The WSL and Women’s Championship are being renamed WSL 1 and WSL 2, with a new visual identity to drive visibility and value of the women’s game.
Having taken over ownership of the Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship from the FA in August last year, Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) is rebranding the top tiers of the women’s game to usher in a “new era” for women’s football in England.
From next season, the two leagues will be renamed WSL 1 and WSL 2 – and they have a new brand and visual identity to boot.
In addition to the league’s rebranding, WPLL also has a new name: Women’s Super League Football.
It’s part of a wider mission to redefine how women’s football is positioned and perceived in the UK, as chief marketing officer Ruth Hooper tells Marketing Week: “Our mission is to build the most distinctive, competitive and entertaining women’s football league in the world.”
A new era
In the buildup to the WPLL’s – now WSL Football – formation and takeover of the top two divisions last year, there were many conversations, as expected, about how it was “going to operate, what the governance structure [would be] and the legalities of it,” says Hooper.
But at the same time, there was a wider conversation happening about “our purpose, our vision, our mission,” she says.
Now, at the business end of its first season in charge, it is rolling out a rebrand.