Reforming Women's Football in England
England is riding the crest of a wave right now, but the domestic game isn't perfect. I come up with a few plans to solve it...
Women’s football is no doubt in a really good place in England right now. Internationally, the Lionesses are European champions. Domestically, there’s a tasty four-way fight between four of the biggest names in the sport and off the pitch the commercial side is the envy of many leagues around Europe, with Barclays sponsoring both the Super League and Championship, as well as the new TV deal with Sky Sports and BBC.
It’s one of the best leagues in world at present, but issues remain. Postponements, which is something right now we can’t do a huge amount about, but also constant questions about the schedule. “Too many games” cry some. “Not enough games” cry others. “The Conti Cup is rubbish” cry many.
So, what can we do? Below I (hypothetically) throw out some suggestions over how to both expand and improve the current league and cup system if I was ever in charge of running the domestic game in England (God forbid!)
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Expanding the leagues
This is the first issue and quite honestly, it’s a simple fix, in my opinion anyway. I don’t really know why the leagues haven’t expanded in the five years since the last restructure. In 2018-19, there were two promotion spots on offer from the Championship to even up the numbers, but for a fourth season in a row now it is one up, one down, and that goes for Championship to National League and vice versa too.
For a season or too I understood it. The Championship was almost wholly part-time and the gap between the top tier and the second tier huge. It’s still big, but not as big as it was, with to my count eight of the 12 sides now full-time, and the rest having an element of full-time staff etc. Coventry United were also full-time last season until they hit financial difficulties, so in reality we are probably not far off a fully professional Championship.
The problem is if one team decides they fancy dominating the league - and Bristol City now sit six points clear - the rest have little to play for. Little prize money, no TV money, as long as you are somewhere between 2nd and 11th, you’re fine.
I’m not about running before we can walk, so my proposal is a shift from 12 teams in each league to 14 in each league. You could argue maybe 16 in the WSL and 14 in the Championship, but for now I’m sticking with 14.
We’re in March, so it seems this won’t happen this summer, so we’ll skip to the end of the 2023-24 season and put these plans in place for 2024-25. There’s also a World Cup this summer which doesn’t end until August 20th, so it’s probably not a great time for major upheaval.
How do we do it? Simple. I’m not about throwing in extra jeopardy just yet as some teams are still finding their feet financially and it’s about bringing teams up, not sending them down, so it’s still one down from the WSL in 2023-24, but three up from the Championship. No fancy play-offs or anything (yet!), just the top three.
Hypothetically, based off today’s league tables, that would see Leicester City go to the Championship and Bristol City, London City Lionesses and Southampton come up.
Sorted.
But, we’ve now taken two teams out of the Championship and another will go to the National League (current league tables would send Coventry United down), so that’s only nine teams left standing, which means we need to find a solid five.
This is where we make up for teams in the WNL who were denied promotion by COVID-19 and finally do away (permanently) with the backwards system of both North and South league champions not coming up, because who wants to play a whole season, win their league, and not get promoted?!
The five slots are filled by the top two in each league, with a play-off between the two third-placed sides. That would bring up at present Nottingham Forest, Burnley, Oxford United and Ipswich Town, a nice varied selection split around the country, with Wolves and Portsmouth in the play-off.
So, theoretically, the two leagues for 2024-25 would look like this…
WSL: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Bristol City, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, London City Lionesses, Manchester City, Manchester United, Reading, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United
WC: Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Burnley, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Durham, Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Lewes, Nottingham Forest, Oxford United, Sheffield United, Sunderland (Wolves/Portsmouth).
Looks good, doesn’t it?
As for the future going into 2025-26, we stick with 14 and 14 but ensure it is two up, two down every season. I’m not a big fan of relegation vs promotion play-offs and what not, so just the bottom two from the WSL go down.
In the Championship, we introduce the play-offs. It has worked in the EFL for decades and decades and gives more teams a competitive chance. The champions come up while the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th placed teams go into the play-offs.
2nd vs 5th, home and away and 3rd vs 4th, home and away, with the winners meeting in the final at a neutral venue. On current Championship standing that would see London City Lionesses face Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City take on Southampton.
Again, bottom two down from the Championship, North and South winners come up. Keep the National play-off if you like for a trophy and maybe a little bit of prize money, but both regional winners come up every season.
