovers Bamber Bridge Sir Tom Finney Stadium 3,000 10th
Bristol City Bristol Robins High Performance Centre 1,500 3rd
Charlton Athletic Bexley The Oakwood 1,180 5th
Coventry United Coventry Butts Park Arena 4,000 11th
Crystal Palace Bromley Hayes Lane 5,000 4th
Durham Durham Maiden Castle 3,000 6th
Lewes Lewes The Dripping Pan 3,000 8th
London City Lionesses Dartford Princes Park 4,100 2nd
Sheffield United Sheffield Bramall Lane 32,050 7th
Sunderland Hetton-le-Hole Eppleton CW 2,500 9th
Southampton Southampton St Mary's Stadium 32,384 WNL South, 1st

Winners[]

Year Winner Runners-up Third Top scorers Goals
2014 Sunderland Doncaster Rovers Belles a Reading Fran Kirby (Reading) 24
2015 Reading Doncaster Rovers Belles Everton Courtney Sweetman-Kirk (Doncaster Rovers Belles) 20
2016 Yeovil Town Bristol City Everton Iniabasi Umotong (Oxford United)
Jo Wilson (London Bees)
13
2017 Everton Doncaster Rovers Belles b Millwall Lionesses Courtney Sweetman-Kirk (Doncaster Rovers Belles) 9
2017–18 Doncaster Rovers Belles Brighton & Hove Albion Millwall Lionesses Jessica Sigsworth (Doncaster Rovers Belles) 15
2018–19 Manchester United Tottenham Hotspur Charlton Athletic Jessica Sigsworth (Manchester United) 17
2019–20 Aston Villa Sheffield United Durham Katie Wilkinson (Sheffield United) 15
2020–21 Leicester City Durham Liverpool Katie Wilkinson (Sheffield United) 19
2021–22 Liverpool London City Lionesses Bristol City Abi Harrison (Bristol City) 17

Attendances[]

In the 2014 season there were 251 fans at a WSL 2 match on average. In 2015 it increased to 341 with thirteen matches reaching attendances of more than 500 spectators.

External links[]

2022–23 FA Women's Championship

Birmingham City · Blackburn Rovers · Bristol City · Charlton Athletic · Coventry United · Crystal Palace · Durham · Lewes · London City Lionesses · Sheffield United · Southampton · Sunderland

FA Women's Championship seasons

2018–19 · 2019–20 · 2020–21 · 2021–22 · 2022–23 · 2023–24 ·

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