Independent Rs Messageboard

[Steve Russell]

News from the Offy site....

'The FA have confirmed the new FA Women’s National League (WNL) season will begin on Sunday 17th August
and end on Sunday 26th April, with the full fixture list set to be released on Tuesday 15th July.

Following the approved expansion of the Barclays Women’s Super League, next season will also see a one-off
change to the promotion system in The FA WNL, which covers Tiers 3 and 4 of the pyramid.

QPR FC Women operate in FA WNL Division One South East - Tier 4.

In order to retain divisions of 12 teams across Tiers 2, 3 and 4 for the 2026/27 season, an extra team will be
promoted from Tier 3 to the Barclays WSL2 alongside the winners of the Southern Premier Division and Northern Premier
Division.

This place will be decided by a play-off match between the two teams that finish second in the two divisions at the end
of next season.

Two additional teams will also be promoted from Tier 4 to Tier 3, alongside the four division winners.

These will also be determined by play-offs, with the second-placed sides in Division One North and Division One Midlands
facing each other for one place, and the two second-placed sides in Division One South West and Division One South East
competing for the other spot.

All three play-off finals will take place in May, while relegation remains unaffected, with the t
wo bottom-placed sides from each division dropping down.

The 2025/26 season will also see a change to the format of The FA Women’s League Cup, with the introduction of a group
stage and entry of Professional Game Academy sides, who last season competed in the Plate competition for the first time,
with the aim of providing more competitive playing opportunities for younger players.

Teams will initially be drawn into 22 groups of four teams, from which the 22 group winners and 10 best runners-up will
advance to the Cup knockout stages. The other 12 runners-up, and 20 best third-placed teams will advance to the Plate
knockout stages.

From there, both the Cup and the Plate will hold four knockout rounds before the final.'