Women's League Cup becomes the Players Cup

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Subway renews partnership with WSL Football as secondary competition gets new name and format

2026-07-28T10:00+01:00

Brighton and Hove Albion Women vs Everton Women 28SEP25 KH 080

From the 2026/27 season, WSL Football’s secondary competition will have a new name and new format with Subway agreeing a new multi-year deal to become title partner.

Previously the Subway Women’s League Cup, the competition has been renamed the Subway Players Cup to recognise that the new format has been built around player welfare principles and that the ambition for the competition is to put players at the heart of everything.

The group stage of the Subway Players Cup will adopt a Swiss-style league format, with fixtures drawn by region. This structure guarantees a minimum of six matches and is designed to increase playing opportunities for players not involved in European competition which ensures they are not underloaded and playing too few matches.

The new proposals will mean the three UEFA Champions League qualified teams would not participate in the competition because of the increased playing load due to the calendar.

Players spoken to about the changes are excited by the format, the prospect of more matches and a viable chance to win silverware. They see the competition as valuable and believe the structure will increase competitiveness and appreciate that welfare and development are the primary drivers.

New Format Structure

The Subway Players Cup will be split into two stages – the League Phase and Knockout Phase.

The League Phase will be played primarily during the UEFA Women’s Champions League match rounds and will replace the previous group phase.

All 23 participating teams will compete together in a single, unified league table, where each club plays three home and three away fixtures against teams in their regionalised section.

Fixtures for the League Phase will be announced on Thursday 6 August at 12pm.

In total, there will be 69 fixtures in the League Phase, with these played between September and December with three points for a win. For any game tied after 90 minutes, a penalty shoot-out will take place where the winner receives two points, and the loser is awarded one point.

Following the conclusion of those games, the teams who occupy the top eight positions in the league standings will progress to the Knockout Phase. This will take place from January through to March, with the quarter finals across January 13-14, 2027 in the following structure:

1st Place v 8th Place (QF1)
2nd Place v 7th Place (QF2)
3rd Place v 6th Place (QF3)
4th Place v 5th Place (QF4)

The winners of those fixtures will then meet in the semi-finals across February 10-11, with the higher ranked team from the league phase earning home advantage as follows: