2025–26 Women's Super League 2
Football league season
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The 2025–26 Women's Super League 2 is the first season of the Women's Super League 2 since it was reverted to the WSL2 name, and the 11th since the creation of the WSL 2 in 2014. The season began on 5 September 2025 and will end on 3 May 2026.[1][2]
Season2025–26
ChampionsBirmingham City
2nd D2 title
2nd D2 title
PromotedBirmingham City
Crystal Palace
Charlton Athletic
Crystal Palace
Charlton Athletic
| Season | 2025–26 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 5 September 2025 – 3 May 2026[1][2] |
| Champions | Birmingham City 2nd D2 title |
| Promoted | Birmingham City Crystal Palace Charlton Athletic |
| Relegated | Portsmouth |
| Matches | 132 |
| Goals | 396 (3 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Lexi Lloyd-Smith (Bristol City) (11 goals) |
| Best goalkeeper | Sophie Whitehouse (Charlton Athletic) (8 clean sheets) |
| Biggest home win | Bristol City 7–0 Ipswich Town (9 November 2025) |
| Biggest away win | Sheffield United 0–4 Sunderland (5 September 2025) Ipswich Town 0–4 Birmingham City (12 October 2025) Portsmouth 0–4 Birmingham City (24 January 2026) Sheffield United 0–4 Bristol City (2 May 2026) |
| Highest scoring | Crystal Palace 4–4 Southampton (14 September 2025) |
| Longest winning run | (5 games) Crystal Palace (16 November 2025 – 25 January 2026) |
| Longest unbeaten run | (16 games) Charlton Athletic (7 September 2025 – 18 February 2026) |
| Longest winless run | (9 games) Ipswich Town (5 October 2025 – 1 February 2026) Sheffield United (16 November 2025 – 22 March 2026) |
| Longest losing run | (6 games) Portsmouth (21 December 2025 – 15 February 2026) |
← 2024–25 2026–27 →
All statistics correct as of 2 May 2026. | |
On 16 June 2025 it was announced that the Women's Super League would be expanding to 14 teams for the 2026–27 season. Because of this, the 2025–26 WSL 2 season will have two promotions and a promotion/relegation play-off for the 3rd placed team.[3]
Teams
Location of clubs for the 2025–26 season
Twelve teams competed in the WSL2 for the 2025–26 season, an increase of one from the previous season.[4]
London City Lionesses were promoted to the Women's Super League as 2024–25 Women's Championship winners.[5] They were replaced by Crystal Palace who returned to the division following relegation from the Women's Super League after one season.[6]
Nottingham Forest, winners of the 2024–25 FA Women's National League North,[7] and Ipswich Town, winners of the 2024–25 FA Women's National League South were both promoted.[8] Both clubs made their WSL2 debuts.
On 20 May 2025, it was announced Blackburn Rovers had withdrawn from the WSL2 due to the club owner's unwillingness to meet league requirements on facilities, player welfare and staffing.[9][10] They re-entered at the fourth tier (Division One North). Sheffield United who were set to be relegated to the FA Women's National League after spending seven seasons in the Championship were reprieved from relegation.[11]
| Team | Location | Ground | Capacity | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham City | Birmingham (Bordesley) | St Andrew's | 29,902 |  Amy Merricks |
| Bristol City | Bristol (Ashton Gate) | Ashton Gate | 27,000 | Charlotte Healy |
| Charlton Athletic | London (Charlton) | The Valley | 27,111 | Karen Hills |
| Crystal Palace | London (Sutton) | Gander Green Lane | 5,013 | Jo Potter |
| Durham | Durham | Maiden Castle | 1,800 (League) 2,400 (Cup) | Neil Redfearn (interim) |
| Ipswich Town | Colchester | Colchester Community Stadium | 10,105 | David Wright |
| Newcastle United | Gateshead | Gateshead International Stadium | 11,800 |  Tanya Oxtoby |
| Nottingham Forest | Nottingham (West Bridgford) | The City Ground | 30,404 | Carly Davies |
| Portsmouth | Havant | Westleigh Park | 5,300 | Jay Sadler |
| Sheffield United | Sheffield | Bramall Lane | 32,050 | Stephen Healy |
| Southampton | Southampton | St Mary's Stadium | 32,384 | Simon Parker |
| Sunderland | Hetton-le-Hole | Eppleton CW | 2,500 | Melanie Reay |
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Palace |  Leif Gunnar Smerud |
Mutual agreement | 11 May 2025[12] | Pre season | Jo Potter |
24 June 2025[13] |
| Bristol City | Stephen Kirby |
Mutual agreement | 13 May 2025[14] | Charlotte Healy |
24 June 2025[15] | |
| Southampton | Marieanne Spacey-Cale (interim) |
End of interim period | 4 May 2025 | Simon Parker |
4 July 2025[16] | |
| Sheffield United | Ash Thompson |
Mutual Agreement | 30 September 2025 | 12th | Luke Turner (interim) |
30 September 2025[17] |
| Newcastle United | Becky Langley |
Sacked | 20 October 2025[18] | 9th | Claire Ditchburn (interim) |
22 October 2025[19] |
| Claire Ditchburn (interim) |
End of interim spell | 22 November 2025 | 4th | Tanya Oxtoby |
22 November 2025[20] | |
| Ipswich Town | Joe Sheehan |
Mutual agreement | 7 January 2026[21] | 12th | David Wright[a] |
7 January 2026 |
| Sheffield United | Luke Turner (interim) |
End of interim spell | 25 January 2026 | 9th | Stephen Healey |
25 January 2026[23] |
| Durham | Adam Furness |
Mutual agreement | 15 March 2026 | 9th | Neil Redfearn (interim) |
15 March 2026[24] |
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham City (C, P) | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 46 | 24 | +22 | 44 | Promotion to the WSL[a] |
| 2 | Crystal Palace (P) | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 44 | 26 | +18 | 44 | |
| 3 | Charlton Athletic (P, O) | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 31 | 21 | +10 | 42 | Qualification for promotion play-off |
| 4 | Bristol City | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 47 | 31 | +16 | 37 | |
| 5 | Southampton | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 44 | 26 | +18 | 35 | |
| 6 | Newcastle United | 22 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 32 | 25 | +7 | 33 | |
| 7 | Nottingham Forest | 22 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 27 | 35 | −8 | 30 | |
| 8 | Sunderland | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 28 | 35 | −7 | 24 | |
| 9 | Ipswich Town | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 26 | 42 | −16 | 23 | |
| 10 | Durham | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 27 | 35 | −8 | 22 | |
| 11 | Sheffield United | 22 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 21 | 43 | −22 | 18 | |
| 12 | Portsmouth (R) | 22 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 23 | 53 | −30 | 14 | Relegation to the Women's National League South |
Source: WSL 2 League Table
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- Dependent on obtaining a licence.
