Women’s Super League to expand with new two-team promotion process in 2016
Tuesday 2 December 2014 15:27, UK
Nine teams will contest the 2016 Women’s Super League with the announcement that two teams will be promoted into FA WSL 1 following the 2015 season.
Only one team will be relegated to the second division, FA WSL 2, which means that in 2016 there will be nine teams in the top division.
The increase is part of a two-year plan to move FA WSL 1 from an eight to 10-team league.
There will continue to be 10 teams in FA WSL 2 as a team from the FA Women’s Premier League will be promoted into the league for both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
As part of current promotion processes, last season’s FA WSL 2 champions Sunderland have secured their place in the FA WSL 1 for 2015 after meeting off-field licencing requirements.
Kelly Simmons, FA director of national game and women’s football, said last season's introduction of promotion and relegation into the league had strengthened the level of competition.
“This year has arguably been the most competitive FA WSL season to date and promotion and relegation has certainly played a big part in that,” she said.
“Increasing the number of promotion spots not only opens up more opportunity for clubs but will also help to drive the standard of FA WSL 2 which can only benefit the women’s game.
“We are looking to do the same in the following season so that FA WSL 1 becomes a 10-team league. This will help to sustain the high quality that the league is known for, providing more high quality fixtures for both our elite players and for fans."
The 2015 FA WSL season will begin in March with fixtures to be announced in the New Year.
