2021–22 FA Women's National League

FA Women's National League

Season	2021–22
Champions	Southampton F.C.
Promoted	Southampton F.C.
← 2020–21 2022–23 →

The 2021–22 FA Women's National League was the 30th season of the competition, and the fourth since a restructure and rebranding of the top four tiers of English football by The Football Association. Starting in 1991, it was previously known as the FA Women's Premier League. It sits at the third and fourth levels of the women's football pyramid, below the FA Women's Championship and above the eight regional football leagues.

The league featured six regional divisions: the Northern and Southern Premier divisions at level three of the pyramid, and Division One North, Division One Midlands, Division One South East, and Division One South West at the fourth level. The league consisted of 76 teams, divided into six divisions of 13 teams apart from the Southern Premier Division which contains 14 teams, Division One North which contains 12 teams, and Division One South West which contains 11 teams. At the end of the season the winners of the Northern and Southern Premier divisions qualified for a play-off match to decide the overall National League champion. Southampton F.C. beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final and were promoted to the FA Women's Championship.

Premier Division

Northern Division

Changes from last season:

• Following the second consecutive curtailment of the season amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2021, it was decided that upward club movement within the women's football pyramid would be done via application. All clubs from tiers 3 to 6 were eligible to apply to move into the league immediately one tier above where they currently played with applications marked against a criterion weighted 75% on-field and 25% off-field.
• Sunderland were promoted to FA Women's Championship via application.
• Brighouse Town were promoted from Division One North via application.
• Wolverhampton Wanderers were promoted from Division One Midlands via application.
• Loughborough Foxes merged with Loughborough University's performance team to become Loughborough Lightning.

Club	Home ground	Position 2020–21
Brighouse Town	Yorkshire Payments Stadium, Brighouse	D1 North, N/A
Burnley	Crown Ground, Accrington	N/A
Derby County	Don Amott Arena, Derby	N/A
Fylde	Kelamergh Park, Warton	N/A
Huddersfield Town	The Stafflex Arena, Kirkburton	N/A
Hull City	Haworth Park, Kingston upon Hull	N/A
Loughborough Lightning	Loughborough University Stadium, Loughborough	N/A (as Loughborough Foxes)
Middlesbrough	Bedford Terrace, Billingham	N/A
Nottingham Forest	Coronation Park, Eastwood	N/A
Sheffield F.C.	Home of Football Ground, Dronfield	N/A
Stoke City	Norton Cricket Club, Stoke-on-Trent	N/A
West Bromwich Albion	Central Ground, Sutton Coldfield	N/A
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Castlecroft Stadium, Wolverhampton	D1 Midlands, N/A

Brighouse Town

Burnley

Derby County

Fylde

Huddersfield Town

Hull City

Loughborough Lightning

Middlesbrough

Nottingham Forest

Sheffield F.C.

Stoke City

West Bromwich Albion

Wolverhampton Wanderers

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Location of Northern Premier Division clubs for the 2021–22 season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Wolverhampton Wanderers (C)	24	18	5	1	61	16	+45	59	Championship play-off
2	Derby County	24	16	3	5	48	19	+29	51
3	Fylde	24	14	5	5	47	28	+19	47
4	Burnley	24	14	4	6	70	27	+43	46
5	Nottingham Forest	24	13	5	6	40	17	+23	44
6	Huddersfield Town	24	13	4	7	54	28	+26	43
7	Brighouse Town	24	11	7	6	51	31	+20	40
8	West Bromwich Albion	24	7	7	10	29	44	−15	28
9	Stoke City	24	8	1	15	36	54	−18	25
10	Loughborough Lightning	24	6	5	13	35	63	−28	23
11	Middlesbrough (R)	24	5	3	16	27	67	−40	18	Relegation to FA WNL Division One
12	Hull City (R)	24	2	3	19	18	72	−54	9
13	Sheffield F.C. (R)	24	2	2	20	13	63	−50	8

