Derbies in the Women’s Super League have a structure you won’t find elsewhere: the rivalry is inherited from the men’s clubs, but the women’s histories don’t line up with it.
In Manchester, for instance, United dominated the men’s game for decades — yet City established a women’s team first, and United only founded theirs in 2018. The frame is borrowed; the contents were written separately. That is what makes WSL derbies interesting.
North London derby (Arsenal v Tottenham)
The highest-profile derby in the league. Arsenal’s women’s team was founded in 1987 and has won more trophies than any other club in English women’s football, including multiple domestic trebles and a European title. In the women’s game, Arsenal are the traditional aristocracy.
Tottenham established themselves in the WSL far more recently, so the gap in history is wide. What makes the fixture special anyway is the crowd. Staged at the Emirates or the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, it draws attendances in the tens of thousands and has repeatedly set records for the women’s game. The same ninety minutes sounds nothing like a match at a small ground.
Manchester derby (Manchester City v Manchester United)
As above, the chronology is reversed on the women’s side. City entered the WSL in 2014 and became a fixture at the top with international-calibre squads. United, founded in 2018, arrived late and climbed quickly.
Watching this derby is different once you know United were built as the challenger here. It is also a reminder of how recent the expansion of women’s football actually is.
Merseyside derby (Liverpool v Everton)
Everton’s women’s team traces back to a club founded in the 1980s under a different name, giving it roots in the earliest era of English women’s football. Liverpool were in the WSL from its creation and won back-to-back titles in its early seasons.
This is one of the few cases where the “city divided in two” structure transfers intact from the men’s game. Neither club has been near the top recently, but the standing of the fixture has not changed.
Seven London clubs this season
The WSL expanded to 14 clubs for 2026-27, and seven of them are from London: Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Charlton and London City Lionesses. Half the league in one city is a concentration that has never happened in the men’s Premier League.
This reflects structural realities. Investment gathers where crowds and players are easiest to reach, and travel costs favour the south-east. The result is a season in which London fixtures appear almost every week.
Two clubs deserve particular attention.
- London City Lionesses — the first club without a men’s side to reach the WSL. Most women’s teams are run as a department of a men’s club, so a standalone women’s football business climbing to the top division poses a question about how the league is organised
- Charlton — competed near the top of English women’s football in the early 2000s before the club withdrew support for the women’s team. Working back up through the lower divisions and returning to the top flight makes them a living record of how women’s football has been treated
Promoted clubs and a former champion
Birmingham City, Charlton and Crystal Palace came up for 2026-27. Birmingham were in the WSL from its founding era, won a domestic cup in the early 2010s and went deep in Europe. A club that was once at the top has come back, and the league is measurably deeper for it.
What to look for before kick-off
WSL matches vary enormously in venue scale from week to week. The same club may use the main stadium one weekend and a smaller dedicated ground the next, and the atmosphere is a different thing entirely. Derbies tend to get the former, so the width of the stands on screen tells you this is a special day.
The WSL also sits very close to the international game — most of the England squad plays domestically, so a derby doubles as competition for national-team places. Our match pages list international honours and previous clubs for each player, and never show scores.