WSL 2026/27 kicks off with 14-team expansion and City chasing three in a row

The 2026/27 WSL season launches with three teams joining the competition—Birmingham City, Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic have all earned promotion from WSL 2, according to Sky Sports.

London City Lionesses will host Manchester United on Friday 4 September, with the match kicking off at 7pm and broadcast live on Sky Sports. The following day, Chelsea entertain Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Man City's opening assignment comes on Sunday 6 September when they face Birmingham City at 2.30pm, one of five live matches on what the broadcaster describes as a "bumper day". Arsenal travel to Brighton, Tottenham host West Ham, Liverpool visit Charlton and Crystal Palace face Everton across the opening weekend.

Man Utd's opening fixture away to Chelsea comes in week two (13 September), followed by an Emirates trip to face Arsenal on 19 September—both live on Sky Sports. Arsenal and Chelsea meet again on 27 September, the same day as the first Merseyside derby of the campaign.

Sky Sports will screen 163 of the expanded league's matches live, representing 90 per cent of all WSL games. The broadcaster notes greater scheduling flexibility this term, with fewer fixtures kicking off simultaneously.

Relegation rules remain unchanged: the bottom-placed side will be automatically relegated, while the 13th-placed team faces a play-off against the WSL 2 runners-up.