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Women's League Cup

The Players Cup , also known as the Subway Players Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a league cup competition in English women's association football . Prior to this it was known ...

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The Players Cup, also known as the Subway Players Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a league cup competition in English women's association football. Prior to this it was known as the FA WSL Cup and the Women's League Cup.[1]

The competition underwent a restructure ahead of the 2026–27 competition, adopting the Swiss-style league format which guarantees all teams play a minimum of six matches to ensure players are not game underloaded.[2] With the new format, teams competing in the UEFA Women's Champions League will not participate due to their own increased load management.[3]

Fifteen editions have been played, with Arsenal being the most successful club with seven titles.

Following a successful use of the video assistant referee (VAR) and goal-line technology in the 2023 Women's FA Cup final, they were used for the first time in the 2024 FA Women's League Cup final and have both been used in the finals since.

History

Winners trophy

Before the Women's Super League (WSL) was established, the top women's clubs competed in the FA Women's Premier League Cup.

The first League Cup edition under the WSL was played after the inaugural FA WSL season. Arsenal, having already won the WSL and the FA Women's Cup, completed the national treble after a 4–1 win over Birmingham City.[4][5]

The 2012 edition saw a change of format. The straight knockout system was abolished and a group stage with two groups was established. The top two teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals.[6]

Pedro Martínez Losa and Kelly Smith with the FA WSL Cup, 2015

In 2014, 18 teams entered, and new WSL 2 teams joined the WSL teams. There were three groups of six teams. In 2015, the quarter-final stage was played for the first time.

For 2016, the cup changed to a true knockout format and abolished the group stage, a move made in agreement with the clubs to increase excitement and competitiveness.[7] With 19 teams, the bottom six teams played a preliminary round. In the round of 16 that followed, the seeding system was used, so the WSL 1 teams met the WSL 2 teams, who had home field advantage.

In 2017–18, a group stage was added again.[8]

In 2018–19, as part of the restructuring of women's football, 22 teams entered. The competition was split up into North and South, with each region having one group of six and one group of five. Each team would play one match against each other, with the top two in each group advancing to a quarter-final.[9]

The format was similar in 2019–20, with an extra team in the South for a total of 23 teams.

Starting with the 2026–27 season, teams competing in the UEFA Women's Champions League have been excluded from the tournament, and the group stage format has been switched to a Swiss-system tournament.[3]

List of finals

Only Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have won the Women's League Cup. Arsenal, Birmingham City and Chelsea have lost the most finals, finishing as runners-up three times.[10]

Results by team

Teams shown in italics are no longer in existence.

Title sponsors

References

  1. ↑"WSL and Women's Championship takeover: Deal complete for club-owned body to replace FA". BBC Sport. 15 August 2024.
  2. ↑"Subway League Cup becomes the Players Cup". WSL Football. 28 July 2026. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
  3. 12Smith, Emma; Currie, Jo (22 January 2026). "Women's League Cup to undergo name and format changes". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 22 January 2026. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  4. ↑"Video: Gunners lift Continental Cup". The FA. 25 September 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  5. ↑"Arsenal and Tavagnacco take first-leg leads". UEFA. 29 September 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  6. ↑"FA WSL Conti Cup draw announced". fawsl.com. 21 February 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  7. ↑"FA WSL Continental Cup is knockout!". shekicks.net. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  8. ↑"Continental Tyres Cup Groups Drawn". 16 August 2017.
  9. ↑"Matches Cup, TheFA WSL". fawsl.com. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  10. ↑"Women's Continental Cup final: Manchester City 1–0 Birmingham City (aet)". BBC Sport. 2 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  11. ↑Williams, Laura (14 March 2021). "Bristol defence no match as Chelsea win consecutive Conti Cup final". Her Football Hub. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  12. ↑"Chelsea 1–3 Manchester City: Second-half comeback seals League Cup final victory". BBC Sport. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  13. ↑"Arsenal 3–1 Chelsea: Gunners fight back to win Women's League Cup final". BBC Sport. 5 March 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  14. ↑"FA WSL goes Continental". The FA. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  15. ↑"Subway Partners with Women's Professional Leagues Limited to become the Women's League Cup Title Partner". The Football Association. 16 December 2024. Archived from the original on 16 December 2024. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  • Women's League Cup at wslfootball.com