| North West Women's Regional Football League | |
| Pixels: | 160 |
| Founded: | 1989 |
| Divisions: | 3 |
| Teams: | 34 |
| Promotion: | FA Women's National League Division One North |
| Relegation: | Cheshire Women's & Youth Football League Lancashire FA Women's County League Liverpool Women's & Youth Football League. |
| Levels: | 5 & 6 |
| Website: | The FA – NWWRFL |
The North West Women's Regional Football League (NWWRFL) is one of the eight English regional leagues comprising the fifth and sixth tiers of the English women's football pyramid. The other seven leagues are the North East, East Midlands, West Midlands, Eastern, London and South East, South West and Southern. The NWWRFL includes teams from several counties in the north west of England. Broadly, these are Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire.
The league has two levels: the tier five Premier Division and, split geographically, the tier six Division One North and Division One South. The Premier Division has promotion to the FA Women's National League Division One (tier four). Division One North and Division One South have relegation into four county leagues (all tier seven): Cheshire Women's & Youth Football League Premier Division; Greater Manchester Women's Football League Premier Division; Lancashire FA Women's County League Division One; and Liverpool Women's & Youth Football League Division One.
The league was founded in 1989, with the merger of the Greater Manchester and Merseyside League, the North West Women's League, and the Three Counties League. On formation, it had 42 teams, spread over four divisions.[1]
The former Women's Football Association (WFA) was established in 1969, independently of the FA.[2] While progress was made at the national and international levels, grassroots development was hindered by a lack of funding and, by 1993, there were only 80 girls' teams nationwide, including some in Lancashire, Liverpool and Manchester. In 1993, the WFA disbanded as governance of women's football was accepted by the FA.[3] Among the FA's priorities were, as in men's football, to develop a pyramid system of leagues throughout the country and to establish regional governance by county associations. These include the Lancashire County Football Association which, in 1996, established the Lancashire FA Women's County League, originally known as the Lancashire FA Girls League.[4]
As the number of teams and local leagues grew, the women's pyramid was restructured and the North West Women's Regional Football League was formally reconstituted in 2003. Growth was boosted by affiliation of women's teams to professional clubs – for example, when the NWWRFL began in 2003–04, the Premier Division included teams affiliated to Bury, Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End, all members of the Football League.[5] Originally, the NWWRFL had four levels – a Premier Division and three lower levels called Divisions One, Two and Three – with promotion and relegation in between. The Premier Division had promotion into the former Northern Combination Women's Football League. The league's inaugural season was 2003–04 when the Premier Division champions were Preston North End WFC, who were unbeaten in their 17 matches.[5] There were ten founder members of the Premier Division: AFC Darwen Ladies, Bolton Wanderers Ladies, Bury FC Women, Chorley Women FC, Hopwood Ladies, Liverpool Feds, Preston North End WFC, Stretford Victoria, Warrington Town Ladies and Witton Albion Ladies.[5]
In 2005, the NWWRFL's structure was changed from four levels to two by the combination of the old Divisions One, Two and Three into Division One North and Division One South, which are both in level six of the pyramid and split geographically. During the 2000s, there was a further reorganisation of women's football at the county level and, in addition to the tier seven Lancashire League, others were established in Cheshire, Greater Manchester, and Merseyside. The top divisions of these four leagues have been promoted to NWWRFL Divisions One North and One South. The Premier Division was unchanged in 2005 and is now a level five league with promotion into the level four FA Women's National League Division One. It is one of eight level five leagues nationally, the others being the North East, East Midlands, West Midlands, Eastern, London and South East, South West and Southern.[6]
The NWWRFL's first season as a two-level structure was 2005–06 in which the Premier Division champions were Stretford Victoria.[7] The first winners of Division One North and South were Saint Domingo's (based in Huyton, Liverpool) and AFC Urmston Meadowside (based in Davyhulme, Manchester) respectively.[8] [9]
