North West Women's Regional Football League

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North West Women's Regional Football League
Founded1989
Country England
Divisions3
Number of teams34
Level on pyramid5 & 6
Promotion toFA Women's National League Division One North
Relegation toCheshire Women's & Youth Football League;
Greater Manchester Women's Football League;
Lancashire FA Women's County League;
Liverpool Women's & Youth Football League.
WebsiteThe FA – NWWRFL

The North West Women's Regional Football League (NWWRFL) is one of the eight English regional leagues comprising the fifth and sixth tiers of the English women's football pyramid. The other seven leagues are the North East, East Midlands, West Midlands, Eastern, London and South East, South West and Southern. The NWWRFL includes teams from several counties in the north west of England. Broadly, these are Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire.

The league has two levels: the tier five Premier Division and, split geographically, the tier six Division One North and Division One South. The Premier Division has promotion into the FA Women's National League Division One (tier four). Division One North and Division One South have relegation into four county leagues (all tier seven): Cheshire Women's & Youth Football League Premier Division; Greater Manchester Women's Football League Premier Division; Lancashire FA Women's County League Division One; and Liverpool Women's & Youth Football League Division One.

History

The league was founded in 1989, with the merger of the Greater Manchester and Merseyside League, the North West Women's League, and the Three Counties League. On formation, it had 42 teams, spread over four divisions.[1]

The former Women's Football Association (WFA) was established in 1969, independently of the FA.[2] While progress was made at the national and international levels, grassroots development was hindered by lack of funding and, by 1993, there were only 80 girls' teams nationwide, including some in Lancashire, Liverpool and Manchester. In 1993, the WFA disbanded as governance of women's football was accepted by the FA.[3] Among the FA's priorities were, as in men's football, to develop a pyramid system of leagues throughout the country and to establish regional governance by county associations. These include the Lancashire County Football Association which, in 1996, established the Lancashire FA Women's County League, originally known as the Lancashire FA Girls League.[4]

As the number of teams and local leagues grew, the women's pyramid was restructured and the North West Women's Regional Football League was formally reconstituted in 2003. Growth was boosted by affiliation of women's teams to professional clubs – for example, when the NWWRFL began in 2003–04, the Premier Division included teams affiliated to

Bolton Wanderers Ladies, Bury FC Women, Chorley Women FC, Hopwood Ladies, Liverpool Feds, Preston North End WFC, Stretford Victoria, Warrington Town Ladies and Witton Albion Ladies.[5]

In 2005, the NWWRFL's structure was changed from four levels to two by the combination of the old Divisions One, Two and Three into Division One North and Division One South, which are both in level six of the pyramid and split geographically. During the 2000s, there was further reorganisation of women's football at county level and, in addition to the tier seven Lancashire League, others were established in Cheshire, Greater Manchester, and Merseyside. The top divisions of these four leagues have promotion into NWWRFL Divisions One North and One South. The Premier Division was unchanged in 2005 and is now a level five league with promotion into the level four FA Women's National League Division One. It is one of eight level five leagues nationally, the others being the North East, East Midlands, West Midlands, Eastern, London and South East, South West and Southern.[6]

The NWWRFL's first season as a two-level structure was 2005–06 in which the Premier Division champions were Stretford Victoria.[7] The first winners of Division One North and South were Saint Domingo's (based in Huyton, Liverpool) and AFC Urmston Meadowside (based in Davyhulme, Manchester) respectively.[8][9]

The league's 2019–20 season was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and all matches were declared null and void.[10] The 2020–21 season began but, after more Covid-related disruption, it was curtailed on 16 March 2021 with no titles, promotions or relegations.[11] For the 2021–22 season, the league has been enlarged from 30 to 34 clubs as both Division One North and South now have twelve members.[12][13]

Current clubs (2023–24)

Premier Division

Club Home ground
Darwen F.C. Anchor Road, Darwen
Blackpool
 HASSRA Sports Pavilion, Thornton-Cleveleys
Bury Gigg Lane, Bury
Cheadle Town Stingers Park Road, Cheadle
Crewe Alexandra Alexandra Soccer Centre, Crewe
Curzon Ashton Tameside Stadium,
Ashton-Under-Lyne
Fleetwood Town Wrens Poolfoot Farm, Thornton-Cleveleys
Merseyrail Admiral Park, Toxteth
Salford City Lionesses Partington Sports Village, Partington
Tranmere Rovers Ellesmere Port Sports Village, Ellesmere Port
West Didsbury & Chorlton Step Places Stadium, Chorlton-cum-Hardy
Wigan Athletic Barrows Farm, Billinge