Done.
FA Cup
Very little needs to be done here. The FA Cup is what it is and always has been and always will be, the staple of English football tradition.
All I’d do is return to what we used to have and make the semi-finals neutral venues. I don’t like one-off games for a place at Wembley to have home advantage and with enough planning it shouldn’t be too difficult. The women’s game used to have this so I don’t know why we don’t now.
My key change would be off the field, more TV exposure. It’s the FA Cup, get more games on the BBC and at the very least further utilise the FA Player.
I appreciate the budget for the standalone FA Player is tight, but it broadcasts anything between five and eight live leagues per weekend between the two domestic leagues, so why can’t it do that on an FA Cup weekend?
In the last round, Chelsea vs Arsenal took the BBC slot and the FA Player only showed Manchester United vs Durham. There should be at least three or four available.
Continental Cup
Oh boy, this is where it gets interesting, because nothing causes more debate than the old Continental Cup, a tournament which has been there since the first days of the WSL back in 2011.
It has undergone god knows how many format changes. From a knockout to a group stage, to a knockout to a group stage, where we sit today with the latter.
I think some teams at the top with busy schedules would be happy to do away with it, but for those at the bottom - and I speak as someone who also works for a Championship club - it provides a handful more games in a season where there’s only currently 22 league matches, and it’s rare a Championship club has much cup action in either domestic competition beyond January, though not unheard of.
This is not an easy one to solve, but my whole basis is offering more games to those who need it and no more games to those who don’t, and crucially also trying to make it a bit more exciting and attractive to fans, through some projects or extra TV exposure, and I’ve come up with two different proposals, all based around my new hypothetical 14-team leagues.
Proposal 1 - Keep it as it is
Pretty simple. There’s now 28 teams in my world, so seven groups of four teams, the seven group winners progress along with the best runners up.
Now, what about that pesky Champions League? Currently, teams in Europe don’t compete in the Conti Cup group stage, which has been quite controversial. I have to say, I’m not a fan of it. I think you’re in or your not, and I’d prefer everyone in as I also don’t want to punish sides for being competitive in Europe.
So, make them enter and field whatever team they can. All the big clubs have big squads, a handful of players desperate for minutes, players suspended in Europe or returning from injury, and at the very least a huge academy filled with talented kids who often go on loan to Championship clubs anyway, so cup games vs similar opposition offers great exposure and experience.
One key change we could and should make is bring the games forward. You only have to play three group stage matches in the cup and given the Champions League group stage doesn’t start until the end of October, surely we can sneak in three Conti Cup games in August/September/early October?!
Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems simple, certainly in non-tournament years. That way the cup is done until post-winter break and those teams in Europe can approach as they would any other competition and get it out of the way before October when their European duties begin.
Arguably, even have the three cup games before the league starts. Right now, cold midweek nights in November and December aren’t attractive for fans. It’s also seen as an inconvenience crammed between big league games each Sunday, so make it a standalone. In my first season with Sheffield United in 2018, we played two cup games before the season started.
Fans love the start of the new season. A chance to see new players, new managers, new kits etc. What better way to make the Conti Cup exciting again than to make it the opening few games of the season? In the nicer weather, on weekends, before the WSL/WC even get under way. Boom, boom, boom, three Sundays in a row, done well in time for the Champions League. Ok, there’s Champions League qualifiers too, but it should be doable with a bit of give and take.
Ok, you might say, what about those who go out? Glad you asked. That doesn’t solve the issue of a lack of games for lower WSL clubs and mostly all Championship clubs. Eight teams go through here, leaving 20 behind who I’m sending into a repechage during the winter months. Five groups of four teams, the top two in each group go through and the quarter-finals and semi-finals are played parallel to the actual Continental Cup knockouts after Christmas.
And how about the finals on the same day? At Wembley. There’s no reason now the semi-finals and finals shouldn’t follow the format of the Carabao Cup. Two-legged semi-finals with a rule in place they must be played at a club’s main stadium, and the final at Wembley. Let’s say you had Everton vs Aston Villa in the repechage final followed by Manchester City vs Chelsea - what a day out!
Worst comes to worse, over a weekend. One under the lights Saturday evening, one Sunday afternoon, limiting travel for people going.
