Fixtures confirmed for 2025-26 Barclays WSL and Barclays WSL2 seasons

WSL Football has confirmed fixtures for the 2025-26 Barclays Women’s Super League (BWSL) and Barclays Women’s Super League 2 (BWSL2) season.

Kicking off on the weekend of the 5, 6 and 7 September, a men’s international break, the BWSL and BWSL2 seasons begin on the same weekend with every game across both leagues available for fans to watch live on Sky Sports, the BBC or YouTube.

Current BWSL Champions Chelsea kick-off at home against Manchester City, UEFA Women’s Champions League holders Arsenal begin their campaign against newly promoted London City Lionesses and there is a Merseyside derby with Liverpool facing local rivals Everton at home.

Brighton & Hove Albion face-off between Aston Villa, Manchester United against Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur begin their season against West Ham United in another London derby across the first weekend.

Full fixtures for the BWSL are available here, with all kick-offs beyond Round One subject to broadcaster scheduling.

In a unique season which culminates in the potential promotion for three clubs from the BWSL2 to expand the BWSL to 14 team from 2026-27, which includes a play-off between the bottom BWSL club and third-placed BWSL2 club, there is even more to play for in the second tier.

BWSL2 runners-up Birmingham City begin at home against Bristol City and there is a South London derby with Crystal Palace visiting Charlton whilst newly promoted Nottingham Forest host Newcastle United. Portsmouth take on Durham at home, Sheffield United are against Sunderland and Ipswich Town are away at Southampton for their first ever game in the BWSL2.

The play-off game between bottom club of the BWSL and third placed BWSL2 team will be confirmed in due course but will be played over the weekend of 22/23/24/25th May and will be broadcast on both Sky Sports and the BBC.

The schedule for the UEFA Women’s Champions League and UEFA Women’s Europa Cup is not yet known. Therefore, for Round 5 at the start of October, matches involving Arsenal, Chelsea and/or Manchester United have been scheduled on a Friday or Saturday to ensure there is a minimum of two clear days’ rest before any potential European fixture. For player welfare, we will employ this principle for any clubs’ continued participation in a UEFA competition beyond October which means league fixtures will be subject to change.

Full fixtures for BWSL2 are available here.

New broadcast deal

The 2025/26 season marks the start of the new five-year broadcast partnership with Sky Sports and the BBC Sport, with every BWSL match either on Sky Sports or the BBC.

All BWSL2 matches will be available to watch live on YouTube, with Sky Sports and the BBC also having the right to select any BWSL2 match for broadcast, which means that for the first time, fans can watch every match from the top two tiers of women’s professional football in England live.

It is Sky Sports’ intention to select a majority of its BWSL matches for a midday kick-off on Sunday with Sky Sports showing matches concurrently across its channels, including games featuring on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports+, and all available to access via the Sky Sports mobile app.

This consistent scheduling not only gives fans a regular viewing slot but also helps build a more unified and compelling narrative around the BWSL.

BBC matches will principally be on Sunday afternoons, with some taking place on Saturday lunchtime.

Other broadcast slots for the upcoming season include:

Friday kick off – 18:00 or later

Saturday kick off – 12:00 (midday)

Saturday kick off – 17:15

Sunday kick off – 12:00 (midday)

Sunday kick off – 12:30

Sunday kick off – 14:00

Sunday kick off – 14:30

Sunday kick off – 16:30

Fans will see an uplift in production for all broadcast games on WSL Football’s YouTube channel, with BWSL games increasing from a single camera set-up to four and BWSL2 games also increasing from a single camera to a minimum of two.

Broadcast picks for the first round of fixtures have been confirmed as follows:

Chelsea v Manchester City – Friday 5th September, 7.30pm KO, live on Sky Sports

Arsenal v London City Lionesses – Saturday 6th September – 1.30pm KO, live on BBC One

Liverpool v Everton – Sunday 7th September, 12pm KO, live on Sky Sports

Brighton & Hove Albion v Aston Villa – Sunday 12pm KO, live on Sky Sports

Manchester United v Leicester City – Sunday 12pm KO, live on Sky Sports

Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United – Sunday 12pm KO, live on Sky Sports

Fans can also sign-up to ECAL for their chosen team to have all of their fixtures imported into their phone calendar by visiting this LINK.

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