The Women’s Championship is a women’s league competition in England, with recorded coverage from the 2020 season onward. Use this page to follow live scores, fixtures, results, standings, and player and team statistics. It also provides a clear reference point for comparing competition information across its recorded seasons over time, all in one place for easy reference.
Upcoming matches, Women's Championship
Regular Season - 3
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- Regular Season - 3
Wolverhampton W
Burnley W
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- Regular Season - 3
Durham W
Nottingham Forest W
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- Regular Season - 3
Newcastle United W
Sheffield United W
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- Regular Season - 3
Sunderland W
Southampton W
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- Regular Season - 3
Watford W
Bristol City W
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- Regular Season - 3
Leicester City WFC
Ipswich Town W
Regular Season - 4
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- Regular Season - 4
Burnley W
Bristol City W
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- Regular Season - 4
Ipswich Town W
Wolverhampton W
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- Regular Season - 4
Newcastle United W
Leicester City WFC
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- Regular Season - 4
Sheffield United W
Durham W
Bramall Lane
Latest played matches, Women's Championship
Regular Season - 2
Regular Season - 1
Women's Championship Standings
Championship League Women
| Rank | Club | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Last 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Sunderland W | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | WW |
| 2 |
|
Leicester City WFC | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | WW |
| 3 |
|
Newcastle United W | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | WW |
| 4 |
|
Southampton W | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | DW |
| 5 |
|
Wolverhampton W | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | WL |
| 6 |
|
Nottingham Forest W | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | DD |
| 7 |
|
Watford W | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | DD |
| 8 |
|
Ipswich Town W | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | DD |
| 9 |
|
Burnley W | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 1 | LD |
| 10 |
|
Sheffield United W | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 0 | LL |
| 11 |
|
Durham W | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 0 | LL |
| 12 |
|
Bristol City W | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -4 | 0 | LL |
Women's Championship Statistics
Top scorers 2026
| # | Player | Goals |
|---|
Top assists 2026
| # | Player | Assists |
|---|
Top key passes
Top tackles
Top yellow cards
Top red cards
Women's Championship teams participation since 2020
History
| Team | Nb participations |
|---|---|
| Charlton Athletic W | 6 |
| Durham W | 6 |
| Sheffield United W | 6 |
| Sunderland W | 5 |
| Blackburn Rovers W | 5 |
| London City Lionesses | 5 |
| Crystal Palace W | 5 |
| Birmingham City W | 4 |
| Bristol City W | 4 |
| Lewes W | 4 |
| Southampton W | 4 |
| Coventry United W | 3 |
| Liverpool W | 2 |
| Portsmouth W | 2 |
| Watford W | 2 |
| Newcastle United W | 2 |
| Reading W | 1 |
| Leicester City WFC | 1 |
| London Bees W | 1 |
| Ipswich Town W | 1 |
| Nottingham Forest W | 1 |
Women's Championship top scorer teams
Women's Championship About
Women’s Championship is the Barclays Women’s Championship, a national league in England and the second tier of the country’s women’s football pyramid. It is also listed in some records as England Womens Championship. The competition provides the main bridge between the Women’s National League at tier three and the Women’s Super League (WSL), combining the sporting pressure of promotion football with the professional standards required at the top of the English game.
Purpose and place in English football
The Championship exists to give ambitious clubs a sustained, high-level environment in which to develop players, strengthen their operations and challenge for entry to the WSL. Its role extends beyond the league table: it supports the professionalisation of women’s football, creates a platform for domestic talent and offers clubs a route towards the facilities, staffing and commercial structures expected in the elite division. Although it is an English competition, clubs can feature players and staff from across the world, reflecting the growing international profile of the women’s game in England.
The competition was established in 2014 as the second tier, replacing the Women’s National League in that position. Its modern recorded history covers seasons from 2020 to 2025, with the earliest recorded event dated 29 August 2021. The league has continued to develop as the standards separating the professional tiers from the wider women’s football pyramid have become more formalised.
Governance and club eligibility
Governance changed significantly in 2024, when responsibility for the women’s professional leagues moved from the Football Association to Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL). The clubs operate as shareholders within that structure, while the competition remains part of the wider English football system and must function within the relevant football regulations.
Promotion and relegation are therefore based on more than final league positions. Clubs seeking to enter or remain in the Championship must satisfy licensing requirements covering areas such as financial sustainability, stadium facilities, player contact hours and development provision. A team may earn sporting promotion from the tier below but still need to meet the required standards before taking its place in the competition. Championship clubs may enter through promotion from the Women’s National League North or South divisions, while relegated WSL clubs can also join the division.
League format and match rules
The Women’s Championship is a conventional league rather than a cup or staged tournament. Teams play a double round-robin schedule, meeting every opponent once at home and once away. There are no group stages, knockout rounds, seeded draws or league play-offs within the standard competition format. Instead, each club accumulates points across the campaign until the final table determines promotion, relegation and the remaining order.
The points system is standard across English football:
- a win earns 3 points;
- a draw earns 1 point;
- a defeat earns 0 points.
League matches are normally played over 90 minutes. Extra time and penalty shoot-outs are not used in league fixtures, so a match can finish level. When teams finish level on points, the published order of comparison begins with goal difference, followed by goals scored, matches won and then head-to-head records. These criteria help separate closely matched sides in a competition where a small number of results can determine the season’s major outcomes.
Season calendar and progression
The Championship generally follows the traditional European football calendar. The season usually begins in late August or September and reaches its conclusion in May. As a pure league competition, it progresses through scheduled home-and-away fixtures rather than through stages. Clubs can also compete in the Women’s FA Cup and the women’s league cup during the same campaign, but those competitions are separate from the Championship standings.
Promotion, relegation and the sporting stakes
The league title is the principal prize. The champions are promoted to the WSL, subject to the applicable licensing and regulatory requirements. At the lower end of the table, the bottom-placed clubs are relegated to the Women’s National League. The transition towards a larger WSL also introduced additional promotion pathways from the 2025–26 season, including relegation play-off arrangements involving Championship runners-up and clubs near the bottom of the WSL. These reforms increase the importance of finishing near the top while preserving a competitive route between the two professional divisions.
For supporters, the Championship offers a full season of meaningful fixtures with a clear destination at both ends of the table. For clubs, it is a test of sporting ambition, financial planning and organisational readiness. That combination makes the competition a central part of England’s women’s football structure: a league designed not only to decide a champion, but also to develop the teams and players capable of sustaining the next step in the professional game.