Scottish Women's Football League

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Scottish Women's Football League
Organising bodyScottish Women's Football
Founded1999
First season1999–2000
CountryScotland
ConfederationUEFA
Divisions4
Number of teams67
Promotion tonone[1]
Domestic cup(s)Scottish Women's Cup
League cup(s)Scottish Women's Football League Cup
Current championsAberdeen (North)
Glasgow City B (South)
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The Scottish Women's Football League (SWFL) is a women's association football league in Scotland. The league is owned and managed by Scottish Women's Football (SWF), an affiliated body of the Scottish Football Association (SFA).

Formed in 1999 as the country's top women's football league, it now comprises the fourth tiers of the Scottish league system, following the breakaway of its top division to create the Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) in 1999 and the subsequent expansion of the SWPL to two divisions.

The SWFL operated as the lower tiers from then onwards. In a reorganisation from 2015 its upper tier, the First Division or SWFL 1, split into two regionalised leagues (North and South), while the lower tier, the Second Division or SWFL 2, had three regionalised leagues (West, Central and East). In 2019 it was announced that a new SWF Championship would be created as the lower level of the 'Performance' category of the Scottish game below the SWPL, retaining the existing North/South divisions. The SWFL would operate separate regional divisions in the 'Recreational' category with no promotion or relegation for its clubs.[2][1]

History[]

The Scottish Women's Football League was formed in 1999. At that time it was the highest level league for women in Scotland. In 2002, the SWFL's twelve-team top division broke away to form the Scottish Women's Premier League, leaving the remaining thirty clubs in the SWFL.[3] In 2016, the SWPL expanded to sixteen teams in two divisions, meaning the SWFL was now at the third and fourth tiers of the league structure.

Clubs[]

Champions[]

The following teams were SWFL champions during the period that it constituted the top division in Scottish women's football:[4]

Season Champions
1999–2000 Cumbernauld United
2000–01 Ayr United
2001–02 F.C. Kilmarnock

2018 clubs[]

The following teams played in the SWFL during the 2017 season:[5] As well as first teams, the SWFL structures also incorporates a number of development or youth teams of other SWPL and SWFL clubs.

SWFL 1[]

SWFL 2[]

  1. ^ a b c d e Withdrew during the season, results removed

Cup competitions[]

SWFL teams compete in the national cup competition, the Scottish Women's Cup, along with teams from the SWPL.

There is also a League Cup, originating from the 1970s and latterly known as the Scottish Women's Football League First Division Cup from 2012 when an additional Second Division Cup was introduced. Following the 2019 reorganisation, this reverted to a single SWFL League Cup competition, with a 'Plate' for clubs eliminated in the opening round.[6]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "New Senior Structure for 2020 and beyond". Scottish Women's Premier League. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  2. ^ Scottish Women’s Football announces new league structure, SheKicks.net, 20 September 2019
  3. ^ "Scottish women's league kicks off". BBC Sport. 9 August 2002. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Scotland (Women) - List of Champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Fixtures, Results & League Tables". Scottish Women's Football. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  6. ^ 2021 SWFL fixtures announced & SWFL Cup 1st Round Draw, Scottish Women's Football, 20 May 2021
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