There are currently four tiers of FA women's leagues in England. Two of these tiers are national leagues, and the other two are split regionally.
The top women's football league in England is the Women's Super League. Established in 2010, the league has been fully professional since the 2018/19 season. The WSL began with eight teams but has expanded to twelve over the past decade. It includes teams like Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City.
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Three years after the WSL was created, the FA added a second league called the WSL 2. Made up of ten teams initially, WSL 2 was renamed the Women's Championship ahead of the 2018/19 season. It now contains twelve teams, including clubs like Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Sheffield United.
Currently one team each year is relegated from the WSL down to the Women's Championship and at least one team is promoted from the Women's Championship up to the WSL. In order to be promoted, Championship teams have to prove they can fulfil the FA's license requirements which includes being professional. This has led a number of Championship teams to professionalising regardless in order to give themselves the best opportunity of promotion.
Below the Women's Championship is the Women's National League. The league is actually made up of six sub-leagues; four regional 'Division One' leagues and two 'Premier' leagues. The winners of the South Premier Division and the North Premier Division play off against each other in order to get promoted to the Women's Championship, although once again they must meet the relevant license requirements. Teams in the Women's National League include Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, and Burnley.
In the future, the FA have said that they hope to expand both the Women's Super League and the Women's Championship. For now, however, they keep their membership limited to ensure that the clubs participating can meet the requirements necessary so that the leagues have the appropriate standards.
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