English Women's League (1st tier) WFA National League Premier Division (1991–1994)FA Women's Premier League National Division (1994–2010)Women's Super League (2011–2013, 2018-present)WSL1 (2014-2016, 2017-2018)WSL1 Spring Series (2017; unofficial) Country (some clubs) Founded 1991 Number of teams 14 (2026–27) Current champions Manchester City (2025–26) Most successful club Arsenal (15 championships)
The English women's football champions are the winners of the highest national league in women's football in England. From 1991 this was the WFA National League/FA Women's Premier League, and since 2011 the Women's Super League.
First champions Early 20th century
The codification of professional men's football by the Football Association in 1885 and the Football League in 1888 did not coincide with similar measures for the women's teams who were playing in those years. Clubs such as the British Ladies' Football Club (founded in 1895) mainly competed in friendly matches and national tours with some success.
Women's football had a resurgence in popularity and attendances around the country during and after the First World War. During the 1920–21 season, the Dick, Kerr Ladies F.C. toured Great Britain and won 58 matches out of 59 played, with one draw.
Stoke Ladies F.C. were the first known winners of a women's national knockout tournament in 1922, the English Ladies Football Association Challenge Cup, played under an effective ban on women's football by the FA. The renamed Dick, Kerr team, Preston Ladies, faced Edinburgh for a (British) cup named the Ladies' Football World Championship, on at least two occasions in the 1930s. Preston won in 1937 by a 5–1 score, but the trophy went to Scotland in 1939, when Edinburgh won the title, beating Preston 5–2 in an apparently longer club competition.
Women's Football Association (WFA)
The WFA was founded in November 1969 as the Ladies Football Association of Great Britain, when the main women's football competitions were Regional Leagues. After the English Football Association reversed its 1921 ban on women's games at its grounds, the WFA Cup began in 1970–71, a national competition initially including many clubs outside of England. In the 1971 Final, Southampton Women's F.C. became the champions by beating Kilmarnock's Stewarton Thistle, who won the first Scottish Women's Cup in the same year.
Southampton were the leading English team of the era, WFA Cup-winners eight times between 1971 and 1981, and runners-up twice. Doncaster Belles won their first WFA Cup Final in 1983 and proceeded to reach almost every Final in the next decade; the 1990 Final was their fourth Cup victory, but Millwall Lionesses beat Doncaster in the Final in 1991.
At this time, the WFA received a grant from the Sports Council to create the Women's National League. This began in the 1991–92 season with eight teams in the Premier Division, and 16 teams in the Northern and Southern Divisions. The WFA Cup (Women's FA Cup) has continued alongside the leagues, and the Women's National League Cup also started in 1991–92. Since then, the top-level league has determined the annual champions of English women's football – this encompasses the division's renaming as the FA Women's Premier League (from 1994), qualification to the UEFA Women's Cup (from 2001), and the addition of the FA WSL (from 2011).
List of League champions Note: Bold designates teams that won a double with the Women's FA Cup.† Arsenal won a treble with the UEFA Women's Cup in 2007.
WFA National League Premier Division (1991–1994)
Season Champions(number of titles) Runners-up Third place Top scorers Goals 1991–92 Doncaster Belles Red Star Southampton Wimbledon Karen Walker (Doncaster Belles)36 1992–93 Arsenal Doncaster Belles Knowsley United 1993–94 Doncaster Belles (2) Arsenal Knowsley United
FA Women's Premier League National Division (1994–2010)
Season Champions(number of titles) Runners-up Third place Top scorers Goals 1994–95 Arsenal (2) Liverpool Doncaster Belles 1995–96 Croydon Doncaster Belles Arsenal 1996–97 Arsenal (3) Doncaster Belles Croydon Joanne Broadhurst (Arsenal)21 1997–98 Everton Arsenal Doncaster Belles 1998–99 Croydon (2) ArsenalDoncaster Belles 1999–2000 Croydon (3) Doncaster Belles Arsenal 2000–01 Arsenal (4) Doncaster Belles Charlton Athletic 2001–02 Arsenal (5) Doncaster Belles Charlton Athletic 2002–03 Fulham Doncaster Belles Arsenal 2003–04 Arsenal (6) Charlton Athletic Fulham 2004–05 Arsenal (7) Charlton Athletic Everton Trudy Williams (Bristol Rovers)20 2005–06 Arsenal (8) Everton Charlton Athletic Kelly Smith (Arsenal)18 2006–07 Arsenal (9)† Everton Charlton Athletic Lianne Sanderson (Arsenal)29 2007–08 Arsenal (10) Everton Leeds United Lianne Sanderson (Arsenal)25 2008–09 Arsenal (11) Everton Chelsea Kelly Smith (Arsenal)25 2009–10 Arsenal (12) Everton Chelsea Kim Little (Arsenal)17
Women's Super League (2011–present)
Season Champions(number of titles) Runners-up Third place Top scorers Goals 2011 Arsenal (13) Birmingham City Everton Rachel Williams (Birmingham City) 14 2012 Arsenal (14) Birmingham City Everton Kim Little (Arsenal) 11 2013 Liverpool Bristol Academy Arsenal Natasha Dowie (Liverpool) 13 2014 Liverpool (2) Chelsea Birmingham City Karen Carney (Birmingham) 8 2015 Chelsea Manchester City Arsenal Beth Mead (Sunderland) 12 2016 Manchester City Chelsea Arsenal Eniola Aluko (Chelsea) 9 2017 Spring Series Chelsea (unofficial) Manchester City Arsenal Fran Kirby (Chelsea) 62017-18Chelsea (2)Manchester CityArsenal Ellen White (Birmingham City) 15 2018–19 Arsenal (15)Manchester City Chelsea Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal) 22 2019–20 Chelsea (3)Manchester City Arsenal Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal) 16 2020–21 Chelsea (4)Manchester City Arsenal Sam Kerr (Chelsea) 21 2021–22 Chelsea (5) Arsenal Manchester City Sam Kerr (Chelsea) 20 2022–23 Chelsea (6) Manchester United Arsenal Rachel Daly (Aston Villa) 22 2023–24 Chelsea (7) Manchester City Arsenal Khadija Shaw (Manchester City) 21 2024–25 Chelsea (8) Arsenal Manchester United Alessia Russo (Arsenal) Khadija Shaw (Manchester City) 122025–26Manchester City (2)ArsenalChelsea Khadija Shaw (Manchester City) 22
Total titles won Since 1991, eight separate clubs have won an English women's national league championship. Four more clubs have been the national runners-up. Note: Bold designates teams competing in 2026–27 Women's Super League season.
Club Winners Runners-up Winning seasons Runner-up seasons Arsenal15 6 1992–93, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011, 2012, 2018–19 1993–94, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2021–22, 2024–25, 2025–26 Chelsea82 2015, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25 2014, 2016 Croydon/Charlton Athletic 1995–96, 1998–99, 1999–2000 2003–04, 2004–05 Doncaster Belles/Doncaster Rovers Belles27 1991–92, 1993–94 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03 Manchester City 26 2016, 2025–26 2015, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2023–24 Liverpool2 1 2013, 2014 1994–95 Everton 1997–98 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10 Fulham10 2002–03 Birmingham City0 2 2011, 2012 Red Star Southampton0 1 1991–92 Bristol Academy/Bristol City0 1 2013 Manchester United01 2022–23
See also List of women's association football clubs in England List of Belgian women's football champions List of French women's football champions List of German women's football champions List of Swedish women's football champions List of association football competitions
Notes
References