FA WSL Spring Series

The FA WSL Spring Series was an interim edition of the FA WSL between the sixth and seventh full seasons. The Spring Series ran from February to May 2017 to bridge the gap from the 2016 FA WSL season which ran from March to September as a summer tournament, and the 2017–18 season which started in September 2017.

FA WSL

Season	Spring Series
Champions	Chelsea
← 2016 2017–18 →

While the 2017–18 season planned to feature 21 clubs, the Spring Series contained 20. Notts County Ladies F.C. folded two days before they were due to play their first Spring Series game, leaving 19 teams in total. Teams played each other once, with no promotion or relegation before the full 2017–18 season. WSL 2 began in February, while WSL 1 started in April.

Teams

WSL 1

Arsenal

Birmingham City

Bristol City

Chelsea

Liverpool

Manchester City

Reading

Sunderland

Yeovil Town

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Locations of the Spring Series WSL 1 teams

Team	Location	Ground	Capacity	2016 season
Arsenal	Borehamwood	Meadow Park	4,502	3rd
Birmingham City	Solihull	Damson Park	3,050	4th
Bristol City	Filton	Stoke Gifford Stadium	1,500	2nd, WSL 2
Chelsea	Staines	Wheatsheaf Park	3,009	2nd
Liverpool	Widnes	Select Security Stadium	13,350	5th
Manchester City	Manchester	Academy Stadium	7,000	1st
Reading	High Wycombe	Adams Park	9,617	8th
Sunderland	Hetton-le-Hole	Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground	2,500	7th
Yeovil Town	Yeovil	Huish Park	9,565	1st, WSL 2

WSL 2

Aston Villa

London Bees

Brighton & Hove Albion

Doncaster Rovers Belles

Durham

Everton

Millwall Lionesses

Oxford United

Sheffield

Watford

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Locations of the Spring Series WSL 2 teams

Team	Location	Ground	Capacity	2016 season
Aston Villa	Tamworth	The Lamb Ground	4,000	7th
Brighton & Hove Albion	Lancing	Culver Road	2,000	1st, 2015–16 WPL
Doncaster Rovers Belles	Doncaster	Keepmoat Stadium	15,231	9th, WSL 1
Durham	Durham	New Ferens Park	3,000	4th
Everton	Widnes	Select Security Stadium	13,350	3rd
London Bees	Canons Park	The Hive Stadium	5,176	6th
Millwall Lionesses	Bermondsey	St. Paul's Sports Ground	2,500	8th
Oxford United	Abingdon	Northcourt Road	2,000	9th
Sheffield	Dronfield	Coach and Horses	2,000	5th
Watford	Kings Langley	Global Metcorp Stadium	1,000	10th

WSL 1

FA WSL 1

Season	2017 Spring Series
Matches played	36
Goals scored	122 (3.39 per match)
Top goalscorer	Fran Kirby (6 goals)
Biggest home win	Chelsea 6–0 Yeovil Town (30 April 2017)
Biggest away win	Sunderland 0–7 Chelsea (21 May 2017)
Highest scoring	Arsenal 4–4 Liverpool (4 May 2017)
← 2016 2017–18 →

Ten teams were due to compete in this season. Notts County Ladies announced it was folding and withdrew from the league two days before their first scheduled fixture.

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	8	6	1	1	32	3	+29	19
2	Manchester City	8	6	1	1	17	6	+11	19
3	Arsenal	8	5	3	0	22	9	+13	18
4	Liverpool	8	4	2	2	20	18	+2	14
5	Sunderland	8	2	3	3	4	14	−10	9
6	Reading	8	2	2	4	10	15	−5	8
7	Birmingham City	8	1	4	3	6	10	−4	7
8	Bristol City	8	1	1	6	5	21	−16	4
9	Yeovil Town	8	0	1	7	6	26	−20	1

Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

Results

Home \ Away	ARS	BIR	BRI	CHE	LIV	MCI	REA	SUN	YEO
Arsenal		4–2			4–4		1–0
Birmingham City			2–0	0–2	0–2			0–0	0–0
Bristol City	0–5			0–4	1–1	0–3	1–3
Chelsea	2–2				7–0				6–0
Liverpool						1–3	4–2	4–0
Manchester City	0–1	1–1		1–0					5–1
Reading		1–1		0–4		2–3
Sunderland	0–0		1–0	0–7		0–1	1–1
Yeovil Town	1–5		2–3		1–4		0–1	1–2

Source: FA WSL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Fran Kirby	Chelsea	6
2	Caroline Weir	Liverpool	5
3	Karen Carney	Chelsea	4
	Danielle Carter	Arsenal
	Erin Cuthbert	Chelsea
	Toni Duggan	Manchester City
	Natasha Harding	Liverpool
	Ji So-yun	Chelsea
	Jordan Nobbs	Arsenal
	Drew Spence	Chelsea

WSL 2

FA WSL 2

Season	2017 Spring Series
Matches played	45
Goals scored	138 (3.07 per match)
Top goalscorer	Courtney Sweetman-Kirk (9 goals)
Biggest home win	Everton 5–0 Brighton & Hove Albion (30 April 2017)
Biggest away win	London Bees 0–4 Everton (20 May 2017) Oxford United 0–4 Doncaster Rovers Belles (21 May 2017)
Highest scoring	Aston Villa 5–4 Durham (21 May 2017)
← 2016 2017–18 →

Ten teams competed in this season. Brighton & Hove Albion was promoted after beating Sporting Club Albion in the 2015–16 FA Women's Premier League Championship play-off. Following the closure of Notts County Ladies in April 2017, one team was promoted at the end of the Spring Series to the WSL1 for the 2017–18 season, based on an evaluation by the FA of applicant clubs' business plans, budget, youth development, facilities and on-pitch performance.

Table

Everton celebrates winning the FA WSL 2 Spring Series.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Everton	9	7	1	1	25	7	+18	22	Applied for promotion to the 2017–18 FA WSL. Promotion approved.
2	Doncaster Rovers Belles	9	5	3	1	19	9	+10	18	Applied for promotion to the 2017–18 FA WSL.
3	Millwall Lionesses	9	5	2	2	12	8	+4	17
4	Aston Villa	9	5	2	2	19	16	+3	17
5	Durham	9	5	1	3	14	10	+4	16
6	Brighton & Hove Albion	9	2	4	3	8	13	−5	10
7	London Bees	9	3	1	5	13	21	−8	10
8	Watford	9	2	2	5	12	17	−5	8
9	Sheffield	9	2	0	7	9	18	−9	6
10	Oxford United	9	0	2	7	7	19	−12	2

Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

Results

Home \ Away	AST	BRH	DON	DUR	EVE	LON	MIL	OXF	SHE	WAT
Aston Villa		3–1		5–4		3–2	1–1			3–2
Brighton & Hove Albion			0–0					1–1	3–1	2–1
Doncaster Rovers Belles	2–1			2–1	3–3	4–1
Durham		1–0				3–0	1–0	2–1	1–0
Everton	3–0	5–0		1–0						4–0
London Bees		1–1			0–4		1–2	3–1	2–1
Millwall Lionesses		0–0	2–1		2–1			2–0	1–2
Oxford United	0–0		0–4		1–2					1–2
Sheffield	1–3		0–2		1–2			3–2
Watford			1–1	1–1		2–3	1–2		2–0

Source: FA WSL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Courtney Sweetman-Kirk	Doncaster Rovers Belles	9
2	Claudia Walker	Everton	7
3	Simone Magill	Everton	5
	Zoe Ness	Durham
5	Natasha Baptiste	Aston Villa	4
	Ashleigh Goddard	London Bees
	Ini-Abasi Umotong	Oxford United
	Jo Wilson	London Bees