Manchester City will kick off their defence of the Women's Super League crown by facing newly promoted Birmingham City, while the London City Lionesses open the 2026/27 campaign against Manchester United in a match that will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. The full fixture list for the upcoming season has now been published, complete with kick‑off times and broadcast allocations for the first four weekends.
This year’s calendar is larger than ever because the league has grown from twelve to fourteen clubs, following the promotion of Birmingham City, Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic from the second tier, WSL 2. Sky Sports has committed to airing 90 percent of all WSL games live across its main channel and the NOW streaming service, covering a total of 163 matches plus the end‑of‑season play‑off.
Selected fixtures will also be streamed on the dedicated Sky Sports WSL YouTube channel, giving fans multiple ways to watch. The schedule also offers greater flexibility, with fewer games being forced to start simultaneously, which should make it easier for supporters to follow their favourite teams. The London City Lionesses, who made headlines this summer by signing two‑time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas, will launch the new season in front of Sky Sports cameras on Friday 4 September when they host Manchester United.
Two days later, on Sunday 6 September, the reigning champions Manchester City will meet newcomers Birmingham City in a marquee double‑header that will feature five live games across the day. Other fixtures on that opening Sunday include last season’s runners‑up Arsenal travelling to Brighton, Tottenham Hotspur hosting a London derby against West Ham United, Liverpool visiting newly promoted Charlton Athletic, and Crystal Palace – who bounced straight back to the top flight – taking on Everton. Meanwhile, eight‑time champions Chelsea will welcome Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge on Saturday 5 September. Manchester United will face a tough start to their season, with their second match scheduled at home against Chelsea on Sunday 13 September, followed by a trip to the Emirates Stadium to play Arsenal on Saturday 19 September.
Both of those games will be shown live on Sky Sports. Arsenal will also host Chelsea on Sunday 27 September, again with live coverage. The league’s schedule also highlights the first Merseyside derby of the campaign, as Everton travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool on Sunday 27 September, a match that will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Relegation remains in place despite the league’s expansion: the team finishing bottom will be automatically relegated, while the club finishing 13th will enter a play‑off against the runners‑up from WSL 2. Key early‑season fixtures include: - London City Lionesses vs Manchester United, kick‑off 19:00, live on Sky Sports - Chelsea vs Aston Villa, kick‑off 12:30 - Brighton vs Arsenal, kick‑off 12:00, live on Sky Sports - Tottenham vs West Ham, kick‑off 12:00, live on Sky Sports - Charlton vs Liverpool, kick‑off 14:00, live on Sky Sports - Crystal Palace vs Everton, kick‑off 14:00, live on Sky Sports - Manchester City vs Birmingham City, kick‑off 14:30, live on Sky Sports Additional matches scheduled for Saturday 12 September feature West Ham against London City (12:45), Manchester United versus Chelsea (12:00), Birmingham against Brighton (14:00), Everton versus Charlton (14:00), Liverpool versus Tottenham (14:00) and a late‑night clash between Aston Villa and Manchester City (18:30), followed by Manchester City hosting Liverpool at 19:00. The calendar continues with a busy slate on Saturday 19 September – Chelsea hosting Birmingham (12:45), Arsenal taking on Manchester United (17:30), Brighton versus Aston Villa (14:00), Crystal Palace versus Tottenham (14:00) and West Ham versus Everton (14:00). The following weekend, Saturday 26 September, sees London City face Brighton (17:00), Manchester United travel to West Ham (13:00), Birmingham meet Crystal Palace (14:00), Liverpool play Everton (14:00), Tottenham host Aston Villa (14:00) and Chelsea host Arsenal (16:30).
The season will open on 4 September and will pause for a winter break from 21 December to 3 January. The final round of fixtures is slated for the weekend of 22/23 May, with the promotion/relegation play‑off taking place on 29/30 May. Sky Sports has also rolled out a new mobile app that makes it simpler than ever to keep up with the action on the go. The app offers vertical‑video highlights, comprehensive match centres packed with scores and statistics, and live streams for Sky Sports subscribers – all at no extra cost to fans.
Free‑to‑watch highlights from every WSL match will continue to be available on the Sky Sports website and app. Beyond the traditional broadcast, Sky Sports is launching a dedicated WSL YouTube channel.
This platform will become the hub for live streams of selected games, match highlights, exclusive interviews and behind‑the‑scenes content that showcases the league’s biggest personalities in a fresh, engaging format. For the 2026/27 season, Sky Sports will broadcast more than 1,500 live matches across the Premier League, the English Football League, the Women’s Super League and the Scottish Premiership.
This includes 215 Premier League fixtures that will be shown exclusively on Sky Sports. The network will also revive the iconic Super Sunday 4:30 pm slot and increase coverage on Friday and Monday nights, ensuring that fans can enjoy the most important moments from the first whistle to the final whistle of every weekend across the top tiers of British football.