The rebranding of the Championship to WSL2 was long overdue for a division that needed “a bit more love”, and along with a host of upgrades the arrival of one of the game’s fondly followed traditions has provided a further uplift.
For the first time WSL2 players feature in the WSL Panini sticker album, which was released this week. It features 64 WSL2 collectibles in its third edition, with 48 players and each club represented.
“We just felt that WSL2 is a league that needs a bit more love,” says Zarah Al-Kudcy, the chief revenue officer for WSL Football. “It’s super competitive and we’re seeing the teams pulling in crowds and getting really solid YouTube numbers. We’re also the only country in Europe that has two professional leagues.
“We wanted to be able to have a core brand that represents both of our leagues and for them not to be two totally different properties. We wanted to build the strength of the race to get into WSL from WSL2. You see it now across our website and via our partners. You’ll see it when the app launches, the sticker album. It’s now about positioning us as having 24 clubs, soon to be 26, and not two completely separate competitions.”
The league is capitalising on its growing status by striking a number of commercial deals, with sportswear giant Nike rolling out boots and gloves to all 24 clubs and Apple providing the same products to Durham as it does to the likes of Arsenal. “When we’re talking to partners, we are talking about both leagues as a brand. So, if you look at all the new partners we’ve brought on board there is dedicated activation to all 24 clubs,” adds Al-Kudcy.
Alongside the rebrand and expanded commercial tie-ups, new minimum standards have been introduced to make the league fully professional as well as all games being available on YouTube. The Professional Footballers’ Association has also lent support. The upgrade is already being felt across the second tier.
“I genuinely feel very humbled,” says Al-Kudcy. “When I speak to some WSL2 players who are like: ‘We just feel seen, we feel seen by WSL Football and the fact that you’re making sure you’re rolling out the same support to us.’ Not just commercial, it was a real gamechanger to have the Professional Footballers’ Association [PFA] come on board and expand to supporting both leagues, that was huge.
“I talk about the commercial side but I look at the work that has been done with the PFA, in bringing in a minimum salary, in making sure we have roles like performance wellbeing managers and safeguarding officers. It’s also the football infrastructure that is being delivered in parallel to the commercial side of things and that makes it much easier for me to go and talk to our partners and our brands: ‘This is what we’re doing to raise the game and we need you to help us.’”
One of the players feeling the benefit of their improved standing in the women’s game is Nottingham Forest’s Amy Rodgers. “Until a couple of years ago WSL2 was really disregarded, and you felt that as a player at times,” she says. The 25-year-old midfielder joined newly promoted Forest in the summer, one of 10 players drafted in. Rodgers was alert to the opportunity presented by the WSL’s expansion to 14 teams next year. There will be two automatic promotion spots available and a playoff for the third-placed team against the side who finish bottom of the WSL.
Rodgers, a former Liverpool player, competed in both leagues with the Merseyside club, spent two seasons in WSL2 with London City Lionesses and joined Bristol City before the 2023-24 WSL campaign and was part of the team battling it out in WSL2 last season. Each time she has jumped back into the WSL2 from a stint in the WSL or gone into a new season, she has felt the rise in level.
“Now, we’re getting a bit more recognition,” she says. “It’s nice, as a player. Hopefully it will help lead to bigger attendances as well to create more sustainability in the league and then I hope that it will also filter down into tiers three, four and further down the pyramid, because if we want the game to be sustainable, we really need to work on that engagement and connection to the pyramid as well.”
The playoff game will be a regular feature, with 13th in WSL facing the WSL2 runners-up in subsequent years. “It showcases the uniqueness of the fact that we have two pro leagues,” says Al-Kudcy. This season the playoff will be broadcast by Sky and BBC.
The carrot of up to three promotion places this season is accelerating growth alongside the increased care given to WSL2. One manager told Al-Kudcy this summer’s window was the hardest for recruiting from other WSL2 sides as each upped their ambitions.
Rodgers says: “You can tell the majority of the teams in this league very realistically think they can be in those promotion spots. Previously in WSL2 there were often maybe one or two teams that had a lot more investment than the rest, they could have points taken off them but it was sort of obvious that one of those was going to finish as the top-placed team.
“This year it’s just exciting. There’s obviously a few teams that do have a bit more investment than others. We’re new into this league as well, which is a bit of a disadvantage, but I think there’s an excited and focused atmosphere around the league because everyone knows they can be in there.”