Source: The Football Association
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	BHT	BUR	DER	FYL	HUD	HUL	LOU	MID	NOT	SHE	STO	WBA	WOL
Brighouse Town	—	3–1	2–3	0–1	1–0	5–0	2–1	4–1	0–1	1–0	2–3	1–1	1–1
Burnley	0–1	—	1–0	2–2	4–0	7–0	3–0	6–1	1–4	6–1	3–1	3–4	3–0
Derby County	1–3	2–1	—	0–0	3–0	3–1	1–1	4–0	1–0	4–0	5–0	0–0	0–1
Fylde	5–2	2–0	0–2	—	1–5	3–0	2–0	6–1	2–1	4–1	2–1	4–0	1–1
Huddersfield Town	1–1	0–0	1–3	3–0	—	1–2	2–2	2–0	2–1	2–0	5–1	3–0	2–3
Hull City	1–5	0–3	1–2	0–1	0–5	—	1–3	0–0	0–6	4–0	1–4	0–0	0–5
Loughborough Lightning	5–4	2–6	0–3	4–1	1–5	2–2	—	1–2	1–1	3–0	1–5	2–1	0–3
Middlesbrough	0–5	1–3	0–2	0–3	1–3	2–1	1–3	—	0–7	2–1	1–2	4–1	0–4
Nottingham Forest	0–0	1–1	0–2	1–0	0–0	1–0	4–0	3–2	—	3–1	2–1	1–0	0–3
Sheffield F.C.	0–3	0–4	0–2	0–2	0–6	4–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	—	1–0	0–2	0–5
Stoke City	1–1	0–2	2–3	2–3	1–2	3–0	4–2	2–6	0–1	2–1	—	2–0	0–4
West Bromwich Albion	2–2	0–8	2–0	2–2	1–3	4–2	5–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	1–0	—	0–3
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–2	2–2	3–2	0–0	2–1	3–2	4–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	5–0	2–0	—

Source: The Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Southern Division

Changes from last season:

• Following the second consecutive curtailment of the season amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2021, it was decided that upward club movement within the women's football pyramid would be done via application. All clubs from tiers 3 to 6 were eligible to apply to move into the league immediately one tier above where they currently played with applications marked against a criterion weighted 75% on-field and 25% off-field.
• Watford were promoted to FA Women's Championship via application.
• London Bees were relegated from FA Women's Championship on sporting merit.
• Ipswich Town were promoted from Division One South East via application.
• Southampton F.C. were promoted from Division One South West via application.
• Yeovil United became Bridgwater United W.F.C. after merging with men's club Bridgwater Town.

Club	Home ground	Position 2020–21
Bridgwater United	Fairfax Park, Bridgwater	N/A (as Yeovil United)
Cardiff City	CCB Centre for Sporting Excellence, Ystrad Mynach	N/A
Chichester & Selsey	The High Street Ground, Selsey	N/A
Crawley Wasps	Camping World Community Stadium, Horsham	N/A
Gillingham	Rede Court Road, Rochester	N/A
Hounslow	Rectory Meadow, Hanworth	N/A
Ipswich Town	The Goldstar Ground, Felixstowe	D1 South East, N/A
Keynsham Town	Crown Field, Keynsham	N/A
London Bees	The Hive, Edgware	Championship, 11th
Milton Keynes Dons	Stadium MK, Milton Keynes	N/A
Oxford United	Marsh Lane, Marston	N/A
Plymouth Argyle	Manadon Sports Hub, Plymouth	N/A
Portsmouth	Westleigh Park, Havant	N/A
Southampton F.C.	Snows Stadium, Totton	D1 South West, N/A

Bridgwater United

Cardiff City

Chichester & Selsey

Crawley Wasps

Gillingham

Hounslow

Ipswich Town

Keynsham Town

London Bees

MK Dons

Oxford United

Plymouth Argyle

Portsmouth

Southampton F.C.

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Location of Southern Premier Division clubs for the 2021–22 season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Southampton F.C. (C, O, P)	26	22	3	1	99	13	+86	69	Championship play-off
2	Oxford United	26	19	3	4	71	15	+56	60
3	Ipswich Town	26	18	4	4	69	14	+55	58
4	Bridgwater United	26	15	5	6	48	16	+32	50
5	Crawley Wasps	26	15	0	11	57	40	+17	45
6	Gillingham	26	13	6	7	37	33	+4	45
7	Portsmouth	26	13	4	9	51	29	+22	43
8	London Bees	26	9	3	14	46	51	−5	30
9	Milton Keynes Dons	26	8	5	13	34	42	−8	29
10	Plymouth Argyle	26	9	2	15	46	61	−15	29
11	Cardiff City Ladies (R)	26	8	2	16	33	52	−19	24	Relegation to FA WNL Division One
12	Chichester & Selsey (R)	26	7	3	16	31	60	−29	24
13	Keynsham Town (R)	26	6	0	20	31	110	−79	18
14	Hounslow (R)	26	0	0	26	5	122	−117	0

