2021–22 Scottish Women's Football Championship

Football competition

The 2021–22 Scottish Women's Football Championship is the inaugural season of the SWF Championship after its formation as the third tier of women's football in Scotland.

The previous two planned seasons in 2020 and 2020–21 were both abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic.^[1]^[2]^[3]

The league was split into two divisions – Championship North and Championship South. Planned to have 'approximately 12 teams each',^[4] the divisions in the inaugural season actually contained 9 and 17 teams respectively.

Montrose secured the Championship North title on 10 April, with a 4–1 win over their promotion rivals East Fife.^[5] In the Championship South, Gartcairn finished as the division winners on 24 April, ahead of 2nd-placed Rossvale.^[6] East Fife won the third available promotion place to SWPL 2, by winning the single-match promotion play-off in Alloa, 3–1, against Rossvale on 8 May.^[7]^[8]

Teams

Championship North

Team	Location	Home ground	2019 position^{[Note 1]}^{[Note 2]}
Buchan	Maud	Maud Pleasure Park	4th
Drybrugh Athletic	Dundee	Lochee Park	2nd in SWFL2 North/East
Dundee West	Dundee	Charlotte Street Pitches	1st in SWFL2 North/East
East Fife	Leven	King George V Park	6th
Grampian	Aberdeen	Cults Academy
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Inverness	Millburn Academy	2nd
Montrose	Montrose	Links Park	7th
Stonehaven	Stonehaven	Mineralwell Park	11th
Westdyke	Westhill	Lawsondale Pitches	9th

Source:^[9]

Notes

^
Note 1: Finishing position in SWFL1 North unless otherwise stated.
^
Note 2: The previous two seasons in 2020 and 2020–21 were both abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Championship South

Team	Location	Home ground	2019 position^{[Note 3]}^{[Note 4]}
Airdrie	Airdrie	Excelsior Stadium	4th in SWFL2 South East/Central
Ayr United	Alloway	Cambusdoon Sports Club	11th
BSC Glasgow	Clydebank	Clydebank Community Sport Hub	5th in in SWFL2 West/Central
Clyde	Cumbernauld	Broadwood Astro	3rd in in SWFL2 West/Central
Edinburgh Caledonia	Edinburgh	Peffermill 3G	1st in SWFL2 South East/Central
Edinburgh City	Edinburgh	Ainslie Park
Falkirk	Falkirk	Falkirk Stadium	10th in SWFL2 South East/Central
Gartcairn	Airdrie	MTC Park
St Mirren	Paisley	Ralston Community Sports Centre
Hutchison Vale	Edinburgh	WHEC Education Centre
Livingston	Blackburn	New Murrayfield Park	9th
Morton	Greenock	Cappielow	1st in in SWFL2 West/South West
Renfrew	Renfrew	New Western Park	7th
Rossvale	Glasgow	Huntershill Recreation Centre
Gleniffer Thistle	Paisley	Ferguslie Sports Centre	4th in SWFL2 West/Central
Stenhousemuir	Stenhousemuir	Ochilview Park	5th in SWFL2 South East/Central
United Glasgow	Glasgow	Garscube Sports Complex	2nd in SWFL2 West/Central

Source:^[9]

Notes

^
Note 3: Finishing position in SWFL1 South unless otherwise stated.
^
Note 4: The previous two seasons in 2020 and 2020–21 were both abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic.^[1]^[2]^[3]

SWPL play-offs

For the first time, a system of promotion/relegation play-offs was introduced to the SWPL. The two runners-up from Championship North and Championship South were intended to take part in play-off semi-finals, with the winner playing the team finishing eighth in SWPL2 in the play-off final, to determine the last place in the 2022–23 SWPL.^[10] Instead, East Fife won promotion in a single promotion play-off,^[7] and no club was relegated from SWPL 2, due to expansion of the SWPL in 2022.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Lewis, Jane (29 July 2020). "SWPL season declared null and void after one round of games". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c "SWF Statement – Senior Performance Arm update (29/04/21)". SWPL. 5 May 2021. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c "SWF STATEMENT – SENIOR PERFORMANCE ARM UPDATE (29/04/21)". SWF. 5 May 2021. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
^ "New Senior Structure for 2020 and beyond". Scottish Women's Premier League. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
^ "Montrose promoted to SWPL 2". She Kicks. 11 April 2022. Archived from the original on 11 April 2022.
^ "Gartcairn boss toasts title winners after five star performance on final day". Daily Record. 29 April 2022. Archived from the original on 29 April 2022.
^ ^a ^b Frith, Will (9 May 2022). "Park's SWPL: Rangers Women champions for first time". Archived from the original on 9 May 2022.
^ East Fife FC [@EastFifeFC] (8 May 2022). "👏 Congratulations to @East_Fife_GWFC on their promotion to @SWPL 2 following their 3-1 win over Rossvale this afternoon! 🖤💛 https://t.co/AS2ZxMzyS1" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022 – via Twitter.
^ ^a ^b "SWF Club Finder". Scottish Women's Football. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
^ Scottish Women's Football announces new league structure, SheKicks.net, 20 September 2019