The WSL could get rid of relegation in an effort to increase growth and competition in English women’s football’s top two tiers.

Women’s Professional Leagues Ltd – the company that runs the WSL and the Women’s Championship – is considering the change as part of a larger expansion plan for the two competitions.

Relegation and promotion is a key aspect of the football pyramid, giving lower league sides something to fight for season after season. However, with major disparities in investment, well-funded clubs often have a leg up in the battle for promotion whilst those on the opposite end of the spectrum are handed the short stick when it comes to relegation.

WPLL has proposed an expanded but closed top tier, closely resembling the United States’ NWSL with new teams added to the WSL without the threat of relegation. The alternative is to continue promotion from the Championship, but scrapping relegation altogether.

The hope is that by removing relegation, owners will invest more in their women’s teams, creating a more balanced, competitive league that isn’t dominated by the same four or five clubs each year. 

Women’s football in England is bigger than ever before, with WPLL securing a monumental broadcast deal for the WSL and Championship, record-breaking signings and skyrocketing attendance figures. Despite this, the large gaps in funding and discrepancies in facilities between WSL clubs, let alone the WSL and Championship, are stunting any growth outside of the biggest clubs. 

Though unconventional for European football, a closed league could create a more even foundation for more clubs to succeed, not only the four dominating the WSL right now. 

WPLL will give all 23 clubs in the two tiers a chance to vote on the change in the near future, with any changes coinciding with the FA’s planned pyramid revamp from 2026/27.