The WSL is about to undergo a huge expansion project, with the league announcing that it will grow to 14 teams from the current 12.
Why is the WSL growing to 14 teams?
Clubs voted this week on a potential expansion in the WSL and following months of speculation, the plans were approved to grow the top division by two clubs.
The news doesn’t come as a surprise, with the league looking to improve the quality of football as well as build up the profile of women in England to attract an even larger audience.
The WSL announced changes to its league criteria earlier this season as step one of the plan, with qualifying teams now required to improve their facilities, player contracts and staffing levels ahead of 2025/26.
A survey discovered that too many teams in England’s top flight haven’t been threatened by relegation and are lamenting in the league, so the update to WSL requirements is aimed at clubs who are not progressing forward.
With more opportunities for promotion under the new format, league officials hope that more clubs will invest in their women’s side as there will be an added incentive to competing.
When is the WSL expanding?
The WSL will remain the same for the 2025/26 campaign, however teams will be effected by the changes based on their league finish next year.
Officially the league will expand to 14 teams in the following season, with the full changes coming into effect in 2026/27.
How will the WSL expansion work?
Although the FA still needs to formally agree to the expansion, with the club’s voting on the proposal it is considered to be merely a formality now and the wheels of change are already in motion.
In the current women’s league format, the WSL 2 winners earn immediate promotion and swap places with the team that finished bottom of the WSL.
While this part of the league system will stay the same, there will also be the added jeopardy of another team going down from the WSL, with a second club from the second tier also given the opportunity to go up.
In a system that is very similar to some top European leagues, the side that finishes runner up in the second division will face off in a play-off match against the club that finishes second bottom in the WSL.
The winner of this one-off play-off game will then gain a spot in the WSL, with the losers relegated or remaining in the WSL.
How will the WSL expansion effect next season?
To initially expand the league from 12 to 14 teams, the top two clubs in the WSL 2 at the end of the 2025/26 campaign will gain automatic promotion to the WSL.
Despite two clubs coming up next year, the team that finishes bottom of the WSL may still be punished for a poor season, with a play-off match scheduled against third place in WSL 2 to determine who the final team in the first 14-team league campaign will be.
It is still yet to be confirmed what will happen to the third tier once the changes officially come into place, but it is expected that two teams will now be relegated from the WSL 2, with two from the National League taking their place every year from 2025/26. onward.