Realistically, the whole repechage for teams out of the Conti Cup might not work, so what about a cup just for Championship clubs after Christmas?
14 teams. The top two at the time in the league get a bye, the other 12 play six knockout ties, with six going through joined by the top two, followed by a quarter-final, semi-final and a final at a modest neutral ground and something for Championship clubs to play for? A nice trophy to end the season would be great for any Championship club.
Proposal 2 - It’s a knockout
This is what a lot of people would go for, but in my opinion would rely on having one of the other competitions I proposed above be created to make up for a lack of games lost by the removal of the group stage, with some teams playing one game only before being knocked out.
With 28 teams, some would have to get a bye through various rounds to make the numbers work, like in the men’s game where Premier League clubs come in during the second round and further to that teams in Europe come in at the third round.
But spice it up. Have a first round just for Championship clubs to ensure at least seven make the cut before progressively introducing the WSL teams.
Take the format of one of the best cup competitions in the world - Spain’s Copa de la Reina. It’s had huge success for years because every round the lower ranked sides are guaranteed to play at home, meaning you often see third and fourth division sides host La Liga sides, and there’s always a huge amount of upsets.
So ensure Championship clubs get to host big WSL teams, put them on TV and in good weekend slots.
That’s another issue. TV. The Continental Cup is run by the league, just like the WSL and WC, so why hasn’t it been worked into the Sky Sports TV deal? The Conti Cup gets minimal coverage until the knockouts, that needs to change. At least a couple of games a group stage round split between Sky and the FA Player and some vital TV money for the Championship clubs hosting too.
Prize money also needs to change. Continental has been a loyal sponsor since day one but currently winners get around £6,000 and given those winners have always been Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester City, they’re three clubs who have no use for such a small amount either.
Make it much more of a financial incentive for clubs and if that means changing sponsor, so be it, the men’s equivalent has changed sponsors more times than I’ve had cups of tea!
So, what would you go for? A group stage with a secondary competition for teams knocked out or create a whole new competition for Championship clubs instead?
Would you keep it in October/November/December or make it the opening games of the season to offer it more attention?
Or would you go down the knockout route and potentially leave some clubs without many games, unless the FA take on one of my new competition ideas?
Let me know in the comments section below, and also your thoughts on expanding the leagues too…
Thanks for all of this Rich.....
Very in depth, and a lot to think about for sure.
I do have to say that the WSL should be expanded, so we agree there.
Did I read anything (sorry if I missed it) about what happens to promotion/relegation in terms of sides below the WNL??
The Conti Cup should definitely be changed, teams in Europe shouldn't get a bye, and more importantly, as that effects yellow/red cards, how can a team who have gotten a bye, face a team possibly suffering from suspensions in the tournament, perhaps to key players, how on earth is that fair in any way shape or form??
What Chelsea & Arsenal did this season was a complete farce, there is no doubt about that, if I am not mistaken, Manchester United lost fewer matches in 90 minutes in the Conti Cup, then Chelsea, yet we went out in the group stage, and Chelsea made the final, again, where is the fairness??
Neither Arsenal nor Chelsea deserved to be in the final, & Arsenal didn't deseve to be winners of the tournament.
The sponsors need to put more money into the game, if Conti won't, then find someone who will.
Do as Lewes have rightly asked, have the same money in the men's and women's cup competitions, (FA and League Cup).
Also one key factor, visibility, why oh why, are there no round up shows, for both the FA Cup and League Cups on the TV??
There should be round up shows of every single round of the FA Cup and League Cups on the TV, be it on BBC or Sky, or both, heck even the red button at this stage would be a step up!!
There is sooooo much scope for improvement in sooo many areas, and I hope that we can see some of things that you mention, as well as what I have aaud here, happen in the future.
There are a lot of suggestions here. It would be OK to agree in principle, but there probably needs to be an understanding of the politics of it all, which requires understanding how we ended up here. Powers and interests have acted to produce what is there now - making it political (not party political although it has become that too with the delays to reviews for reform). I've written on women's football not being sustainable in its current form and that it lacks transparency and independence from men's football. I write on Substack on women's football too at https://andrewdpope.substack.com. I look forward to the ongoing discussion.