The 2018–19 FA Women's Championship was the first rebranded edition of the FA Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England, renamed from the FA WSL 2 which was founded in 2014. The season ran from 8 September 2018 to 12 May 2019.
On 20 April 2019, Manchester United won the title, and promotion to the FA WSL, with two games to spare in their debut season after recording a 7–0 victory over Crystal Palace.Man Utd Women 7–0 Crystal Palace Ladies: Women's Championship title sealed by win , from BBCSport.co.uk. Tottenham Hotspur subsequently secured second place and promotion following a 1–1 draw at Aston Villa in their penultimate fixture.Record attendance for Women’s FA Cup final expected at Wembley, from the guardian.com. Millwall Lionesses finished bottom but were spared relegation as the FA sought to expand both of the top two divisions to twelve teams each by 2019–20.
Teams Eleven teams compete in the league. 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 license, based on a series of off-the-field criteria. Existing WSL teams were first offered the opportunity to bid for licenses, with all applying FA WSL 2 clubs retaining their place in the second tier, except for Brighton & Hove Albion who were offered a place in the WSL. From the second tier, Oxford United and Watford did not apply for licenses.
This left up to two places in the WSL and up to five places in the Championship for applying clubs, of which one place in the Championship was reserved for the winners of the FA Women's Premier League Championship play-off, providing that club met the licensing criteria. Fifteen applications were received for both the top two tiers, and five of these applicants were accepted into the Championship: Manchester United, Lewes, Leicester City, Sheffield United as well as Premiership play-off winners, Charlton Athletic.
Sheffield announced on 24 June 2018 that it was withdrawing from the league ahead of the season, due to the financial commitments required by The Football Association proving too onerous. Doncaster Rovers Belles announced similarly on 12 July 2018. A place in the league was subsequently awarded to Crystal Palace.
Team Location Ground Capacity 2017–18 season Aston Villa Tamworth The Lamb Ground 4,000 9th Charlton Athletic Thamesmead Bayliss Avenue 6,000 , WPL South Crystal Palace Bromley Hayes Lane 5,000 , WPL South Durham Durham New Ferens Park 3,000 4th Leicester City Quorn Farley Way Stadium 1,400 , WPL North Lewes Lewes The Dripping Pan 3,000 , WPL South London Bees Canons Park The Hive Stadium 5,176 6th Manchester United Leigh Leigh Sports Village 12,000 Millwall Lionesses Dartford Princes Park 2,500 3rd Sheffield United Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park 2,000 , WPL Div 1, Midlands Tottenham Hotspur Cheshunt Cheshunt Stadium 3,000 7th
Table For the inaugural season, the top two teams will be automatically promoted subject to obtaining a licence. There will be no relegation at the end of the campaign with a view to expanding the top two tiers to twelve teams each by 2019–20.
Results
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerTeamGoals1 Jessica SigsworthManchester United172 Rianna DeanTottenham Hotspur14 Elizabeta EjupiCharlton Athletic Lauren JamesManchester United Ella TooneManchester United6 Mollie GreenManchester United137 Kit GrahamCharlton Athletic128 Katie ZelemManchester United109 Beth HeppleDurham8 Jodie HuttonAston Villa Jade PennockSheffield United
Awards
Player of the Month Results of Player of the Month voting as polled by FA Women's Championship. Number of nominations in brackets. MonthWinnerNominatedPlayerClubPlayerClubSeptember Lauren JamesManchester United Rebecca CarterLewes Jessica SigsworthManchester United Sarah WiltshireTottenham HotspurOctober Rianna DeanTottenham Hotspur Rosie AxtenLeicester City Kit GrahamCharlton Athletic Sarah Wiltshire (2)Tottenham HotspurNovember Mollie GreenManchester United Sophie BarkerSheffield United Abi CottamDurham Katie StartupCharlton AthleticDecember Beth HeppleDurham Elizabeta EjupiCharlton Athletic Lily AggCharlton Athletic Emma BeckettLondon BeesJanuary Sarah Wiltshire (3)Tottenham Hotspur Rianna Dean (2)Tottenham Hotspur Zoe NessDurham Evie ClarkeMillwall LionessesFebruary Ella TooneManchester United Angela AddisonTottenham Hotspur Gemma BryanCrystal Palace Evie Clarke (2)Millwall LionessesMarch Katie ZelemManchester United Jade PennockSheffield United Kit Graham (2)Charlton Athletic Maddy CusackSheffield UnitedApril Ashleigh NevilleTottenham Hotspur Danielle CoxSheffield United Charlie DevlinManchester United Lauren James (2)Manchester United
LMA Manager of the Month Results of Manager of the Month as awarded by the League Managers Association. Number of awards in brackets. MonthManagerClubSeptember Karen HillsTottenham HotspurOctober Lee SandersDurhamNovember Casey StoneyManchester UnitedJanuary Karen Hills (2)Tottenham HotspurFebruary Casey Stoney (2)Manchester UnitedMarch Carla WardSheffield UnitedApril Casey Stoney (3)Manchester United
See also 2018–19 FA Women's League Cup 2018–19 FA WSL (tier 1) 2018–19 FA Women's National League (tier 3)
References
External links Official website