The 2018–19 FA WSL was the eighth edition of the FA Women's Super League (WSL) since it was formed in 2010. It was the first season after a rebranding of the four highest levels in English women's football. The previous FA WSL 2 became the Championship – eleven clubs competed in the 2018–19 FA Women's Championship.
Arsenal won their first WSL since 2012 with a 4–0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.
Teams Following restructuring of the women's game in order to provide for a fully professional Women's Super League (WSL), membership of both the first and second tier is subject to a licence, based on a series of off-the-field criteria. Yeovil Town estimated the budget needed for a WSL season at about £350,000. Existing WSL teams were first offered the opportunity to bid for licences, with all applying FA WSL clubs retaining their place in the first tier, with Brighton & Hove Albion from the WSL2 also offered a place in the WSL. From the first tier, Sunderland were unsuccessful in their license application.
This left up to two places in the WSL and up to five places in the Championship for applying clubs. Fifteen applications were received for both the top two tiers, and West Ham were given a licence in the second stage, so that the league is made up of 11 teams.
Team Location Ground Capacity 2017–18 season Arsenal Borehamwood Meadow Park 4,502 3rd Birmingham City Solihull Damson Park 3,050 5th Brighton & Hove Albion Crawley Broadfield Stadium 6,134 2nd, WSL 2 Bristol City Filton Stoke Gifford Stadium 1,500 8th Chelsea Kingston upon Thames Kingsmeadow 4,850 1st Everton Southport Haig Avenue 6,008 9th Liverpool Birkenhead Prenton Park 16,587 6th Manchester City Manchester Academy Stadium 7,000 2nd Reading High Wycombe Adams Park 9,617 4th West Ham United Romford Rush Green Training Ground 3,000 7th, WPL South Yeovil Town Dorchester The Avenue Stadium 5,229 10th
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentBristol City Signed with Manchester United29 May 2018End of season (8th) 4 July 2018West Ham United End of interim period7 June 2018Pre-season 7 June 2018Liverpool Sacked8 June 2018 12 June 2018Yeovil Town Appointed Director of Football14 June 2018 14 June 2018Liverpool Resigned14 September 201811th 26 October 2018Everton Sacked7 November 201811th 1 December 2018Birmingham City Signed with Orlando Pride11 January 20194th 21 January 2019
League table
Results
Position by round
Season statistics Top scorers +Top scorersRankPlayerClubGoals1 Vivianne MiedemaArsenal222 Nikita ParrisManchester City193 Bethany EnglandChelsea12 Fara WilliamsReading5 Georgia StanwayManchester City11 Daniëlle van de DonkArsenal7 Courtney Sweetman-KirkLiverpool108 Fran KirbyChelsea9 Jordan NobbsArsenal10 Erin CuthbertChelsea8 Kim LittleArsenal
Awards
Monthly awards +Awards by monthMonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthManagerClubPlayerClubSeptember Tanya OxtobyBristol City Sophie BaggaleyBristol CityOctober Joe MontemurroArsenal Vivianne MiedemaArsenalNovember Kelly ChambersReading Courtney Sweetman-KirkLiverpoolDecember Nick CushingManchester City Georgia StanwayManchester CityJanuary Tanya OxtobyBristol City Erin CuthbertChelseaFebruary Hope Powell Sophie HarrisMarch Joe MontemurroArsenal Beth MeadArsenalApril Marta TejedorBirmingham City Beth MeadArsenal
Annual awards
+Awards Award Winner Club FA WFA Players' Player of the Year Sophie Baggaley Bristol City FA WFA Goal of the Year Beth Mead Arsenal FA WFA Save of the Year Megan Walsh Yeovil Town LMA Manager of the Year Joe Montemurro Arsenal PFA Players' Player of the Year Vivianne Miedema Arsenal PFA Young Player of the Year Georgia Stanway Manchester City PFA Merit Award Steph Houghton Manchester City FWA Footballer of the Year Nikita Parris Manchester City
PFA Team of the Year Goalkeeper Sophie Baggaley (Bristol City) Defence Hannah Blundell (Chelsea) Aoife Mannion (Birmingham City) Steph Houghton (Manchester City) Demi Stokes (Manchester City) Midfield Ji So-Yun (Chelsea) Kim Little (Arsenal) Lia Wälti (Arsenal) Attack Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal) Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea) Nikita Parris (Manchester City)
See also 2018–19 FA WSL Cup 2018–19 FA Women's Championship (tier 2) 2018–19 FA Women's National League (tier 3 & 4)
References
External links Official website