WSL’s promotion-relegation playoff will give WSL 2 side home advantage

The Women’s Super League 2 side involved in the new promotion-relegation playoff will have home advantage in the one-leg contest, WSL Football has confirmed, with the top-flight side having to play away from home.

The first fixture of its kind in the English women’s top divisions, the playoff will be held on Saturday 23 May with a 12.30pm kick-off and will pit the team third in WSL 2 against the WSL’s bottom side. The match will be broadcast live on BBC Two and Sky Sports.

Leicester are bottom of the WSL, one point behind Liverpool and two behind West Ham with a game in hand on each. Crystal Palace sit third in WSL 2, with Bristol City and Newcastle hot on their heels.

The playoff comes amid an expansion of the top flight from 12 to 14 teams this summer. From next season, the playoff will be between the runners-up in WSL 2 and the second-bottom WSL side. No decision has been made about whether future playoffs would also give the lower-ranked side home advantage.

WSL Football has also confirmed the dates and kick-off times for the final rounds of regular-season fixtures for this season. The WSL 2 campaign will conclude on Saturday 2 May, with all six matches at 3pm and all live on YouTube. Sky Sports will also have the option to select a game. The top two sides in the division will be promoted automatically.

The WSL season will end of Saturday 16 May, with all six matches at 1pm and all live on Sky Sports. That is day of the men’s FA Cup final, when no Premier League games are taking place.

The 2026-27 season’s start and end weekends have been revealed by WSL Football. The WSL and WSL 2 will get their campaigns under way across the weekend of 4-6 September and the season will end on 21-23 May 2027.

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