Over the past three years, the FA Women’s National League (FA WNL) has continued to flourish. More teams have transitioned to semi-professional status, attendance figures have risen, and an increasing number of clubs now share stadiums with their male counterparts. During the same period, however, the Reserve Leagues have been in decline.
Three years ago, the FA WNL Reserve divisions were thriving, with 41 teams spread across four divisions. The competition included notable clubs with aspirations of reaching the Barclays Women’s Championship, such as Wolverhampton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest, and Newcastle United.
Since the 2022/23 season, though, the number of participating teams has dropped sharply, from 41 to just 30. The South West Division was hit particularly hard, finishing the season with only six teams after Cheltenham Town withdrew mid-season.
Team Numbers by Division
Northern Division
• 2022/23: 11 teams
• 2024/25: 8 teams
Midland Division
• 2022/23: 11 teams
• 2024/25: 9 teams
South East & Central Division
• 2022/23: 11 teams
• 2024/25: 7 teams
South West Division
• 2022/23: 8 teams
• 2024/25: 6 teams
This year, with many teams finishing their seasons unusually early, an unplanned end-of-season competition for FA WNL Reserve teams quietly took shape.
To enhance competitive opportunities, the FA introduced the Reserves Premier and Reserves Championship divisions for both the northern and southern regions. Clubs registered for the 2024/25 season were invited—but not required—to participate.
The new format split the four regional groups in half, placing the higher-ranked teams into the Premier Division and the lower-ranked sides into the Championship. Initially, each team was scheduled to play every other team once, ensuring a balanced mix of home and away fixtures. However, following MK Dons’ withdrawal from the Southern Championship, the remaining four teams will now play each other both home and away.
Credit must go to the organisers for recognising that a league season ending in mid-February is far from ideal. I think the solution they’ve introduced is a good concept. That said, overall feedback from stakeholders suggests that this season has been underwhelming, with too many free weekends making it difficult for players and teams to build momentum.
In response, Portsmouth’s U23s took a notably proactive approach—at times it felt like they played more friendlies than league matches. That may not be strictly accurate, but kudos to them for keeping their players engaged.
The Reserve Leagues cannot continue in their current form—something the FA seems to acknowledge with the proposal to integrate reserve sides into the women’s pyramid. The suggestion was that Professional Game Academies (PGAs) or B teams could enter anywhere from tier four to tier six, though with a promotion ceiling preventing them from advancing above tier three. No PGA or B team would be permitted to play higher than two tiers below their first team.
However, this proposal was not pursued and proved deeply unpopular among teams already operating within tiers four to six.
As the new season approaches, I fear that the FA WNL reserve leagues will operate with even fewer teams participating than last season.
The likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest, Burnley, West Bromwich Albion, Norwich City, Gwalia United, Plymouth Argyle, Lewes, AFC Wimbledon, Cambridge United, and Bristol Rovers are all absent. Each of these clubs should be capable of fielding a competitive team at this level.
Then there are clubs like Dulwich Hamlet, Bournemouth Sports, Actonians, Real Bedford, and Hashtag United, whose reserve or B teams are competing further down the pyramid.
I believe it should be written into the licensing criteria that every club must field a team in the Reserve Leagues by their third season in the FA WNL. This would help fill the divisions and provide more fixtures. While it may not be a perfect system and some disparity in ability would be inevitable, this could be addressed with a mid-season split, similar to the current Premier and Championship structure.
Some clubs may argue that meeting this obligation would be challenging, and I recognise those concerns. However, by their third season at this level, clubs should have had sufficient time to make the necessary preparations.
With fixtures set to be released next month, confirmation is imminent, but I’m increasingly worried that football at this level is letting young talent down and many may fail to reach their potential.