Source: The Football Association
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Results

Home \ Away	BWU	CAR	CHI	CRA	GIL	HOU	IPS	KEY	LON	MKD	OXF	PLY	POR	SOU
Bridgwater United	—	4–1	4–0	3–1	0–0	5–0	0–1	9–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	3–0	0–2	0–2
Cardiff City Ladies	0–1	—	3–2	1–3	0–1	4–0	0–3	2–1	4–1	3–2	0–3	1–5	0–1	0–4
Chichester & Selsey	1–0	1–2	—	2–1	1–1	3–0	0–4	3–1	0–5	1–3	1–0	2–1	0–1	0–2
Crawley Wasps	1–2	3–0	5–0	—	4–2	4–1	0–2	4–2	1–2	1–0	1–0	2–0	3–2	0–3
Gillingham	0–0	2–1	4–1	1–0	—	2–0	0–3	H-W	2–1	0–0	0–1	3–2	3–0	0–2
Hounslow	0–3	0–5	1–7	1–7	0–3	—	0–6	0–1	0–1	0–1	0–3	0–2	0–11	0–9
Ipswich Town	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–0	9–0	—	11–2	3–0	3–0	0–1	2–0	1–1	1–2
Keynsham Town	0–2	0–2	2–1	3–1	0–8	6–2	2–5	—	2–0	2–1	0–3	1–5	2–3	1–9
London Bees	0–3	5–1	1–1	1–5	4–0	5–0	1–3	5–1	—	1–1	1–2	2–2	0–4	1–2
Milton Keynes Dons	1–1	1–1	2–1	0–2	1–2	5–0	0–0	5–1	1–5	—	1–0	3–1	0–1	0–1
Oxford United	3–0	2–0	3–0	3–1	2–0	7–0	3–1	9–0	5–1	5–1	—	3–0	3–1	1–1
Plymouth Argyle	1–1	2–1	2–1	3–4	1–3	5–0	0–5	5–0	0–3	5–1	0–5	—	2–1	0–3
Portsmouth	0–2	0–0	3–1	2–3	0–0	3–0	1–0	6–1	2–0	0–3	1–1	5–1	—	0–1
Southampton F.C.	1–1	4–1	8–0	3–0	9–0	5–0	0–2	9–0	5–0	3–1	3–3	6–1	2–0	—

Source: The Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship play-off

The overall FA WNL champion was decided by a play-off match held at the end of the season between the Northern Division and Southern Division winners. The play-off match winner also earned promotion to the FA Women's Championship subject to meeting licensing requirements. The game was broadcast live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

21 May 2022 (2022-05-21)

15:00 BST (UTC+01:00)

Southampton F.C.	1–0	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Pharoah 21'	Report

Edgeley Park, Stockport

Attendance: 1,354

Division One

Division One North

Changes from last season:

• Following the second consecutive curtailment of the season amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2021, it was decided that upward club movement within the women's football pyramid would be done via application. All clubs from tiers 3 to 6 were eligible to apply to move into the league immediately one tier above where they currently played with applications marked against a criterion weighted 75% on-field and 25% off-field.
• Brighouse Town were promoted to Northern Premier Division via application.
• Alnwick Town were promoted from North East Regional Women's Football League via application.
• F.C. United of Manchester were promoted from North West Women's Regional Football League via application.
• Bolton Ladies folded and withdrew from the league prior to the start of the 2021–22 season.

Club	Home ground	Position 2020–21
Alnwick Town	St James Park, Alnwick	NEWRFL, N/A
Barnsley	Barnsley FC Academy, Barnsley	N/A
Bradford City	Plumpton Park, Wrose	N/A
Chester-le-Street	Moor Park, Chester Moor	N/A
Chorley	Blainscough Park, Coppull	N/A
Durham Cestria	The Graham Sports Centre, Durham	N/A
F.C. United of Manchester	Broadhurst Park, Moston	NWWRFL, N/A
Leeds United	Ings Lane, Tadcaster	N/A
Liverpool Feds	Jericho Lane, Liverpool	N/A
Newcastle United	Druid Park, Woolsington	N/A
Norton & Stockton Ancients	Station Road, Norton, County Durham	N/A
Stockport County	Stockport Sports Village, Stockport	N/A