Matches
Promotion play-off
Season statistics
Top scorers
- As of 2 May 2026
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[25] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lexi Lloyd-Smith |
Bristol City | 11 |
| 2 | Rio Hardy |
Bristol City | 10 |
| 3 | Amy Andrews |
Sheffield United | 9 |
| 4 | Mary Bashford |
Southampton | 8 |
| Lily Crosthwaite |
Birmingham City | ||
| Jessie Gale |
Bristol City | ||
| Beth Hepple |
Durham Women | ||
| Megan Hornby |
Portsmouth | ||
 Kirsty Howat |
Crystal Palace | ||
 Abbie Larkin |
Crystal Palace | ||
| 11 |  Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah |
Nottingham Forest | 7 |
 Wilma Leidhammar |
Birmingham City | ||
 Veatriki Sarri |
Birmingham City | ||
 Ashleigh Weerden |
Crystal Palace | ||
| 15 | Annabel Blanchard |
Crystal Palace | 6 |
| Ellie Brazil |
Southampton | ||
 Katie Kitching |
Sunderland | ||
| Emily Murphy |
Newcastle United | ||
| Jordan Nobbs |
Newcastle United | ||
| Emily Scarr |
Sunderland | ||
| Jess Simpson |
Southampton | ||
| 22 | Rianna Dean |
Ipswich Town | 5 |
| Lucy Fitzgerald |
Charlton Athletic | ||
| Jodie Hutton |
Charlton Athletic | ||
 Gillian Kenney |
Charlton Athletic | ||
| Beth Lumsden |
Newcastle United | ||
| Michaela McAlonie |
Southampton | ||
| Sophie Peskett |
Ipswich Town | ||
| Molly-Mae Sharpe |
Crystal Palace |
Clean sheets
- As of 2 May 2026
| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets[26] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sophie Whitehouse |
Charlton Athletic | 8 |
| 2 | Fran Stenson |
Southampton F.C. | 6 |
| Shae Yanez |
Crystal Palace | ||
| 4 | Fran Bentley |
Bristol City | 5 |
| Emily Batty |
Nottingham Forest | ||
| 6 | Adrianna French |
Birmingham City | 4 |
| Catriona Sheppard |
Durham | ||
 Anna Tamminen |
Newcastle United | ||
| 9 | Lucy Thomas |
Birmingham City | 3 |
| 10 | Grace Moloney |
Sunderland | 2 |
| Jess Gray |
Portsmouth | ||
| 12 | 5 players | 1 | |
Discipline
- As of 2 May 2026
Awards
Monthly awards
| Month | Manager of the Month | Player of the Month | Goal of the Month | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club | ||
| September | Amy Merricks |
Birmingham City | Emily Scarr |
Sunderland | Angelina Nixon |
Portsmouth | [29][30][31] |
| October | Simon Parker |
Southampton | Jodie Hutton |
Charlton Athletic |  Vicky Losada |
Bristol City | [32][33][34] |
| November | Karen Hills |
Charlton Athletic | Megan Hornby |
Portsmouth | Mary Corbyn |
Sunderland | [35][36][37] |
| December | Jo Potter |
Crystal Palace | Jordan Nobbs |
Newcastle United | Veatriki Sarri |
Birmingham City | [38][39][40] |
| January | Charlotte Healy |
Bristol City | Lily Crosthwaite |
Birmingham City | Jessie Gale |
Bristol City | [41][42][43] |
| February | Tanya Oxtoby |
Newcastle United |  Ashleigh Weerden |
Crystal Palace | Lucy Watson |
Durham | [44][45][46] |
| March | Amy Merricks |
Birmingham City | Aimee Everett |
Amy Andrews |
Sheffield United | [47][48][49] | |
| April | David Wright |
Ipswich Town | Beth Hepple |
Durham | Jordan Nobbs |
Newcastle United | [50][51][52] |