Women’s Super League clubs will hold vote on radical plan to scrap relegation | OneFootball

A radical plan to scrap relegation from the Women’s Super League as part of a major expansion of the professional game is to be voted on by clubs at the end of the season.

Under proposals developed by the Women’s Professional League Ltd and revealed on Thursday, relegation from the 12‑team WSL would stop from the 2026-27 season as part of a gradual plan to expand both the top flight and the second‑tier Championship to 16 teams.

Promotion from the Championship would continue in an attempt to grow the size and strength of the top flight, with one extra club to be admitted to the WSL each season over the next four years. Relegation could then be reinstated in the 2030-31 campaign, although that is not guaranteed.

The plans received a cautious welcome from the 23 WSL and Championship clubs at a presentation fronted by the WPLL chief executive, Nikki Doucet, at their quarterly shareholders’ meeting on Friday, which several sources who attended described as a positive meeting. The clubs are understood to have agreed to continue discussing and refining the proposals before putting the new structure to a vote at the end of the season.

The removal of relegation is the most controversial element, but many clubs are equally concerned with the mechanism to be used to determine promotion from the Championship. A number of models are understood to be under consideration, with several clubs pushing for a playoff system.

While any club seeking promotion will have to adhere to minimum-standards criteria, there is a strong feeling that on-field performance and league position should be the deciding factors, rather than adopting a licensing system similar to that brought in by rugby league to determine the composition of the Super League. In a less controversial change that is indicative of the desire for greater alignment in the women’s game, the Championship is set to be rebranded as WSL2 from next season.

The WPLL declined to comment when contacted, but sources at the company now responsible for running the women’s game confirmed that the discussions will continue. The clubs will have the final say at their end‑of‑season meeting, but other stakeholders will also be consulted, including players, fans and the Football Association.

For the proposals to go through, they will need a two-thirds majority of member clubs to vote in favour when they reconvene at the end of April.

For alterations to be made to the relegation/promotion structure, at least eight clubs must vote in favour in each division, a balloting structure that gives a huge amount of influence to a handful of Championship clubs. If the clubs agree to the changes proposed by the WPLL they will then be passed to the FA board for ratification, although that will be a formality.

The WPLL has had some notable successes since taking over from the FA last summer, securing in the past six months a £65m, five-year TV deal with Sky Sports and the BBC and a three-year title sponsorship for the WSL with Barclays worth £45m, giving it confidence to pursue an expansionist agenda. The rationale behind the proposal is that removing the threat of relegation would encourage owners to invest and help to develop a more competitive WSL, which despite growing attendances is in danger of stagnating on the field.

Although many clubs are fearful of losing out there is a recognition among the majority that structural changes could be beneficial. Chelsea have won the past five WSL titles and are unbeaten this season under their new manager, Sonia Bompastor, while clubs promoted from the Championship have struggled to make an impact. Bristol City were relegated after one season in the WSL which brought just one win and six points, while Crystal Palace are on course to follow them in going straight back down this year, with a poor record of one win in their opening 14 games leading to the sacking of their manager Laura Kaminski.

Establishing a fully professional top two divisions for the women’s game was one of the key recommendations of the government-commissioned Karen Carney review in 2023. Under the leadership of Doucet, the WPLL is determined to achieve that and is committed to an expansion of the entire pyramid.

In a setback to that agenda, the Championship was reduced to 11 clubs this season when Reading voluntarily dropped down to the fifth tier after their owner, Dai Yongge, removed funding for the women’s operation as he attempts to sell the club. With an eye on future expansion the WPLL has had informal discussions with Premier League clubs whose women’s teams are outside the top two divisions, including Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Brentford, to establish their level of commitment.

A club source who attended the meeting on Friday said: “The new leadership have shown they’re willing to do things differently and look at new ideas, which is encouraging. They have developed an interesting concept and [are] giving us all something to think about.”

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