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FA Women's National League
Football league From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The FA Women's National League is a group of six football divisions which sit at the third and fourth tiers of women's football in England.
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Founded in 1991 as the WFA National League, the league was run by the Women's Football Association, before control was handed to the Football Association in 1994, and the name changed to FA Women's Premier League. The league consisted of the National Division, England's top division until 2010, and the Northern and Southern Divisions, which formed the second tier. The league operated a system of promotion and relegation, with the bottom two teams of the National Division relegated, and the winners of the Northern and Southern Divisions promoted. With the introduction of the Women's Super League, the National Division became the second tier, while the Northern and Southern Divisions became the third.
The National Division was replaced in 2013 by the Championship, with the Northern and Southern Divisions continuing at the third tier. In 2014 the fourth tier Combination Leagues became part of the FA Women's Premier League, and were rebranded as the Division One North, Midlands, South East, and South West. The league received it current name and branding in 2018.
Arsenal hold the record for most titles won, with twelve. The current National League champions are Nottingham Forest (North, 2nd title) and Ipswich Town (South, 1st title).
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History
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Before the National League, women's teams nationally had competed in the WFA Cup (Women's FA Cup) since 1970, and there were English regional leagues, but this was the first regular nationwide competition of its kind.
The Women's National League was inaugurated in the 1991–92 season by the Women's Football Association (WFA),[1] with a monetary grant from the Sports Council.[2] Eight teams played in the top flight in that year. From the League's foundation, it consisted of a national premier division and two lower divisions, the Northern and Southern Divisions, whose winners each season were promoted to the top flight.
From 1991–92 until 2012–13, the national premier division was above the Northern and Southern Divisions. Since 1991–92, the Northern and Southern Divisions have run on an equal basis with promotion, and this continues today. The terms Women's Premiership and Ladies Premiership were generally used for the National Division only.
After the League's third season, the FA assumed responsibility for the competition and renamed it, beginning with the 1994–95 FA Women's Premier League (FA WPL).[3]
The Women's Premier League remained level 1 and 2 of women's football until the end of the 2009–10 season. From 2000 until 2008, the WPL champions competed in the annual FA Women's Community Shield.
The National Division's most successful clubs were Arsenal (12 titles), Croydon (3 titles), Doncaster Belles (2 titles and 7 times runners-up), Everton (1 title and 5 times runners-up), and Sunderland (3 titles at league level 2).
The Women's Premier League lost several clubs prior to the 2010–11 season and the National Division was demoted to level 2, due to the creation of the FA WSL in 2011.[4] (The WSL was a summer league for its first six years, as opposed to the WPL's winter format.) Strangely, the lower divisions were still given the name "Premier League" for eight more seasons. The number of clubs competing in the Northern and Southern Divisions decreased from 12 to 10. The National Division decreased from 12 clubs to eight (2010–11), then increased to 10 clubs (2011–12 and 2012–13).
The National Division was scrapped after the 2012–13 season, due to the introduction of the WSL 2 in 2014, which included some clubs that moved from the Women's Premier League. During the 2013–14 season, the only divisions with WPL branding were the third tier Northern and Southern Divisions. The FA proposed rebranding the WPL collectively as the Women's Championship League,[5] but the idea was ultimately dropped. In 2014 the league moved away from the FA with the formation of an independent League Management Committee, elected by the clubs to run league operations.[6]
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For the 2014–15 season, the Women's Premier League incorporated the fourth tier Combination Leagues as the Premier League's 'Division One', consisting of the Division One leagues: North, Midlands, South East and South West.[7] Promotion to the second tier was also reintroduced, with the winners of the Northern and Southern Divisions playing each other in a single play-off match at a neutral venue, the winner becoming the overall Women's Premier League/National League champion, and promoted to the WSL 2.[8] The first play-off occurred between Portsmouth and Sheffield at Stratford Town's Knights Lane ground. Sheffield won through a stoppage-time goal.[9]
In 2018 the FA Women's Premier League was rebranded as the FA Women's National League.[10] Beginning with the 2023–24 season, it was decided that both the Northern and Southern Division champions will be automatically promoted to the Championship.[11]
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Winners
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National Division champions
Below is a list of women's Premier League / National Division champions at level one from 1991 to 2010, followed by National Division champions at level two.
Level 1 national champions:
Level 2 national champions:
Northern / Southern Division champions
Level 2 champions:
Level 3 champions:
- Automatic promotion ended in 2012–13. From 2014–15 to 2022–23, the club marked in bold won the league championship play-off between the Northern and Southern Division winners, and promotion to the Championship.
- From 2023–34 onwards both the winners of the Northern Division and the Southern Division are promoted to the Championship.
- 2011: Promotion of both champions and runners-up Coventry City and Cardiff City to National Division, after WSL's formation
- 2018: West Ham United awarded FA WSL licence; Charlton, Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Lewes promoted to Championship
Division One champions
- Following the incorporation of the Combination Leagues in 2014, the Women's Premier League / National League consisted of an additional four regional leagues below the Northern and Southern Divisions.
Level 4 champions:
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Format and clubs
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Format
The National League consists of six divisions, forming the third and fourth tiers of women's football in England. The National League North and National League South, also known as the Premier Divisions, sit at the third tier, while Division One North, Midlands, South East, and South West, form the fourth tier.[12]
Current clubs
The following clubs are competing in the 2025–26 season.
Cup competitions
The main cup competition of the National League is the FA Women's National League Cup, a knock-out competition involving all of the teams within the League's six divisions. 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. The first Cup-winners were Arsenal in the 1991–92 WFA Women's National League Cup. The first winners of a Cup without top-flight teams were Barnet F.C. Ladies in the 2010–11 FA Women's Premier League Cup.
The FA Women's National League Plate was introduced in the 2014–15 season (as the Women's Premier League Plate). Under the current format, the teams that are eliminated from the opening round of the League Cup are entered into the Plate.
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Sponsorship
The league's sponsors have included AXA (1998–2002),[13] Nationwide Building Society (2002–2007),[14] and Tesco (2007–2010).[15] The league currently has no sponsorship deal.
See also
References
External links
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