Before the National League, women's teams nationally had competed in the
WFA Cup (Women's FA Cup) since 1970, and there were English regional leagues, but this was the first regular nationwide competition of its kind. The Women's National League was inaugurated in
the 1991–92 season by the
Women's Football Association (WFA), with a monetary grant from
the Sports Council. Eight teams played in the top flight in that year. From the League's foundation, it consisted of a national premier division and two lower divisions, the Northern and Southern Divisions, whose winners each season were promoted to the top flight. were the first champions of the Women's National League in 1991–92 From 1991–92 until 2012–13, the national premier division was above the Northern and Southern Divisions. Since 1991–92, the Northern and Southern Divisions have run on an equal basis with promotion, and this continues today. The terms ''Women's Premiership
and Ladies Premiership'' were generally used for the National Division only. After the League's
third season, the FA assumed responsibility for the competition and renamed it, beginning with the
1994–95 FA Women's Premier League (FA WPL). The Women's Premier League remained level 1 and 2 of women's football until the end of
the 2009–10 season. From 2000 until 2008, the WPL champions competed in the annual
FA Women's Community Shield. The National Division's most successful clubs were
Arsenal (12 titles),
Croydon (3 titles),
Doncaster Belles (2 titles and 7 times runners-up),
Everton (1 title and 5 times runners-up), and
Sunderland (3 titles at league level 2). The Women's Premier League lost several clubs prior to
the 2010–11 season and the National Division was demoted to level 2, due to the creation of the
FA WSL in 2011. (The WSL was a summer league for its first six years, as opposed to the WPL's winter format.) Strangely, the lower divisions were still given the name "Premier League" for eight more seasons. The number of clubs competing in the Northern and Southern Divisions decreased from 12 to 10. The National Division decreased from 12 clubs to eight (
2010–11), then increased to 10 clubs (
2011–12 and
2012–13). The National Division was scrapped after the
2012–13 season, due to the introduction of the
WSL 2 in 2014, which included some clubs that moved from the Women's Premier League. During the
2013–14 season, the only divisions with WPL branding were the third tier Northern and Southern Divisions. The FA proposed rebranding the WPL collectively as the Women's Championship League, but the idea was ultimately dropped. In 2014 the league moved away from the FA with the formation of an independent League Management Committee, elected by the clubs to run league operations. Carol West, a serving police officer was elected as league chair and led the voluntary management committee until 2023. For the
2014–15 season, the Women's Premier League incorporated the fourth tier
Combination Leagues as the Premier League's 'Division One', consisting of the Division One leagues: North, Midlands, South East and South West. Promotion to the second tier was also reintroduced, with the winners of the Northern and Southern Divisions playing each other in a single play-off match at a neutral venue, the winner becoming the overall Women's Premier League/National League champion, and promoted to the WSL 2. The first play-off occurred between
Portsmouth and
Sheffield at Stratford Town's Knights Lane ground. Sheffield won through a stoppage-time goal. In 2018 the FA Women's Premier League was rebranded as the FA Women's National League. Beginning with the
2023–24 season, it was decided that both the Northern and Southern Division champions will be automatically promoted to the Championship. ==Format and clubs==