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The newly-expanded Women’s Super League will begin on Friday September 4, when London City Lionesses host Manchester United.That match at the CopperJax Community Stadium could see double Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas make her debut for London City, after joining as a free agent from Barcelona this summer.
Also on opening weekend, Manchester City will begin their title defence at home to promoted side Birmingham City on Sunday September 6.
An expansion of the top-flight WSL1 from 12 to 14 teams will see 50 more fixtures played across the season, which will end on the weekend of May 22-23, 2027 – only one month before the women’s World Cup in Brazil gets underway.
Kick-off times and broadcast picks in the UK have only been confirmed as far as the end of September — but notably, there are no midday Saturday kick-offs confirmed so far. That kick-off slot was unpopular with many fans last season.
What are the opening weekend matchups?
Manchester United’s trip to London City is the only match on Friday night, kicking off at 7pm (all times BST/GMT). Chelsea will then host Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge at 12:30pm the next day.
Arsenal begin their campaign away at Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday September 6 at 12:00, while Tottenham Hotspur will host West Ham United in a London derby at the same time.
Charlton Athletic host Liverpool for their first-ever WSL1 match at 2pm, as fellow promoted side Crystal Palace play Everton. The last of the three promoted teams, Birmingham City, face the toughest test as they travel to champions Manchester City for a 2:30pm kick-off.
Key matches and derby days
Match-ups between last season’s top four begin early. Manchester United host Chelsea in the second matchweek on September 13. The first derby between Chelsea and Arsenal takes place at Stamford Bridge on September 27, with the reverse fixture at the Emirates currently set for March 28, 2027.
Holders Manchester City’s first heavyweight clash will come on October 4, when they host Arsenal — last season’s runners-up — at the Etihad Stadium. They will then travel to Chelsea on November 14.
The Manchester derbies between United and City are set for October 25 at United’s Progress with Unity Stadium, and February 14 at the Etihad. Liverpool will host Everton for a Merseyside derby at Anfield on September 27, before the reverse fixture at Goodison Park on March 28.
The calendar has not thrown up many direct clashes late in the campaign between last season’s top four. Arsenal’s trip to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on the penultimate weekend is the headline fixture. Games between the three newly promoted teams will also be finished by the end of March.
How will World Cup preparations impact the season?
Many players will see their international windows carrying more weight than usual as they look to seal their country’s place in Brazil, particularly over the autumn and winter breaks.
UEFA nations who have not yet qualified, including England, will face continental playoffs in the windows between October 5-13 and November 24-December 5. Concacaf teams will also compete for their spot at the Concacaf W Championship in that later window. The majority of places for African sides will be confirmed before the season begins, at the current Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Most teams will therefore know if they have secured their place by the turn of the year; the last three spots will be decided in the final phase of the inter-confederation playoffs in February 2027. You can read more about the qualifying process in detail here.
The league finishes on May 23 and the World Cup kicks off on June 24 in Brazil, meaning a tight turnaround for players in the league travelling to the tournament — of which there will likely be many.
At the 2023 World Cup, clubs in England employed more players selected for the tournament than any other nation (104). Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City were the third, fourth, and fifth-best represented teams at the tournament, only behind Barcelona and OL Lyonnes (then Olympique Lyonnais).
What’s different this year?
As mentioned above, this is the first season since the WSL1 expanded to 14 teams, up from 12. Birmingham City and Crystal Palace were promoted automatically from the WSL2 after finishing first and second. Third-placed Charlton Athletic beat Leicester City, who finished bottom of the WSL, on penalties in a playoff to gain promotion and send Leicester down.
The lack of automatic relegation from the top flight was a one-off this year. Starting this season, the team that finishes bottom of the WSL1 will be automatically relegated and the winners of the WSL2 automatically promoted. A play-off will take place between the 13th-placed WSL1 side and second-placed WSL2 side to determine the final top-flight place.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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