The 2021–22 FA Women's Championship was the fourth season of the rebranded FA Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England. It was renamed from the FA WSL 2 which was founded in 2014.
On 3 April 2022, Liverpool clinched the league title with a 4–2 win over Bristol City, their 19th consecutive league match unbeaten dating back to a 1–0 defeat at the hands of London City Lionesses on 29 August 2021, the opening game of the season. The result earned Liverpool promotion to the top-flight FA WSL after a two season absence.
On 1 May 2022, the final day of the season, Watford were relegated to the FA Women's National League after only one season in the Championship following a 1–0 defeat at home to relegation rivals Coventry United. Watford started the day two points ahead of Coventry knowing a draw would secure their Championship status. Coventry had not been off the bottom of the table since they were handed a 10 point deduction on 6 January 2022. A 90+7 minute free kick from Mollie Green was the only goal of the game at Vicarage Road as Coventry United finished the season on an eight-game unbeaten streak to remain in the second tier.
Teams
Twelve teams competed in the Championship for the 2021–22 season, an increase of one team from the previous season. This was a planned progression of the restructuring of the English women's game, a move prompted to provide for a fully professional Women's Super League (WSL) starting with the 2018–19 season. The expansion was originally scheduled from the 2019–20 season but the demotion of Yeovil Town directly from the WSL to the third-tier in 2019 and then the season's curtailment the following year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic had twice delayed this.
Movement between the WSL and Championship was granted on purely sporting merit as both the 2020–21 FA WSL and Championship seasons were completed in full. Leicester City earned promotion and their place was taken by Bristol City who were relegated after finishing bottom of the WSL. London Bees finished bottom of the 2020–21 Championship and were relegated to the National League. Upward movement from the National League was granted via application based on a set criteria including points-per-game over the previous two seasons in order to support the stability and integrity of the women's football pyramid after the previous two National League seasons had both been curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Sunderland were promoted from the National League North and Watford were promoted from the National League South.
On 24 December 2021, directors at Coventry United confirmed the club was going into voluntary liquidation. They had accelerated the team into becoming fully-professional prior to the start of the season. With a formal deadline set for 4 January 2022, investor Lewis Taylor made a bid to acquire the club and clear the debts to ensure the club could complete the season. The offer was accepted and the club was rescued although the FA handed down a 10 points deduction for triggering an insolvency event.
Team Location Ground Capacity 2020–21 season Blackburn Rovers Bamber Bridge Sir Tom Finney Stadium 3,000 Bristol City Failand Robins High Performance Centre Charlton Athletic Bexley The Oakwood 1,180 Coventry United Coventry Butts Park Arena 4,000 Crystal Palace Bromley Hayes Lane 5,000 Durham Durham Maiden Castle 3,000 Liverpool Birkenhead Prenton Park 16,547 Lewes Lewes The Dripping Pan 3,000 London City Lionesses Dartford Princes Park 4,100 Sheffield United Chesterfield Technique Stadium 10,504 Sunderland Hetton-le-Hole Eppleton CW 2,500 Watford Kings Langley The Orbital Fasteners Stadium 1,500
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointmentBristol City Matt Beard (interim)End of interim period13 May 2021End of season (FA WSL, 12th) Lauren Smith21 June 2021Liverpool Amber Whiteley (interim)End of interim period13 May 2021End of season (3rd) Matt Beard13 May 2021Lewes Simon ParkerSacked12 October 20218th Craig Gill (interim)13 October 2021Watford Clinton LancasterSacked31 December 202112th Gifton Noel-Williams (interim)31 December 2021
Table
Results
Season statistics Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Abi HarrisonBristol City172 Leanne KiernanLiverpool133 Courtney Sweetman-KirkSheffield United114 Beth HeppleDurham105 Katie StengelLiverpool8 Lucy WatsonSheffield United7 Amy RodgersLondon City Lionesses7 Katie WilkinsonCoventry United9 Rio HardyCoventry United6 Molly SharpeCrystal Palace
Awards Annual awards Award Winner ClubGolden boot Abi HarrisonBristol CityGolden glove Rachael LawsLiverpool
See also 2021–22 FA Women's League Cup 2021–22 FA WSL (tier 1) 2021–22 FA Women's National League (tier 3 & 4)
References
External links Official website