The 2011 FA WSL was the inaugural season of the
FA WSL
The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features t ...
, the top-level women's
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
league of England. The season began on 13 April 2011 and ended on 28 August 2011. The league also took a break between 12 May and mid-July to allow preparation for the
2011 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the event ...
.
Arsenal won the competition, their eighth consecutive English title, Birmingham finished second. The second entry to the
UEFA Women's Champions League was supposed to be given to the
FA Women's Cup
The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship reas ...
winner, on 6 December 2011 however it was announced that Birmingham as runners-up were given the spot.
Teams
Sixteen clubs applied for a place in the inaugural season of the league:
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...
,
Barnet,
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
,
Bristol Academy,
Chelsea,
Colchester United,
Doncaster Rovers Belles,
Everton,
Leeds Carnegie,
Leicester City,
Lincoln Ladies,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
,
Millwall Lionesses,
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...
,
Nottingham Forest and
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
. Leeds Carnegie later withdrew their application.
Eight clubs were then picked by the FA from the remaining fifteen applicants: Arsenal, Birmingham City, Bristol Academy, Chelsea, Doncaster Rovers Belles, Everton, Lincoln Ladies, and Liverpool.
League table
Results
Top scorers
League Cup
The inaugural season of the League Cup, named the
WSL Continental Cup, was played as a straight knock-out tournament. Arsenal won the Cup with a 4–1 victory over Birmingham. Arsenal also won the League and Women's FA Cup thus winning a treble that season.
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2014
Women's Super League seasons
1
1