July 13 – The English Women’s Super League (WSL) is to switch to a winter season and expand to 21 teams by 2017-18. The new league schedule, unlike the men’s game in England, will have a one-month winter break.
The WSL is currently in its sixth season and has benefitted enormously from the success of the England Women’s national team who came third in the Womens World Cup in Canada in 2015.
The season switch will see the 2017-18 season start in September and run through to May. To cover the gap between the end of the current season and September 2017, a one-off transitional competition, the FA WSL Spring Series, will run from February to June in 2017, alongside the Women’s FA Cup.
The immediate beneficiary of the change should be the English team who will compete in the European Championships in the Netherlands in July 2017. Coach Mark Sampson said: “Hopefully the way the season works moving forward, we will get players who are fit, they will be fresh and with all of the factors combined it gives us a better chance of a more competitive team.”
The changes bring the English league into line with the other European leagues. For European club competition that begins in October/November, English teams will now play during their season, rather than at the end or even out of season.
The new structure will see a 10-team first division and 11 teams in the second tier. The divisions below the top two tiers of the Women’s Super League already play a winter season.
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