2021–22 FA Women's Championship

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FA Women's Championship
Season2021–22
Matches played82
Goals scored220 (2.68 per match)
Top goalscorerLeanne Kiernan (12 goals)
Biggest home winBristol City 5–1 Sheffield United (31 October 2021)
Bristol City 4–0 Crystal Palace (6 February 2022)
Biggest away winBlackburn Rovers 0–6 Liverpool (9 January 2022)
Highest scoringCrystal Palace 4–3 Bristol City (29 August 2021)
Longest winning run6 matches
Liverpool
Longest unbeaten run13 matches
Liverpool
Longest winless run9 matches
Coventry United
Longest losing run6 matches
Watford
All statistics correct as of 6 February 2022.

The 2021–22 FA Women's Championship is the fourth season of the rebranded FA Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England. It was renamed from the FA WSL 2 which was founded in 2014.

Teams[]

Location of clubs for the 2021–22 season

Twelve teams will compete in the Championship for the 2021–22 season, an increase of one team from the previous season. This was a planned progression of the restructuring of the English women's game, a move prompted to provide for a fully professional Women's Super League (WSL) starting with the 2018–19 season. The expansion was originally scheduled from the 2019–20 season but the demotion of Yeovil Town directly from the WSL to the third-tier in 2019 and then the season's curtailment the following year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic had twice delayed this.

Movement between the WSL and Championship was granted on purely sporting merit as both the 2020–21 FA WSL and Championship seasons were completed in full. Leicester City earned promotion and their place was taken by Bristol City who were relegated after finishing bottom of the WSL. London Bees finished bottom of the 2020–21 Championship and were relegated to the National League. Upward movement from the National League was granted via application based on a set criteria including points-per-game over the previous two seasons in order to support the stability and integrity of the women's football pyramid after the previous two National League seasons had both been curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1][2] As a result, Sunderland were promoted from the National League North and Watford were promoted from the National League South.[3][4]

On 24 December 2021, directors at Coventry United confirmed the club was going into voluntary liquidation. They had accelerated the team into becoming fully-professional prior to the start of the season.[5] With a formal deadline set for 4 January 2022, investor Lewis Taylor made a bid to acquire the club and clear the debts to ensure the club could complete the season.[6] The offer was accepted and the club rescued although the FA handed down a 10 points deduction for triggering an insolvancy event.[7]

Team Location Ground Capacity 2020–21 season
Blackburn Rovers Bamber Bridge Sir Tom Finney Stadium 3,000 9th
Bristol City Failand Robins High Performance Centre WSL, 12th
Charlton Athletic Bexley The Oakwood 1,180 8th
Coventry United Coventry Butts Park Arena 4,000 10th
Crystal Palace Bromley Hayes Lane 5,000 7th
Durham Durham Maiden Castle 3,000 2nd
Liverpool Birkenhead Prenton Park 16,547 3rd
Lewes Lewes The Dripping Pan 3,000 5th
London City Lionesses Dartford Princes Park 4,100 6th
Sheffield United Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park 2,000 4th
Sunderland Hetton-le-Hole Eppleton CW 2,500 WNL North, N/A
Watford Kings Langley The Orbital Fasteners Stadium 1,500 WNL South, N/A

Managerial changes[]

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Bristol City England Matt Beard (interim) End of interim period 13 May 2021 End of season (FA WSL, 12th) England Lauren Smith (interim)[8] 21 June 2021
Liverpool England Amber Whiteley (interim)[9] End of interim period 13 May 2021 End of season (3rd) England Matt Beard[9] 13 May 2021
Lewes England Simon Parker[10] Sacked 12 October 2021 8th Wales Craig Gill (interim)[11] 13 October 2021
Watford England Clinton Lancaster[12] Sacked 31 December 2021 12th England Gifton Noel-Williams (interim)[13] 31 December 2021

Table[]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Liverpool 14 11 2 1 30 5 +25 35 Promotion to the [a]
2 Charlton Athletic 14 8 2 4 21 10 +11 26
3 Durham 14 8 1 5 21 16 +5 25
4 London City Lionesses 13 8 1 4 17 12 +5 25
5 Crystal Palace 14 7 3 4 26 27 −1 24
6 Bristol City 13 7 2 4 25 14 +11 23
7 Lewes 13 6 1 6 17 15 +2 19
8 Sheffield United 14 4 5 5 17 18 −1 17
9 Sunderland 13 3 4 6 12 19 −7 13
10 Blackburn Rovers 14 3 2 9 11 25 −14 11
11 Watford 14 1 4 9 11 29 −18 7
12 Coventry United 14 1 3 10 12 30 −18 −4[b] Relegation to the
Updated to match(es) played on 6 February 2022. Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
Notes:
  1. ^ Dependent on obtaining a licence.
  2. ^ Coventry United were deducted 10 points on 6 January 2022 for triggering an insolvency event.[14]

