Women's pyramid
The competition structure for women’s open-age football is known as the Women’s Football Pyramid and is regulated by the Women’s Football Pyramid Regulations.
New teams join the competition structure at County League step W5. A promotion pool is operated between County and Regional Leagues. Teams gain promotion from Regional Leagues step W3 to The FA Women’s Premier League (FA WPL) step W2 by winning their respective leagues.
The FA WPL determines its overall champion through a play-off match between the Southern and Northern Premier Division winners. The champions are promoted to The FA Women’s Super League (FA WSL), subject to meeting licence criteria.
The FA Women’s Super League was restructured and re-branded ahead of the 2018-19 season.
Now fully professional, it is a 12-team competition for the top teams in the country.
The season has moved to a more traditional football calendar with matches taking place from September.
In March 2019, Barclays was unveiled as the league’s title sponsor with effect from the 2019-20 season.
