Tier
League
Status
All-England national competition
1
FA Women's Super League
Full-time
Professional
2
FA Women's Championship
Part-time
Semi-Professional
FA Women's National leagues (FAWNL) *All amateur
3
2 regional leagues (North & South)
Largest regions
FAWNL level 1
4
4 major regional leagues
Large regions
FAWNL level 2
5
8 sub-regional leagues
Mid-sized regions
FAWNL level 3
6
17 sub-sub-regional leagues
Smaller regions
FAWNL level 4
FA County level leagues
7
County leagues
County/district
Top county level
8
County leagues
County/district
Level 2 (Grass roots)
9
County leagues
Vounty/district
Level 3 (Development)
Women's Super league (WSL) can be regarded as the women's version of the Premiership.
The Women's Championship has much the same role as the men's Championship.
FAWNL - The FA's Women's National League does not have "national" leagues. The organisation is national but the leagues are all regional.
FAWNL is regarded as the mainstream for women's football. Below the professionals but above the 'park football' hierarchy.
The FAWNL has 4 levels and can be thought of as similar to the EFL except all the FAWNL leagues are regional.
The highest level of FAWNL has only two regions, North and South. The lower the level within FAWNL, the smaller and more numerous the geographical leagues become.
The County level leagues are similar to the men's National League but are all locally based. Everyone wants to get up into the FAWNL levels.
The entire pyramid is subject to promotion and relegation, normally with one team up and one team down but there are variations.
Below the County leagues are countless local leagues serving the entire country, they do not always have direct access to the county leagues by way of automatic promotion.
Supporting and feeding into the women's pyramid is the Junior Premier League (JPL).
The JPL is a set of competitive nationally organised leagues for youth/kid's teams with age limits. Under 12's, under 16's etc.
The JPL is for youth development and seeks to attract and develop the most able and committed youngsters into women's football.
Leyton Orient currently (2024) have teams in the County league (level 7) and in the under-18s in the JPL.