The WSL kicks off its 2026/27 season on September 4 as a 14-team league for the first time — up from 12 — with three clubs joining the top flight. Birmingham City and Crystal Palace earned automatic promotion, and Charlton Athletic fought their way in through the play-off, giving the league its biggest overhaul in years.
How the three clubs got here
Birmingham City and Crystal Palace finished first and second in the WSL2 table, both level on 44 points, with Birmingham taking the title on goal difference — enough for both to go up automatically. Charlton Athletic, who finished third, had to earn their spot the harder way: a single-match promotion play-off against the WSL's bottom-placed side, Leicester City, at The Valley on May 23. Charlton won it on penalties, sending Leicester down to WSL2 and booking their own first-ever appearance in England's top flight.
What each club is walking into
Birmingham City are the only one of the three with WSL experience — they're back after being relegated at the end of the 2021–22 season — and they open with about as tough a re-introduction as it gets: a trip to defending champions Manchester City on September 6. Crystal Palace host Everton the same day, and Charlton Athletic get to christen their WSL debut at home, hosting Liverpool.
Why "bigger" is the right word
Going from 12 to 14 clubs doesn't just mean three new badges in the table — it stretches every team's regular-season schedule from 22 games to 26, more fixtures against a deeper and more varied field. Combined with a marquee offseason signing at London City Lionesses (more on that here) and a full opening weekend slate spread across September 4–6 (full fixture-by-fixture breakdown here), the WSL heads into 2026/27 as a genuinely bigger league — not just in name, but in the number of clubs, games, and storylines competing for attention.
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