Results[]

Home \ Away BLB BRI CHA COV CRY DUR LEW LIV LCL SHU SUN WAT
Blackburn Rovers — 0–1 3–2 1–2 0–6 1–2 2–0 3–1
Bristol City 3–0 — 0–2 4–0 0–2 2–1 5–1 2–1
Charlton Athletic 2–0 2–1 — 3–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 0–1 3–0
Coventry United 1–1 — 2–3 1–0 0–2 0–1 0–3 0–1 1–1
Crystal Palace 4–3 3–2 — 3–1 3–1 0–4 0–0 1–1
Durham 3–1 2–0 2–3 — 2–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 2–1
Lewes 1–0 2–0 4–1 — 1–0 2–0 1–2
Liverpool 0–0 0–0 3–0 2–1 2–0 — 0–1 1–0
London City Lionesses 2–2 2–1 1–2 — 1–0 3–1 2–1
Sheffield United 0–0 3–1 3–1 1–3 0–2 — 3–0
Sunderland 2��0 0–2 1–1 1–3 0–2 2–2 —
Watford 0–0 0–3 0–4 2–2 2–3 1–1 —
Updated to match(es) played on 6 February 2022. Source: FA WSL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round[]

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological progress, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 13, but then postponed and played between rounds 16 and 17, it will be added to the standings for round 16.

Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122
Liverpool1168432221111111
Charlton Athletic639654446666642
Durham394211113422453
London City Lionesses425543332233224
Crystal Palace256997954344335
Bristol City8471079665555566
Lewes7101081068107777777
Sheffield United1272125779998888
Sunderland511368588889999
Blackburn Rovers183781010910101010101010
Watford91111121212121111121211111111
Coventry United101212111111111212111112121212
Leader and promotion to
Relegation to
Updated to match(es) played on 6 February 2022. Source:[citation needed]

Results by round[]

Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122
Blackburn RoversWLWLLLWDLLLLLD
Bristol CityLWDLWLWDWWWLW
Charlton AthleticWLWWWLLDLWDWWW
Coventry UnitedLLLDLLLDLWDLLL
Crystal PalaceWLDLDWDWWWWLWL
DurhamWLWWWWWLLLWLDW
LewesLWDLWWLLWWLWL
LiverpoolLWDWWWWDWWWWWW
London City LionessesWWLDWWLWWLWWL
Sheffield UnitedLWWWDLLDLLDWDD
SunderlandWWDDLLWLDLLLD
WatfordLLLLLLDWDLDLDL
Updated to match(es) played on 6 February 2022. Source:[citation needed]
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lose

Season statistics[]

Top scorers[]

As of 6 February 2022
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Republic of Ireland Leanne Kiernan Liverpool 12
2 Scotland Abi Harrison Bristol City 9
3 England Beth Hepple Durham 7
England Courtney Sweetman-Kirk Sheffield United
4 England Rio Hardy Coventry United 5
Wales Elise Hughes Charlton Athletic
England Lucy Watson Sheffield United
Jamaica Siobhan Wilson Crystal Palace
9 England Kirsty Barton Crystal Palace 4
England Millie Farrow Crystal Palace
Republic of Ireland Rianna Jarrett London City Lionesses
England Aimee Palmer Bristol City
Nigeria Ini-Abasi Umotong Lewes

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "FA provides update on tiers 3-6 of the Women's Football Pyramid". TheFA.com. The Football Association.
  2. ^ "Women's football: FA ends 2020-21 season for tiers three to six". BBC Sport. 15 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Sunderland handed major boost as bid for promotion to the Women's Championship is successful". Sunderland Echo.
  4. ^ "Oxford United Women miss out on Championship spot". Oxford Mail.
  5. ^ "Coventry United to enter liquidation". BBC Sport.
  6. ^ Garry, Tom (3 January 2022). "Investor facing race against time to save Coventry United from liquidation says takeover is 'right thing to do'". The Telegraph.
  7. ^ "Coventry United: Women's Championship club handed 10-point penalty by FA after entering voluntary liquidation". Sky Sports.
  8. ^ "Smith returns as Interim Head Coach". Bristol City.
  9. ^ a b "Matt Beard appointed Liverpool FC Women manager". Liverpool F.C. 13 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Rooks part company with Simon Parker". Lewes FC.
  11. ^ "Craig Gill to join the Rooks as Interim Women's First Team Manager". Lewes FC.
  12. ^ "Women: Lancaster & Watford To Part Ways". Watford FC.
  13. ^ "Watford Women: London City Lionesses Preview - Jan 9". Watford FC.
  14. ^ "Coventry United: Women's Championship club handed 10-point penalty by FA after entering voluntary liquidation". Sky Sports.

External links[]

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