The Women’s League Cup will be renamed the Players Cup and operate in a league system with regionalised matches for the 2026-27 season.

Last November, clubs in the Women’s Super League (WSL) and WSL 2 voted in favour of proposals to revamp the competition to help combat scheduling issues and to protect player welfare.

They agreed the new format would exclude sides who have qualified for the Women’s Champions League, meaning League Cup holders Chelsea, WSL champions Manchester City and runners-up Arsenal will miss this year’s edition.

The remaining 23 teams from the top two divisions have been split into Northern and Southern sections – but will be in one table.

They will compete from September to December on nights when Champions League fixtures are taking place.

Each team will play three home and three away games against sides in their region, with three points for a win.

Any match that is level after normal time will be decided by a penalty shootout, with the victor gaining two points and the loser awarded one.

The top eight will qualify for the quarter-finals in January, when higher-placed finishers will be granted home advantage.

After a one-legged semi-final hosted by the higher seed, the final will be scheduled at a neutral venue on the weekend of 13 and 14 March.

“We wanted meaningful playing minutes for young and fringe players and to address disparity on playing opportunities across the leagues, without compromising our player welfare principles,” WSL’s chief revenue officer Zarah Al-Kudcy said.

Last season, teams played three or four matches across five groups, with the winners of each being joined at the quarter-final stage by sides in European competition.

Fixtures will be announced on Thursday, 6 August.

Northern section: Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Burnley, Durham, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Sunderland.

Southern section: Brighton & Hove Albion, Bristol City, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Ipswich Town, Leicester City, London City Lionesses, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Watford, West Ham United, Wolves.

Pressure on the football calendar is not unique to the women’s game and when WSL Football was founded in late 2023, it recognised an opportunity to revamp the League Cup.

This new format comes out of consultation with clubs, players and fans to service the needs of all teams in the top two divisions.

There is a vast disparity between the number of fixtures played by those in European competition and those not – more than 10 in many cases last season.

Therefore, mirroring the Swiss-style format of the Champions League, the new Players Cup seeks to address that by providing more opportunity and minutes for players of those teams who did not finish in the top three of the WSL in 2025-26.

Similarly, not having those top sides parachuted into the competition at the quarter-final stage not only offers greater parity for different clubs to win silverware, it also guarantees a new name on the trophy in 2026-27.

Only Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have ever won the League Cup – and as they are excluded this season, the Players Cup will have a first-time winner.

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