FA Women's National League North

The FA Women's National League North is a football league at the third tier of women's football in England. Together with the National League South, the two leagues form the highest division of the National League.

FA Women's National League North

Founded	1991; 34 years ago (1991)
Country	England
Number of clubs	12
Level on pyramid	3
Promotion to	Women's Super League 2
Relegation to	Division One North Division One Midlands
Domestic cup(s)	Women's FA Cup
League cup(s)	National League Cup National League Plate
Current champions	Nottingham Forest (2nd title) (2024–25)
Most championships	Aston Villa (5 titles)
Website	womenscompetitions.thefa.com
Current: 2024–25 FA Women's National League

Established in 1991 as the WFA National League Northern Division, before a name change to the FA Premier League Northern Division in 1994, the league, along with the Southern Division, formed the second tier of women's football until 2010. The league champion was promoted to the National Division, while the bottom two teams were originally relegated to the regional leagues, prior to the introduction of the Combination Leagues in 1998. After the introduction of the Women's Super League, the National Division became the second tier, and the Northern and Southern Divisions became the third tier.

In 2014, the fourth tier Combination Leagues became part of the FA Women's Premier League. Rebranded as the Premier Leagues 'Division One', the champions of Division One North and Division One Midlands feed into the Northern Division. The league received its current name and branding in 2018.

History

Originally known as the WFA National League Northern Division, Bronte were the inaugural second level champions.^[1] Liverpool, having won the 2009–10 season, became the last second level champions.^[2] After the introduction of the Women's Super League in 2011, the league became the third level of woman's football. Aston Villa won the 2010–11 season, becoming the first third level champions.^[3]

For the 2014–15 season, the Women's Premier League incorporated the fourth tier Combination Leagues as the Premier League's 'Division One', with Division One North and Division One Midlands feeding into the Northern Division.^[4] 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.^[5]

Prior to the 2018–19 season, the league was renamed as the FA Women's National League North,^[6] part of a complete rebrand of the women's pyramid.^[7] Blackburn Rovers won the inaugural edition of the rebranded league.^[8] On 1 May 2022, Division One North club Newcastle United set a new league attendance record of 22,134.^[9] The club beat their own record on 17 April 2023, with an attendance of 24,092.^[10] Beginning with the 2023–24 season, it was decided that both the Northern and Southern Division champions would be automatically promoted to the Championship.^[11]

Clubs

The following twelve clubs are competing in the 2025–26 season.

Club Home ground Position 2024–25 Burnley Lancashire County Ground, Leyland 4th Derby County Don Amott Arena, Derby 9th Hull City Easy Buy Stadium, North Ferriby 8th Loughborough Lightning Loughborough University Stadium, Loughborough Division One Midlands, 1st Liverpool Feds Jericho Lane, Liverpool 6th Middlesbrough Bishopton Road West, Stockton Division One North, 1st Rugby Borough Kilsby Lane, Rugby 5th Sheffield United Bramall Lane, Sheffield Championship, 11th Sporting Khalsa Aspray Arena, Noose Lane, Willenhall 10th Stoke City Norton Cricket Club, Stoke-on-Trent 3rd West Bromwich Albion Keys Park, Hednesford 7th Wolverhampton Wanderers New Bucks Head, Telford 2nd

Burnley Derby County Middlesbrough Hull City Loughborough Lightning Liverpool Feds Rugby Borough Sheffield United Sporting Khalsa Stoke City West Brom Wolverhampton Location of clubs for the 2025–26 season

Results

Northern Division

Season	Winner	Runner-up
2000–01	Leeds United	Oldham Curzon
2001–02	Birmingham City	Wolverhampton Wanderers
2002–03	Aston Villa	Sunderland
2003–04	Liverpool	Sunderland
2004–05	Sunderland	Wolverhampton Wanderers
2005–06	Blackburn Rovers	Liverpool
2006–07	Liverpool	Lincoln City
2007–08	Nottingham Forest	Lincoln City
2008–09	Sunderland	Lincoln City
2009–10	Liverpool	Lincoln City
Tier 3
2010–11	Aston Villa	Coventry City
2011–12	Manchester City	Sheffield
2012–13	Sheffield	Nottingham Forest
2013–14	Sheffield	Preston North End
2014–15	Sheffield	Coventry City
2015–16	Sporting Club Albion	Preston North End
2016–17	Blackburn Rovers	Middlesbrough
2017–18	Blackburn Rovers	Leicester City
2018–19	Blackburn Rovers	Sunderland
2019–20	Not awarded (COVID-19 pandemic)
2020–21	Not awarded (COVID-19 pandemic)
2021–22	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Derby County
2022–23	Nottingham Forest	Wolverhampton Wanderers
2023–24	Newcastle United	Burnley
2024–25	Nottingham Forest	Wolverhampton Wanderers

Division One

Season	Division One North	Runners-up	Division One Midlands	Runners-up
2014–15	Guiseley Vixens	Liverpool Feds	Loughborough Foxes	Leicester City
2015–16	Middlesbrough	Liverpool Feds	Leicester City	Wolverhampton Wanderers
2016–17	Guiseley Vixens	Liverpool Feds	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Loughborough Foxes
2017–18	Hull City	Brighouse Town	Loughborough Foxes	Burton Albion
2018–19	Burnley	Brighouse Town	West Bromwich Albion	Wolverhampton Wanderers
2019–20	Not awarded (COVID-19 pandemic)
2020–21	Not awarded (COVID-19 pandemic)
2021–22	Liverpool Feds	Newcastle United	Boldmere St. Michaels	Doncaster Rovers
2022–23	Newcastle United	Durham Cestria	Stourbridge	Doncaster Rovers
2023–24	Hull City	Middlesbrough	Sporting Khalsa	Loughborough Lightning
2024–25	Middlesbrough	Cheadle Town	Loughborough Lightning	Northampton Town

See also

• Women's association football
• List of women's football teams
• List of women's football (soccer) competitions