The 2026-27 Women's Super League (WSL) season is set to begin on Friday with London City Lionesses welcoming Manchester United to their home ground at 19:00 BST. This marks the first match of a season that sees the league expand from 12 to 14 teams. Birmingham City, Crystal Palace, and Charlton Athletic have been promoted from WSL 2, while Leicester City has been relegated. Defending champions Manchester City are aiming to secure their second consecutive title after winning their first league crown in a decade. London City Lionesses have made several high-profile signings this summer, including Alexia Putellas, a two-time Ballon d’Or winner who has joined on a free transfer from Barcelona. Putellas, who spent 14 years with the Spanish club, has won an impressive 38 trophies, including 10 league titles. Alongside her, the club has also signed Mapi Leon, another former Barcelona teammate of Putellas, and Mary Earps, a former England goalkeeper who previously played for Paris St-Germain. Other notable transfers include Arsenal signing Georgia Stanway, a midfielder who helped England win the 2022 and 2024 European Championships, from Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, England forward Beth Mead has left Arsenal on a free transfer to join Manchester City. Liverpool have also signed Mao Itamura, the Women’s Eredivisie player of the season, from Feyenoord. The WSL season will run from 4 September 2026 to 22 May 2027, with each team playing 26 matches, resulting in a total of 182 fixtures. There will be a winter break from 21 December to 10 January. The Women’s FA Cup final is scheduled for 15 May 2027. In terms of broadcasting, the BBC will show 25 WSL matches across its TV and iPlayer platforms, an increase of four games compared to the previous season. A new segment called "The Women's Football Fallout" will be featured after every live BBC match. Sky Sports will broadcast the majority of WSL matches, with some games also available for free streaming on the WSL YouTube channel.