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Liverpool Feds (C, P)	22	19	2	1	60	11	+49	59	Promotion to FA WNL Premier Division
2	Newcastle United	22	18	2	2	85	16	+69	56
3	Durham Cestria	22	13	2	7	65	35	+30	41
4	Leeds United	22	12	4	6	51	34	+17	40
5	Chorley	22	8	10	4	39	34	+5	34
6	Stockport County	22	7	6	9	44	42	+2	27
7	Bradford City	22	7	5	10	39	48	−9	26
8	Norton & Stockton Ancients	22	7	5	10	35	45	−10	26
9	Barnsley	22	8	2	12	41	51	−10	23
10	F.C. United of Manchester (R)	22	6	3	13	34	72	−38	21	Relegation to regional league level
11	Chester-le-Street (R)	22	3	5	14	28	62	−34	14
12	Alnwick Town (R)	22	0	2	20	24	95	−71	2

Source: The Football Association
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

Division One Midlands

Changes from last season:

• Following the second consecutive curtailment of the season amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2021, it was decided that upward club movement within the women's football pyramid would be done via application. All clubs from tiers 3 to 6 were eligible to apply to move into the league immediately one tier above where they currently played with applications marked against a criterion weighted 75% on-field and 25% off-field.
• Wolverhampton Wanderers were promoted to Northern Premier Division via application.
• Leek Town were promoted from West Midlands Regional Women's Football League via application.
• Peterborough United were promoted from East Midlands Regional Women's Football League via application.
• Holwell Sports folded on 3 January 2022 and their results were removed from the league table.

Club	Home ground	Position 2020–21
Bedworth United	The Oval, Bedworth	N/A
Boldmere St. Michaels	Trevor Brown Memorial Ground, Sutton Coldfield	N/A
Burton Albion	Hillsfield, Rocester	N/A
Doncaster Rovers Belles	Oxford Street, Rossington	N/A
Holwell Sports	Welby Road, Asfordby Hill	N/A
Leafield Athletic	Dickens Heath Sports Club, Solihull	N/A
Leek Town	Harrison Park, Leek	WMRWFL, N/A
Lincoln City	Moorlands Sports Ground, Lincoln	N/A
Long Eaton United	Grange Park, Long Eaton	N/A
Peterborough United	Mick George Training Academy, Orton	EMRWFL, N/A
Solihull Moors	Damson Park, Solihull	N/A
Sporting Khalsa	Aspray Arena, Willenhall	N/A
Wem Town	Butler Sports Centre, Wem	N/A

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Boldmere St. Michaels (C, P)	22	16	3	3	59	20	+39	51	Promotion to FA WNL Premier Division
2	Doncaster Rovers Belles	22	15	4	3	55	21	+34	49
3	Lincoln City	22	15	3	4	68	30	+38	48
4	Long Eaton United	22	11	5	6	44	27	+17	38
5	Leek Town	22	10	3	9	51	52	−1	33
6	Sporting Khalsa	22	9	5	8	37	37	0	32
7	Solihull Moors	22	9	3	10	55	47	+8	30
8	Peterborough United	22	8	5	9	45	50	−5	29
9	Leafield Athletic	22	7	5	10	35	45	−10	26
10	Wem Town (N)	22	3	6	13	24	47	−23	15	Relegation to regional league level
11	Burton Albion (R)	22	4	3	15	26	63	−37	15
12	Bedworth United (R)	22	2	1	19	23	83	−60	7
13	Holwell Sports (W)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Club withdrew

Source: The Football Association
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (N) Not relegated; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated; (W) Withdrew from the league

Division One South East

Changes from last season:

• Following the second consecutive curtailment of the season amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2021, it was decided that upward club movement within the women's football pyramid would be done via application. All clubs from tiers 3 to 6 were eligible to apply to move into the league immediately one tier above where they currently played with applications marked against a criterion weighted 75% on-field and 25% off-field.
• Ipswich Town were promoted to Southern Premier Division via application.
• Harlow Town were promoted from Eastern Region Women's Football League via application.
• Queens Park Rangers were promoted from London and South East Women's Regional Football League via application.
• Leyton Orient were rebranded London Seaward after Leyton Orient severed ties with the club.

