All You Need To Know About The Women's Super League

The Women’s Super League (WSL) is the top-tier women’s football league in England. It’s organized by the Football Association Women’s Super League (FA WSL). The league was established in 2010 and now bears the surname of its sponsor: Barclays. Recently, it has received more investments, media coverage, and attention from sportsbooks.

Learn more about one of the best women’s football leagues globally in this article.

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Kickstart

The first season of WSL happened back in 2011, in substitution of the FA Women’s Premier League. On occasion, eight clubs disputed the tournament. Sixteen clubs applied for the competition.

The FA WSL took the Women’s Premier Division spot as the country's top women’s football competition. In the first editions, no team went down to the second division. From 2014 on, the teams on the last two positions were downgraded to the second division for the next season.

Bookies, Punters, and Cameras

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It’s easy to be led to the mistaken assumption that the latter enjoy less public interest. Recent research points out that there’s a lot of interest in women's sports, the only thing which is really lacking is extended media coverage.

Yet, women’s sports are unlikely to get more coverage if viewership numbers remain low. Could sports betting be the way forward? More sportsbooks are including women’s leagues on their portfolios, resulting in more engagement. Many of those sportsbooks are hosted by online casinos, so while you’re searching out the latest betting odds, you can also discover the latest free spins promotions for online games such as poker, blackjack etc.

Key Facts About the WSL

During this past decade, the league has been through a few transformations. Check below a short timeline, so you can better follow the league’s evolution.

• 2011 - The Football Association Women’s Super League was created. Eight teams were selected from sixteen applicants.
• 2014 - The League opens a second division, where the two lowest-positioned clubs are relegated. Due to the creation of a second division, the same was called WSL 1 and WSL 2. Ten teams now play in the first division. Additionally, it started following the same calendar of other leagues in the country.
• 2015 - The League’s champion and vice-champion get to play in the Women’s Champion League. In the first game was Liverpool against Brescia, finishing favourably for the Italian team.
• 2016 - The WSL changed its format from a summer season to a winter season.
• 2018 - The League was rebranded from WSL1 to its current name. In the same year, the league became fully professionalized. The teams had to reapply to take part in the competition. Also, clubs should sign 16 hours contracts with their players to be admitted. Sunderland failed to get the licence. Meanwhile, three new teams were added: West Ham, Hove Albion, and Brighton.
• 2019/2020 - Yeovil went down to the second division. Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur reached the first division, which now had 12 teams.

Fantasy World

The presence of women’s sports in the fantasy sports environment has been growing lately. For those unfamiliar with the concept, fantasy sports aren’t like video games, and there’s no visual action, like in eSports, for instance. In fantasy sports games, you’re the manager of a team, with players based on real-life or otherwise. This niche attracted about 59 million players in 2017, and it has never stopped growing.

Fantasy football once dominated male teams, and male enthusiasts now have options for women’s leagues. Among them, there’s FAWSL, and fans can get a feeling of managing the best women’s teams in the UK on platforms like ShePlays.com. This kind of game already counts with its influencers, like the British and mom-of-one maths teacher Holly.

Fantasy games have the potential to expand the league’s viewership even further. The same tactic has worked, for instance, with golf. Thanks to this interactive approach, the game attracted more Millennials to the sport via fantasy games. The FAWSL is living in a similar moment now.

Extra-Time

The FAWSL plays a vital role in the organization and recognition of women’s football worldwide. The number of teams has increased over time. Now, there are 12 clubs in the competition. Arsenal and Chelsea share the top of the competition, with more victories than any other team. Currently, the tournament is broadcast to more than 12 countries around the world.

The favourable environment has attracted foreign players from Canada, the United States, and more. The results are reflected in solid performances on a national and international level. As the competition attracts more viewership, it attracts more sponsors, improving broadcasting, bringing even more viewership. The FA WSL seems to have initiated this virtuous cycle.