Women's Super League: Chelsea declared champions, Liverpool relegated

Chelsea Women have been awarded their third WSL title. They also won the league in in 2015 & 2017-18

Chelsea have been declared champions of the Barclays Women’s Super League while Liverpool have been relegated after it was decided that the league was to be decided on a points-per-game basis.

As a result of the PPG method, Chelsea have overtaken Manchester City into first place, having played one game less and being only one point behind at the point where the league was suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It’s the Blues’ third WSL title since the league was formed in 2010.

Liverpool’s relegation to the Championship has been confirmed with the club bottom of the WSL, trailing 11th placed Birmingham City by a point and having played one more game than the midlands side.

In a statement, Liverpool said they were “disappointed” with the final decision to relegate the two-time WSL winners saying that they believed they “would have been able to meet all operational requirements but a return to play was deemed impractical.”

Aston Villa will take the place of the Reds in the WSL after their promotion to the top flight was confirmed with the Villains six points clear at the top of the Championship having played the same amount of games as second placed Sheffield United and Durham in third.

The decision to end the season with immediate effect for the top two tiers of the Women’s game in England was taken after a unanimous vote from WSL teams on 25th May. At that stage, teams had between six and nine games remaining in their league campaign.

The Football Association (FA) board has confirmed that a “majority decision” was reached to decide the final placings on a points-per-game basis with the decision to include promotion and relegation being made “on sporting merit.”

The FA also hope to announce a new starting date for the 2020-21 season in due course.

It’s still to be confirmed, however, whether the Women’s FA Cup will be concluded this season with the competition currently at the quarter-final stage.