Our Board has reached a majority decision to decide the 2019-20 Barclays FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship on a basic point-per-game [PPG] basis, with promotion and relegation determined on sporting merit.
As a result, we can today confirm the decision to award the 2019-20 Barclays FA Women’s Super League title to Chelsea Women, and to award the 2019-20 FA Women’s Championship title to Aston Villa Women.
In addition, Chelsea and Manchester City Women will be nominated as the two English clubs to qualify for the 2020-21 UEFA Women’s Champions League competition, having finished in the top two places of the 2019-20 Barclays FA Women’s Super League season.
The final team positions across both leagues also confirmed that Aston Villa Women would be promoted to the Barclays FA Women’s Super League for the 2020-21 season, and that Liverpool FC Women would be relegated to the FA Women’s Championship for the 2020-21 season.
As the 2019-20 results were expunged between Tier 3 to Tier 7 of the women’s pyramid, there will be no relegation or promotion between the FA Women’s Championship and Tier 3 this season.
All decisions were made and finalised by our Board – and were based on the most appropriate sporting outcome for the 2019-20 season. The Board considered and analysed all of the recommendations made to them by the FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship Board, which were collated after full and thorough consultation process with the clubs.
Kelly Simmons, FA Director of the Women's Professional Game, said: "Firstly, I would like to thank the clubs for their ongoing collaboration and support throughout this period. They have played a crucial role in helping to shape the decision-making process, with the welfare of the players and clubs first and foremost.
"I would also like to congratulate the players, coaches and staff of Chelsea and Aston Villa. Although the 2019-20 season has been prematurely curtailed, it has been a hard-fought campaign and their success is well deserved, with the outcome based on sporting merit.
"Women’s football has made huge strides in recent years, and the FA has been at the forefront of investment and support to help grow women’s football at every level of the game. Our commitment to the women’s game is unwavering and we will continue to work closely with the clubs to ensure we come back even stronger for the 2020-21 campaign."
We will now work with the clubs and our stakeholders across football to plan for next season and we aim to announce the target start dates for the 2020-21 campaign soon.
The resolution of the 2019-20 Women’s FA Cup, which is at the quarter final stage, is still under review and the FA Women’s Board will meet to discuss the matter later this month. We will issue a further update on the status of the 2019-20 Women’s FA Cup in due course.
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