Club	Home ground	Position 2020–21
Actonians	Rectory Park, Northolt	N/A
AFC Wimbledon	New Plough Lane, Wimbledon	N/A
Billericay Town	New Lodge, Billericay	N/A
Cambridge City	The Demcom Stadium, Ely	N/A
Cambridge United	Rowley Park, St Neots	N/A
Enfield Town	Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, Enfield	N/A
Harlow Town	The Harlow Arena, Harlow	ERWFL, N/A
Hashtag United	Park Lane, Canvey Island	N/A
Kent Football United	Glentworth Sports Club, Kent	N/A
London Seaward	Hornchurch Stadium, Upminster	N/A (as Leyton Orient)
Norwich City	The Nest, Horsford	N/A
Queens Park Rangers	Powerday Stadium, Perivale	LSEWRFL, N/A
Stevenage	Hertingfordbury Park, Hertford	N/A

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Billericay Town (C, P)	24	20	3	1	77	15	+62	63	Promotion to FA WNL Premier Division
2	Hashtag United	24	20	2	2	83	14	+69	62
3	AFC Wimbledon	24	16	5	3	62	15	+47	53
4	Queens Park Rangers	24	12	5	7	46	40	+6	41
5	Actonians	24	11	7	6	52	26	+26	40
6	London Seaward	24	7	8	9	31	43	−12	29
7	Cambridge City	24	7	5	12	36	48	−12	26
8	Norwich City	24	8	2	14	33	56	−23	26
9	Cambridge United	24	8	2	14	29	60	−31	26
10	Enfield Town (R)	24	6	6	12	36	37	−1	24	Relegation to regional league level
11	Stevenage (R)	24	6	4	14	19	61	−42	22
12	Harlow Town (R)	24	5	2	17	27	73	−46	17
13	Kent Football United (R)	24	3	3	18	19	62	−43	12

Source: The Football Association
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Division One South West

Changes from last season:

• Following the second consecutive curtailment of the season amid the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2021, it was decided that upward club movement within the women's football pyramid would be done via application. All clubs from tiers 3 to 6 were eligible to apply to move into the league immediately one tier above where they currently played with applications marked against a criterion weighted 75% on-field and 25% off-field.
• Southampton F.C. were promoted to Southern Premier Division via application.
• Brislington took voluntary relegation to South West Regional Women's Football League.
• Bournemouth were promoted from Southern Region Women's Football League via application.
• Portishead Town were promoted from South West Regional Women's Football League via application.
• Buckland Athletic withdrew from the league on 7 December 2021 and their results were removed from the league table.

Club	Home ground	Position 2020–21
Bournemouth	Potterne Park, Verwood	SRWFL, N/A
Buckland Athletic	Homers Heath, Newton Abbot	N/A
Cheltenham Town	Corinum Stadium, Cirencester	N/A
Chesham United	The Meadow, Chesham	N/A
Exeter City	Cullompton Cricket Club, Cullompton	N/A
Larkhall Athletic	Larkhall Sports Club, Larkhall	N/A
Maidenhead United	York Road, Maidenhead	N/A
Poole Town	Dorset County Ground, Poole	N/A
Portishead Town	Bristol Road, Portishead	SWRWFL, N/A
Southampton Women's F.C.	Arlebury Park, New Alresford	N/A
Swindon Town	Cinder Lane, Fairford	N/A

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Cheltenham Town (C, P)	18	14	3	1	44	12	+32	45	Promotion to FA WNL Premier Division
2	AFC Bournemouth	18	12	4	2	52	14	+38	40
3	Exeter City	18	12	2	4	52	19	+33	38
4	Southampton Women's	18	11	4	3	47	14	+33	37
5	Chesham United	18	8	2	8	31	32	−1	26
6	Maidenhead United	18	6	4	8	26	32	−6	22
7	Swindon Town	18	5	4	9	30	31	−1	19
8	Portishead Town	18	4	4	10	23	44	−21	15
9	Larkhall Athletic	18	2	4	12	20	52	−32	10
10	Poole Town (R)	18	0	1	17	3	78	−75	1	Relegation to regional league level
11	Buckland Athletic (W)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Club withdrew

Source: The Football Association
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated; (W) Withdrew from the league
Notes:

See also

• 2021–22 FA Women's National League Cup
• 2021–22 FA Women's National League Plate
• 2021–22 FA WSL (tier 1)
• 2021–22 FA Women's Championship (tier 2)

External links

• Official website of the FA Women's National League