Women’s Super League weighs up title play-offs in radical revamp (2025)

Title play-offs could be brought into the Women’s Super League as part of radical plans to restructure the game.

The Women’s Professional Leagues Ltd (WPLL), which took over the running of the WSL and the Women’s Championship from the Football Association last summer, is considering a number of options to reshape the first and second tiers.

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Telegraph Sport has learnt that one proposal is the introduction of title play-offs from the 2026-27 season. It is unclear how this would work but it could be similar to the four-team play-off system the Première Ligue in France has used since last season.

In France, the four best teams meet in two semi-finals before the two winning teams play a final to determine the league champions.

In the United States, the National Women’s Soccer League also has a play-off system, which consists of eight teams.

It is understood that there is a desire for the WSL champions to then play a match against the NWSL winners.

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Telegraph Sport has also been told that another proposal involves the WSL splitting into two smaller divisions each season, similar to the system in Scotland, once each team have played each other home and away.

It has already been widely reported that the WPLL is considering removing relegation from the WSL and Women’s Championship. Telegraph Sport understands that the proposal is to remove relegation from both leagues for the 2025-26 season.

Clubs will vote on the proposals in June and eight of the 12 WSL clubs will have to support any changes for them to be approved.

The play-off system in France was brought in to try to increase competition because of Lyon’s dominance – they have won all but one league title since 2007. Lyon’s players were understood not to be happy about the change, believing it was punishing them for their success.

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In England, Chelsea have won the past five WSL titles and are on course to win a sixth this season.

It is understood the WPLL will collaborate with clubs over the several different routes relating to league expansion and competition structure.

Verdict: Title race delivers drama without play-offs

Title play-offs could create extra drama at the end of the Women’s Super League season, but the majority of campaigns have gone down to the wire anyway. Chelsea may wrap the title up at an earlier stage this season, but last year they were involved in a breathless race with Manchester City that concluded on the final day.

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When play-offs were introduced in France, Lyon players felt that they were being penalised, rather than other clubs being encouraged to raise their standards to challenge them. No doubt Chelsea may feel the same if a play-off system is introduced.

The possibility of the WSL winners playing against the NWSL champions could be a good opportunity as a one-off fixture. It would not put a huge extra demand on players and they could switch the location between England and the United States each year.

However, the WSL and NWSL calendars do not align, so finding a time when both teams are in season and not busy with other fixtures could be difficult. It also feels as though there may be more appetite for such a fixture in the US than there is in the UK.

While that would not put much extra strain on players, the league splitting into two may well do. Players have spoken regularly about the need for more breaks and how they believe increased demands may play a role in injuries. It is unclear how many additional games a possible split would create. If each team only play each other once more after the split, clubs would have five extra games. If they played each other home and away following the split, they would have 10, which seems too many to fit into an already congested calendar.

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The removal of relegation, meanwhile, goes against English football’s principles. The Football Association, which retains a golden share of the women’s game, has said it would not accept a closed-league long term, but could be open to a brief removal of relegation if convinced it would benefit the game. Clubs have some big decisions to make in June.

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