This week sees Merseyside, Manchester, North London, and Tyne-Wear Derbies across WSL and WSL2, all at the clubs' primary stadia, although the game that matters in the standings and for local bragging rights is the Manchester derby. That said, City is 8 points ahead going into the game at Old Trafford.
Charlton Athletic, a storied club under various guises in its history, and Tom Brady and Hope Powell's Birmingham City sit in the expansion spots for WSL, and Crystal Palace are currently lined up for a playoff against the bottom side in the first division, Leicester City.
In the feeder tiers below, the races stretch all the way from the Lancashire County FA Ground in Leyland to the southern fringes of Hertfordshire, with Burnley and Watford poised to ascend to the WSL2 from the FA Women's National League North and South Divisions, respectively.
With the WSL expanding by a couple of teams, the second-place teams in the WNL Divisions will play off against one another to move up to the second division. Those teams are currently Wolverhampton Wanderers in the West Midlands and Plymouth Argyle, one of the most isolated clubs in the English game. The Clarets are undefeated, and Wolves have only lost once, giving them a handy advantage in the promotion spots from the North. Another geographical island, Bournemouth in Dorset, is threatening and sits just behind the promotion spots in the South, with games in hand. Watford, Plymouth, and Bournemouth all have only two losses.
This season, two additional teams will also be promoted from Division One, following the same format: the second-placed teams of Division One North and Midlands will face each other, and the second-placed teams of Division One South East and South West will face each other. Huddersfield Town in West Yorkshire, Peterborough United in Cambridgeshire, Fulham in west London, and Swindon Town in Wiltshire are the four lined up for automatic Premier Division spots.
Moneyfields in Hampshire, Norwich City in East Anglia, Boldmere St. Michaels in Birmingham, and Leeds United in Yorkshire are in place to play off. Holding up the league structure, quite amazingly, are Clitheroe-based Blackburn Rovers, who were in the Championship only last season, and now they face relegation out of the fourth division.
