The Football Association (FA) has today confirmed what had already been leaked by Talking Woso, the new FA Women’s National League (WNL) season will begin on Sunday 17 August and end on Sunday 26 April, with the full fixture list set to be released on Tuesday 15 July.
Following the approved expansion of the Barclays Women’s Super League, next season will also see a one-off change to the promotion system in The FA WNL, which covers Tiers 3 and 4 of the pyramid.
In order to retain divisions of 12 teams across Tiers 2, 3 and 4 for the 2026/27 season, an extra team will be promoted from Tier 3 to the Barclays WSL2 alongside the winners of the Southern Premier Division and Northern Premier Division. This place will be decided by a play-off match between the two teams that finish second in the two divisions at the end of next season.
Two additional teams will also be promoted from Tier 4 to Tier 3, alongside the four division winners. These will also be determined by play-offs, with the second-placed sides in Division One North and Division One Midlands facing each other for one place, and the two second-placed sides in Division One South West and Division One South East competing for the other spot. All three play-off finals will take place in May, while relegation remains unaffected, with the two bottom-placed sides from each division dropping down.
The 2025/26 season will also see a change to the format of The FA Women’s National League Cup, with the introduction of a group stage and entry of Professional Game Academy sides, who last season competed in the Plate competition for the first time, with the aim of providing more competitive playing opportunities for younger players.
Teams will initially be drawn into 22 groups of four teams, from which the 22 group winners and 10 best runners-up will advance to the Cup knockout stages. The other 12 runners-up and 20 best third-placed teams will advance to the Plate knockout stages. From there, both the Cup and the Plate will hold four knockout rounds before the final.
I am fully supportive of all of these changes. The addition of the play-off place will add further jeopardy and excitement for fans, while also rewarding those teams who just miss out on the title, the opportunity to move up the divisions.
I fully expect many teams to go big with their investments in an attempt to seal promotion, while others still might remain hesitant, knowing the demands placed on clubs in higher divisions.
For me, the only point of controversy is the addition of PGA teams into the FA WNL Cup/Plate. There are some who, with merit, believe that this reduces opportunities for FA WNL clubs to progress, but the presence of high-profile academy sides could also attract new fans to the competition. At this level, growing fan bases remain a key priority for every club.
