WSL academy teams to play in third tier after FA approves controversial plan
The Football Association has approved a controversial plan to let four Women's Super League academy teams compete in the third tier of the women's football pyramid from the 2027-28 season. The FA says the move, part of a wider package of Women's National League reforms, is intended to raise standards and give young English players more competitive minutes, after data showed they were falling behind counterparts in Europe's leading leagues.
The academy sides will not be eligible for promotion, with two expected to join the northern regional division and two the southern, and selection criteria still to be finalised. Alongside this, WNL clubs will receive central funding for the first time, and changes to loan rules aim to encourage top-tier clubs to loan players down to the third and fourth divisions. Sue Day, the FA's director of women's football, said the league "must evolve alongside the professional game" to create more development opportunities.
- FA approves WSL academy sides entering tier three from 2027-28
- Move aims to boost playing time for young English players
- Academy teams barred from promotion; WNL gets new central funding
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The Football Association is the governing body for football in England, and it has just signed off on changes to how the women's game below the top flight is organised. The Women's Super League is the top division of English women's football, and several clubs there run academy teams for younger players. Under the new plan, four of these academy sides will be allowed to play in the Women's National League, which sits in the third and fourth tiers of the pyramid, starting in 2027.
The change is part of a broader shake-up of the Women's National League, which has traditionally been made up of semi-professional and amateur clubs working their way up through the system. Supporters of the reform argue it will give promising young English players more regular, competitive matches, pointing to evidence that they are behind peers in other European leagues. Critics see it as controversial because it lets academy teams, which cannot be promoted, take up places in a league built around clubs trying to climb the pyramid.
Sue Day, the FA's director of women's football, is the senior figure overseeing the changes, which also include new central funding for lower-league clubs and altered rules on loaning players down from WSL clubs. The story matters because it touches on a long-running debate in football about balancing player development at big clubs with fair competition and opportunity for smaller, community-based clubs.