The 2025/26 WSL Season – What Are The Major Changes For The New Campaign?
The new 2025/26 Women’s Super League season is now underway and this season promises to be somewhat different to those that preceded it.
A number of new rules and improvements have been made to the set up of the League, which promises to take the WSL to the next level of competition.
In this post, we are going to take a look at some of the key changes made to the WSL for the new season and explore what they mean for women’s football in England.
Key WSL Changes for 2025/26
Expansion of WSL to Include WSL 2
The first major change is that the Women’s Super League now incorporates a fully professional WSL 2, which will begin this season. The WSL 2 replaces the former National League second tier of women’s pro football in the UK.
There are 12 teams in both WSL divisions for this season, with plans to expand the WSL to 14 teams from next season (see rule change below).
Currently, the teams competing in WSL and WSL 2 this 2025/26 season are as follows:
WSL
- Arsenal
- Aston Villa
- Brighton & Hove Albion
- Chelsea
- Everton
- Leicester City
- Liverpool
- London City Lionesses
- Manchester City
- Manchester United
- Tottenham Hotspur
- West Ham United
WSL2
- Birmingham City
- Bristol City
- Charlton Athletic
- Crystal Palace
- Durham
- Ipswich Town
- Newcastle United
- Nottingham Forest
- Portsmouth
- Sheffield United
- Southampton
- Sunderland
Relegation Rules Changed to Allow Expansion to 14 Teams in 2026/27
Due to the expansion of the WSL to 14 teams for the 2026/27 season, this means that for one season, the relegation rules to WSL 2 will be changed.
The top two teams from WSL 2 at the end of the 2025/26 season will be promoted to the WSL for the next season. Additionally, there will be a relegation playoff between the team that finishes bottom of the WSL this season, and the team that finishes third in the WSL 2 this season.
The winner of that playoff will start the 2026/27 in the WSL and the loser in WSL 2.
Minimum Salary Guaranteed for Players in WSL and WSL 2.
The WSL has also just announced that all clubs in the WSL will agree to pay players a minimum working salary for the duration of their contract.
This change is aimed to ensure that many female players are compensated fairly for being a professional and to address problems with some players not being paid a living wage.
At the time of writing what this minimum working salary will be is not yet known, but it is to be applied across all teams competing in the WSL.
This news comes on the heels of England’s second European Championship victory in the summer, where they defeated Spain on penalties in the final.
Major WSL Transfers in 2025/26
Olivia Smith (Liverpool to Arsenal) – Sold by Liverpool for a record fee of £1m in the summer. The Canadian youngster joins a star-studded Arsenal attack that features Mariona Caldentey, Beth Meade, Chloe Kelly, Caitlin Foord, Alessia Russo and Stina Blackstenius.
Mara Alber (Hoffenheim to Chelsea) – Alber, a German U23 international is aged just 19 and cost Chelsea a ‘considerable fee’ leaving Hoffenheim to sign a four-year deal with the Champions in the summer.
Fridolina Rolfo (Barcelona to Man Utd) – The experienced Swedish left back has amassed over 100 international caps, scoring 33 goals and is a coup for Manchester United, improving their defensive options considerably.
You can follow all the WSL action each week on terrestrial TV in the UK.
