Two up, two down?

There have been many discussions and arguments about the structure of the Women’s leagues in England over the last few years. The WSL and the Championship are very competitive leagues in their own right. Many people argue that having a one up, one down system in the top flight isn’t good enough for the continued development of the game. They believe that the majority of teams in the Championship could merge with the WSL to create a league of 20 teams.

The current system does not give many teams in the Championship the chance to get a taste of what WSL football is like. Even if you are a strong club in the Championship, it might take you 4-5 years to actually get into the WSL, because the same team that has come down from the WSL the season before are often likely to go back up. With a 2 up, 2 down (or even a playoff scenario for a 3rd placed promotion team like in the men’s Championship), this would mean much more opportunity for club progression every year. 

Even though the jump between the two leagues is huge, there is always room for development when a team gets promoted, creating more of a challenge for clubs. However, as the quality of football is of a different level between the current leagues, changes to expand the leagues could be seen as controversial as teams will be of different standards. This will mean the teams that are weaker will find it much harder to win games and have a successful season. 

Having more games played per season, it means there is more revenue from home games and TV money. Also, if there are more games per season it allows fans to attend more matches. As there are more fans going to matches, they will purchase food and drinks from the stadium. They also might purchase a match day programme. This will increase the money the club is bringing in, so will allow them to invest in their squads and facilities even further. As clubs’ training facilities and equipment will need to be of a high standard (especially smaller clubs), they will be able to develop world class players as they have the right quality of equipment and coaching staff to help them. As facilities have been improved, clubs will be able to use this to bring through academy stars to the first team.

However, having more games could also mean more injuries. The chance of a female athlete tearing their ACL is 4-6 times more likely than a male athlete. As the female body is built differently to the male’s, their body isn’t as prepared for the high demands of the specific movements needed in elite level football. Players’ bodies would be put under a lot more pressure than they would be used to, which will potentially lead to even more injuries. The unprecedented amount of ACL injuries in the women’s game demonstrates that unfortunately the women’s body isn’t used to how much you have to do as a professional footballer, so many players struggle during the season already, so more games won’t help them.

Do you think changes to the leagues will benefit smaller clubs who are lower down in the league pyramid? How long do you think it will be until changes are made? Do you think changes will affect how well clubs perform? And do you think the female body can handle the potential increase in fixtures?