The league's 2019–20 season was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and all matches were declared null and void.[10] The 2020–21 season began but, after more Covid-related disruption, it was curtailed on 16 March 2021 with no titles, promotions or relegations.[11] For the 2021–22 season, the league has been enlarged from 30 to 34 clubs as both Division One North and South now have twelve members.[12] [13]
| Club | Home ground | |
|---|---|---|
| Darwen F.C. | Anchor Road, Darwen | |
| Blackpool | HASSRA Sports Pavilion, Thornton-Cleveleys | |
| Bury | Gigg Lane, Bury | |
| Cheadle Town Stingers | Park Road, Cheadle | |
| Crewe Alexandra | Alexandra Soccer Centre, Crewe | |
| Curzon Ashton | Tameside Stadium, Ashton-Under-Lyne | |
| Fleetwood Town Wrens | Poolfoot Farm, Thornton-Cleveleys | |
| Merseyrail | Admiral Park, Toxteth | |
| Salford City Lionesses | Partington Sports Village, Partington | |
| Tranmere Rovers | Ellesmere Port Sports Village, Ellesmere Port | |
| West Didsbury & Chorlton | Step Places Stadium, Chorlton-cum-Hardy | |
| Wigan Athletic | Barrows Farm, Billinge |
Division One North
| Club | Home ground | |
|---|---|---|
| Accrington Stanley | Thorneyholme Road, Accrington | |
| Bolton Wanderers | The Skuna Stadium (Atherton Collieries), Atherton | |
| Bury FC Foundation | Goshen Sports Center, Bury | |
| Carlisle United | Creighton Rugby Club, Carlisle | |
| Fleetwood Town Wrens Reserves | Squires Gate, Blackpool | |
| Haslingden St Mary's | Valley Leadership Academy, Bacup | |
| Mancunian Unity | Whitebank Stadium, Oldham | |
| Morecambe | Globe Arena, Morecambe | |
| Penrith A.F.C. | Frenchfield Park, Penrith | |
| Penwortham Town | Vernon's Sports Club, Penwortham | |
| Preston North End | UCLan Sports Arena, Preston | |
| Workington Reds | Derwent Park, Workington |
Division One South
| Club | Home ground | |
|---|---|---|
| Altrincham | Manor Farm, Timperley | |
| Chester | Deva Stadium, Chester[14] | |
| Ellesmere Port Town | ||
| F.C. St Helens | Windleshaw Sports, St Helens | |
| Hindley Juniors | Park Lane, Wigan | |
| Litherland REMYCA | Litherland Sports Park, Litherland | |
| Mossley Hill Athletic | Mossley Hill Road, Liverpool | |
| Northwich Vixens | Park Stadium, Northwich | |
| Poulton Vics | Poulton Victoria Sports Ground, Wallasey | |
| Runcorn Linnets | Millbank Linnets Stadium, Runcorn | |
| Warrington Wolves Foundation | Tetley Walker Recreation Ground, Warrington | |
| Wythenshawe Juniors | Hollyhedge Park, Sharston |
The league began in the 2003–04 season with four divisions which were reduced to two before the 2005–06 season. Since then, the structure has been a Premier Division (tier five) and a Division One (tier six) which is itself geographically partitioned into North and South sub-divisions.[15] Some of the teams listed below were short-lived and are now defunct.
| Season | Premier Division | Division One | Division Two | Division Three | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | Preston North End WFC | Rochdale AFC Ladies | Windscale | Burnley FC Girls & Ladies | |
| 2004–05 | Garswood Saints | Bury FC Women | Burnley FC Girls & Ladies | Buxton |
| Season | Premier Division | Division One North | Division One South | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | Stretford Victoria | Saint Domingo's | AFC Urmston Meadowside | |
| 2006–07 | Rochdale AFC Ladies | Mossley Hill Athletic Ladies | Airbus UK | |
| 2007–08 | Blackpool Wren Rovers Ladies | Leigh RMI | Fletcher Moss Rangers Ladies | |
| 2008–09 | Liverpool Feds | Chorley Women FC | AFC Urmston Meadowside | |
| 2009–10 | Mossley Hill Athletic Ladies | Wigan Athletic Ladies & Girls | Denton Town Ladies | |
| 2010–11 | Fletcher Moss Rangers Ladies | Blackpool FC Ladies | Northwich Vixens | |
| 2011–12 | Chorley Women FC | Morecambe Ladies Reserves | City of Manchester | |
| 2012–13 | Tranmere Rovers Ladies | Blackpool Wren Rovers Ladies | Chester City Ladies | |
| 2013–14 | Morecambe Ladies Reserves | Blackburn Community Sports Club Ladies | Birkenhead | |
| 2014–15 | Blackpool Wren Rovers Ladies | Accrington Sports and Football Club | Manchester Stingers | |
| 2015–16 | Crewe Alexandra Ladies | Preston North End Women's FC | MSB Woolton Ladies | |
| 2016–17 | Bolton Wanderers Ladies | Sir Tom Finney FC Ladies | Merseyrail Bootle | |
| 2017–18 | Burnley FC Girls & Ladies | Penrith AFC Ladies | FC United of Manchester | |
| 2018–19 | Stockport County Ladies | Bury FC Women | West Didsbury & Chorlton Ladies | |
| 2019–20 | season cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic – all matches null and void[16] | |||
| 2020–21 | season curtailed on 16 March 2021 – no titles, promotion or relegation below tier two[17] | |||
| 2021–22 | Merseyrail | Blackburn Community Sports Club Ladies | Curzon Ashton | |
| 2022–23 | F.C. United of Manchester | Blackpool | Bury | |