Women’s Championship Preview — Part One
Beginning next month, we will be covering the Women’s Championship, the second — semi-professional — tier of the English league system
The winners of the Championship each year are promoted to WSL, and the bottom placed team is relegated to the National League. NL division winners meet each year for a playoff to determine who takes their place.
The Championship began life in 2014 as WSL2, the second tier of a disconnected two-division pro “pyramid”. The promotion playoff from the NL (and relegation of the last placed team from D2) was introduced in 2018.
Birmingham City play at the club’s main ground, St Andrews and they missed out on a derby after Aston Villa went the other way. They have no trophies of note but have been runners up twice, and missed out on a license for WSL 1 back in 2010.
Blackburn Rovers play at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium in the village of Bamber Bridge, which is 3 miles southeast of Preston and 9 miles away from Blackburn. Preston’s women’s side disaffiliated and moved to become part of AFC Fylde, albeit in a lower division. When the WSL was founded in 2010, Rovers were one of only two top tier clubs not to apply for a license — because the fledgling WSL required women’s clubs to be legally separate from the men’s clubs. It was 2020 before the club were able to successfully win their spot.
Bristol City play at the Robins High Performance Center, also in the southwestern city of Bristol. They are an unusual example of a club switching affiliations from one men’s club to its direct rival, BCFC having been founded as Bristol Rovers. Rovers withdrew support in 2006, due to being unable to fund the women’s side. They were then backed by Bristol Academy of Sport (They were an unsuccessful WSL applicant in 2010). Finally in 2013, they were affiliated with Bristol City. They have been a WSL side for the majority of that time, save for one season in the then WSL2 in 2016. They have yet to win a trophy as BCFC, but did finish runners up once.
Charlton Athletic play at The Oakwood in Crayford, 10 miles along the serpentine Thames from their home neighborhood in southeast London. It’s also the same neighborhood that London City Lionesses play in. They were founded in 1991 as Bromley Borough, by former members of the Millwall Lionesses (a club with a substantial history of its own) including Hope Powell and Sue Law. They then affiliated with Croydon, and made it into the top tier. In 2000, Croydon were the subject of a hostile takeover by Charlton. They have won the top division three times and been a runner up twice.
Coventry United are a rare Championship club to be affiliated with a non-league side when a higher league side is present in town. Coventry City, with whom CUFC was originally affiliated, has a retracted battle over access to its own stadium — largely caused by the arrival on the scene of (formerly) London Wasps. Nonetheless, CUFC has remained in the West Midlands city and twice won their division whilst not winning the promotion playoff.
Crystal Palace is north of the present day Selhurst Park, and CPFC play a further six miles east in the London Borough of Bromley. They have been part of Palace since they were created in 1992, and have yet to win a significant trophy.
Next up: The clubs from D to Z.
