THE HISTORY-MAKING WFA LEAGUE IS FORMED 

Sunday, 15 September 1991: a seminal date in the history of English women’s football as 24 teams kicked off the opening day of the country’s first ever nationwide league competition, The Women’s FA National League.

Twenty-two years after the WFA’s formation and 21 since its inauguration of the Women’s FA Cup, the structure was in place for the game to progress towards what was to become one of the world’s strongest professional women’s leagues.

The competition’s formation had been first discussed at the 1989 AGM of the WFA, those discussions then being used as the basis for the development of the regional leagues towards a national set-up. 

A meeting of the regional leagues on 19 January 1991 agreed the principle that the new League would consist of three divisions: a nationwide top flight and below it, Northern and Southern divisions. 

Rules were approved on 16 March 1991, and so all was in place for the commencement of the competition six months later. The subsequently successful launch of the National League was the culmination of much hard work by many individuals, particularly a dedicated WFA committee made up almost entirely of volunteers – the only paid member was secretary Linda Whitehead.

The WFA at the time was led by chairman Tim Stearn, a police officer who had long experience in the organisation of boys’, girls’ and women’s football tournaments. He had been appointed to the chair in 1984 after submitting – at the WFA’s request – suggestions as to how the organisation might progress and develop the women’s game.

Stearn, who also became the WFA representative on the Football Association Council, recalled: “When I became Chairman there were 29 leagues around the country and there were some very one-sided matches which were not benefitting the women’s game’s image – for example I can remember Doncaster Belles winning games by 20 goals or more.

“So on behalf of the WFA I spoke to Joe Patton at the Sports Council, who had nine regional bodies, and as a result we agreed that if we formed regional leagues then the clubs involved could avail themselves of Sports Council grants. 

“There was some resistance from individuals who didn’t want to lose their titles within the existing set-up of leagues, but we pushed the idea through, got the funding and started operating in nine regional leagues.

“Once this was established I put forward plans for a National League which would be made up of 20 teams in two divisions. All the financial implications were worked out, like travelling costs and mileages between the different teams, and then I went to speak about the idea with Peter Lee at the Football Trust.

“The Trust, along with the Sports Council, agreed to part-fund the plan including help with teams’ travel costs. The clubs were really happy because they all felt that the game was now really going somewhere.” 

By the time the League started operating the planned number of teams had expanded from Stearn’s aim of 20 up to 24, and the divisions from two to three – a top flight plus Northern and Southern Divisions, each made up of eight teams. 

The competition ran smoothly for a couple of seasons, with a League Cup competition added to the league season and the already well established FA Cup.

But problems arose as financial issues enfolded the WFA and, after long-running discussions with the Football Association, the national organisation took over the running of the women’s game in the autumn of 1993 and in November of that year the WFA Ltd was officially deemed a dormant company.

It was a sad end for the organisation, though its legacy is noted in the book ‘Breaking the Grass Ceiling,’ written by Patricia Gregory MBE who was a driving force in the WFA’s formation and served in several roles including honorary secretary, liaison officer and chair before becoming an Honorary Life Vice-President.

“The Women’s FA formed the WFA Cup in 1971,” she writes, “followed by the first England national side in 1972. It was therefore natural that we should complete the trio by opting to create the first national league… Thus the WFA laid the foundation for the eventual creation of the Women’s Super League by the Football Association.”