When does the 2025/26 Women's Super League start?

Chelsea Women players celebrate after winning the Barclays Women's Super League during a Barclays Women's Super League match between Manchester United and Chelsea FC at Leigh Sports Village on April 30, 2025 in Leigh, England.

Chelsea won their sixth consecutive WSL title last season (Image credit: Getty Images)

Euro 2025 is in the books and England retained their crown in dramatic fashion.

Sarina Wiegman's side were the comeback queens in Switzerland this month, falling behind in all of their knockout matches, including the final against Spain, before triumphing on penalties.

Having conquered Europe with the Lionesses, the England squad will soon return to domestic action, with the majority of Wiegman's team playing in the Women's Super League.

When does the Women's Super League start?

Sonia Bompastor holding the WSL trophy — The WSL trophy, held by Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor (Image credit: Getty Images)

The 2025/26 WSL season will be the 15th campaign in the competition's history, with Chelsea again starting the season as defending champions.

The Blues won their sixth consecutive and eighth overall title last year, in a campaign which saw them complete a domestic treble.

Arsenal Women won the 2025 Champions League (Image credit: Getty Images)

This means that Sonia Bompastor's side will again be the team to beat, but an Arsenal team packed with Lioness stars will be looking to build on their Champions League title last season in what promises to be a thrilling campaign.

And fans don't have too long to wait until the action gets underway, with the new season kicking off on the weekend of 5, 6, and 7 September.

That falls on a men's international break and contains an eye-catching slate of opening fixtures, including champions Chelsea up against Manchester City and Arsenal playing newly-promoted London City Lionesses.

There's also a Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton, while Brighton take on Aston Villa, Manchester United play Leicester City and another London derby when Spurs face West Ham United.

England celebrate their Euro 2025 victory with the trophy — Nineteen of the 23 players in Sarina Wiegman's squad play in the WSL (Image credit: Getty Images)

This season will also pave the way for the WSL to be expanded to 14 teams for the 2026/27 campaign, which means two teams will be promoted from the WSL2, while the side that finishes bottom of the WSL will play a promotion/relegation play-off against the third-placed finisher in the WSL2.

A new five-year television deal also kicks off this year, with every match of the 2025/26 season will be broadcast by either Sky Sports or the BBC.

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For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.

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