Ethiopian Women's Premier League Explained

Ethiopian Women's Premier League
Pixels:300
Confed:CAF
Founded:2012 (2005 E.C.)
Teams:20 (11 in Division 1) (9 in Division 2)
Levels:1
Confed Cup:CAF W-Champions League
Champions:CBE FC
Season:2022-23
Most Successful Club:Dedebit (6)
Top Goalscorer:Loza Abera
(274 goals)

The Ethiopian Women's Premier League (Amharic: የሴቶች ፕሪምየር ሊግ) is the top Women's association football league in Ethiopia. It is regulated by the Ethiopian Football Federation and divided into two division, division 1 (the top division) and division 2 (the second division).

History

The league was founded in 2012 (2005 E.C.).

Dedebit won their 2nd title in the 2015-16 season.[1] Ethiopia Nigd Bank's striker Shitaye Sisay won the 2015-16 Most Valuable Player award. Loza Abera was top goal scorer at season's end with 10 goals in the playoffs and 47 goals during season competition.

Dedebit won its 3rd title in the 2016-17 season.[2] After the 2016-17 season the first division was split into two divisions with the inaugural season of the Women's second division league set for the 2017-18 season.[3]

The format of the league for the 2016-17 season had 20 teams in two groups (10 teams per group) with group winners fighting for the trophy at the end of the season.[4] The 20 clubs that participated were a record high since the establishment of the league.

Dedebit were crowned champions for a third straight year earning the club's 4th title overall in its history.[5] The Dedebit Women's team was disbanded the after 2017-18 season due to the club's financial problems.

Adama City won the 2018-19 league title, its first as a club.[6] In 2021, Nigd Bank secured its fourth championship in the team's history, first since 2015, by virtue of 2-1 victory over Adama City.[7] The 2020-21 second division was won by Bahir Dar Kenema, qualifying the team for the next season's first division competition.[8] CBE FC won the first division title in the 2020-21 season.[9]

Clubs

Division 1

The following 11 clubs competed in the Ethiopian Women's Premier League (Division 1) during the 2020-21 Season.

!Club!Location!Stadium
Akaki Kality Addis AbebaAddis Abeba
CBE FCAddis AbebaAddis Abeba
DefenseAddis AbebaAddis Abeba
Hawassa CityHawassaHawassa Int.
Adama cityAdamaAbebe Bikila
Dire Dawa CityDire DawaDire Dawa
Gedeo DillaDilaDila
Addis Abeba CityAddis AbebaAddis Abeba
Arba Minch CityArba MinchArba Minch
Ethio ElectricAddis AbebaAddis Abeba

Division 2

The following 8 clubs competed in the Ethiopian Premier League (Division 2) during the 2020-21 Season.

!Club
Kidus Giorgis
Bahir Dar
EWS Academy
Lideta Sub City (Addis Abeba)
Kirkos Sub City (Addis Abeba)
Fasil City
Bole Sub City (Addis Abeba)
Legetafo
Shashemene City
NIfas Silk Lafto
Tirunesh Dibaba Academy

Previous Winners (First Division)

Top Goal Scorer (First Division)

YearCountryNameTeamGoals
2014-15Loza AberaDedebit
2015-16Loza AberaDedebit57*
2016-17Loza AberaDedebit33
2017-18Loza AberaDedebit17
2018-19Senaf WakumaAdama City21
2019-20N/AN/AN/AN/A
2020-21Loza AberaCBE FC17
2021-22Loza AberaCBE FC34
2022-23Aregash KalsaCBE FC 23
Loza Abera
*including playoff goals

Notes and References

  1. News: Dedebit Crowned Champions of the Ethiopian Women's Premier League. Taddele. Omna. July 2, 2016. Soccer Ethiopia. May 16, 2018. May 17, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180517152728/http://www.soccerethiopia.net/football/14163. dead.
  2. News: Women's Premier League: Dedebit Crowned Champions for the Third Time. Taddele. Omna. May 15, 2017. Soccer Ethiopia.
  3. Web site: Ethiopia (Women) 2016/17. RSSSF. 2018-05-16.
  4. News: Ethiopian women's premier league kicks-off Saturday. Osano. Bonface. November 19, 2016. soka25east.
  5. News: Dedebit FC Crowned Champions of the Ethiopian Women First Division. Taddele. Omna. July 8, 2018. Soccer Ethiopia.
  6. News: The Ethiopian Women's Premier League has finished with a new champion. Tesfaye. Amaha. June 2, 2019. Soccer Ethiopia.
  7. News: Takele. Tewodros. March 18, 2021. ሴቶች ፕሪምየር ሊግ ኢትዮጵያ ንግድ ባንክ ቻምፒዮንነቱን አረጋገጠ. Soccer Ethiopia.
  8. News: Takele. Tewodros. March 17, 2021. ባህር ዳር ከተማ የ2013 የሴቶች ፕሪምየር ሊግ ሁለተኛ ዲቪዚዮን ቻምፒዮንነቱን አረጋገጠ. Soccer Ethiopia.
  9. News: Takele. Tewodros. March 28, 2021. የኢትዮጵያ ሴቶች ፕሪምየር ሊግ በኢትዮጵያ ንግድ ባንክ ቻምፒዮንነት ፍፃሜውን አግኝቷል. Soccer Ethiopia.