Division One

Division One North

Club Home ground
Accrington Stanley Thorneyholme Road, Accrington
Bolton Wanderers
 Eddie Davies Football Academy, Bolton
Bury FC Foundation Goshen Sports Center, Bury
Carlisle United Creighton Rugby Club, Carlisle
Fleetwood Town Wrens Reserves Squires Gate, Blackpool
Haslingden Valley Leadership Academy, Bacup
Mancunian Unity Whitebank Stadium, Oldham
Morecambe
Globe Arena, Morecambe
Penrith A.F.C. Frenchfield Park, Penrith
Penwortham Town Vernon's Sports Club, Penwortham
Preston North End UCLan Sports Arena, Preston
Workington Reds Derwent Park, Workington

Division One South

Club Home ground
Altrincham Manor Farm, Timperley
Chester Deva Stadium, Chester[14]
Ellesmere Port Town
F.C. St Helens Windleshaw Sports, St Helens
Hindley Juniors Park Lane, Wigan
Litherland REMYCA Litherland Sports Park, Litherland
Mossley Hill Athletic Mossley Hill Road, Liverpool
Northwich Vixens Park Stadium, Northwich
Poulton Vics Poulton Victoria Sports Ground, Wallasey
Runcorn Linnets Millbank Linnets Stadium, Runcorn
Warrington Wolves Foundation Tetley Walker Recreation Ground, Warrington
Wythenshawe Juniors
 Hollyhedge Park, Sharston

Champions

The league began in the 2003–04 season with four divisions which were reduced to two before the 2005–06 season. Since then, the structure has been a Premier Division (tier five) and a Division One (tier six) which is itself geographically partitioned into North and South sub-divisions.[15] Some of the teams listed below were short-lived and are now defunct.

Season Premier Division Division One Division Two Division Three
2003–04 Preston North End WFC Rochdale AFC Ladies Windscale
Burnley FC Girls & Ladies
2004–05
Garswood Saints
 Bury FC Women
Burnley FC Girls & Ladies
 Buxton
Season Premier Division Division One North Division One South
2005–06 Stretford Victoria Saint Domingo's AFC Urmston Meadowside
2006–07 Rochdale AFC Ladies Mossley Hill Athletic Ladies Airbus UK
2007–08 Blackpool Wren Rovers Ladies Leigh RMI Fletcher Moss Rangers Ladies
2008–09 Liverpool Feds Chorley Women FC AFC Urmston Meadowside
2009–10 Mossley Hill Athletic Ladies Wigan Athletic Ladies & Girls Denton Town Ladies
2010–11 Fletcher Moss Rangers Ladies
Blackpool FC Ladies
 Northwich Vixens
2011–12 Chorley Women FC
Morecambe Ladies Reserves
 City of Manchester
2012–13 Tranmere Rovers Ladies Blackpool Wren Rovers Ladies Chester City Ladies
2013–14
Morecambe Ladies Reserves
 Blackburn Community Sports Club Ladies Birkenhead
2014–15 Blackpool Wren Rovers Ladies Accrington Sports and Football Club Manchester Stingers
2015–16 Crewe Alexandra Ladies Preston North End Women's FC MSB Woolton Ladies
2016–17
Bolton Wanderers Ladies
 Sir Tom Finney FC Ladies Merseyrail Bootle
2017–18
Burnley FC Girls & Ladies
 Penrith AFC Ladies FC United of Manchester
2018–19 Stockport County Ladies Bury FC Women West Didsbury & Chorlton Ladies
2019–20 season cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic – all matches null and void[16]
2020–21 season curtailed on 16 March 2021 – no titles, promotion or relegation below tier two[17]
2021–22 Merseyrail Blackburn Community Sports Club Ladies Curzon Ashton
2022–23 F.C. United of Manchester Blackpool Bury

References

  1. ^ "Club History". Chorley Women FC. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Football – 1969". Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Football – 1993". Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  4. ^ "LFA Womens County League". Lancashire FA. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  5. ^ a b c "North West Women's Regional League – Premier Division, 2003–04". The FA. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  6. ^ Ticehurst, Abi (2 March 2021). "Restructures, professional status and the county of Berkshire: the Women's Football Pyramid explained". Football in Bracknell. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  7. ^ "North West Women's Regional League – Premier Division, 2005–06". The FA. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  8. ^ "North West Women's Regional League – Division One North, 2005–06". The FA. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  9. ^ "North West Women's Regional League – Division One South, 2005–06". The FA. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Seasons voided at steps 3 to 6 of non-league". The Football Supporters' Association. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Women's game seasons cancelled in tiers three to six". The Football Supporters' Association. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  12. ^ "North West Women's Regional League – Division One North, 2021–22". The FA. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  13. ^ "North West Women's Regional League – Division One South, 2021–22". The FA. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  14. ^ "Chester FC Women to play at Deva Stadium in 23/24!". Chester FC. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  15. ^ "North West Women's Regional League – Tables by season". The FA. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Seasons voided at steps 3 to 6 of non-league". The Football Supporters' Association. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Women's game seasons cancelled in tiers three to six". The Football Supporters' Association. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2022.

External links

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