# 2018–19 FA Women's Championship

The 2018–19 FA Women's Championship was the first rebranded edition of the FA Women's Championship, the second tier of women's football in England, renamed from the FA WSL 2 which was founded in 2014. The season ran from 8 September 2018 to 12 May 2019.
On 20 April 2019, Manchester United won the title, and promotion to the FA WSL, with two games to spare in their debut season after recording a 7–0 victory over Crystal Palace. Tottenham Hotspur subsequently secured second place and promotion following a 1–1 draw at Aston Villa in their penultimate fixture. Millwall Lionesses finished bottom but were spared relegation as the FA sought to expand both of the top two divisions to twelve teams each by 2019–20.

## Teams

Eleven teams compete in the league. Following restructuring of the women's game in order to provide for a fully professional Women's Super League (WSL), membership of both the first and second tier is subject to a license, based on a series of off-the-field criteria. Existing WSL teams were first offered the opportunity to bid for licenses, with all applying FA WSL 2 clubs retaining their place in the second tier, except for Brighton & Hove Albion who were offered a place in the WSL. From the second tier, Oxford United and Watford did not apply for licenses.
This left up to two places in the WSL and up to five places in the Championship for applying clubs, of which one place in the Championship was reserved for the winners of the FA Women's Premier League Championship play-off, providing that club met the licensing criteria. Fifteen applications were received for both the top two tiers, and five of these applicants were accepted into the Championship: Manchester United, Lewes, Leicester City Women, Sheffield United as well as Premiership play-off winners, Charlton Athletic.
Sheffield announced on 24 June 2018 that it was withdrawing from the league ahead of the season, due to the financial commitments required by The Football Association proving too onerous. Doncaster Rovers Belles announced similarly on 12 July 2018. A place in the league was subsequently awarded to Crystal Palace.
| Team | Location | Ground | Capacity | 2017–18 season |
| Aston Villa | Tamworth | The Lamb Ground | 4,000 | 9th |
| Charlton Athletic | Thamesmead | Bayliss Avenue | 6,000 | 1st, WPL South |
| Crystal Palace | Bromley | Hayes Lane | 5,000 | 3rd, WPL South |
| Durham | Durham | New Ferens Park | 3,000 | 4th |
| Leicester City Women | Quorn | Farley Way Stadium | 1,400 | 2nd, WPL North |
| Lewes | Lewes | The Dripping Pan | 3,000 | 5th, WPL South |
| London Bees | Canons Park | The Hive Stadium | 5,176 | 6th |
| Manchester United | Leigh | Leigh Sports Village | 12,000 | n/a |
| Millwall Lionesses | Dartford | Princes Park | 2,500 | 3rd |
| Sheffield United | Sheffield | Olympic Legacy Park | 2,000 | 3rd, WPL Div 1, Midlands |
| Tottenham Hotspur | Cheshunt | Cheshunt Stadium | 3,000 | 7th |

## Table

For the inaugural season, the top two teams will be automatically promoted subject to obtaining a licence. There will be no relegation at the end of the campaign with a view to expanding the top two tiers to twelve teams each by 2019–20.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Manchester United (C, P) | 20 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 98 | 7 | +91 | 55 | Promotion to the WSL |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur (P) | 20 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 46 | Promotion to the WSL |
| 3 | Charlton Athletic | 20 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 49 | 21 | +28 | 41 | |
| 4 | Durham | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 37 | 16 | +21 | 39 | |
| 5 | Sheffield United | 20 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 35 | 31 | +4 | 34 | |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 20 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 30 | 39 | −9 | 26 | |
| 7 | Leicester City | 20 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 27 | 44 | −17 | 21 | |
| 8 | London Bees | 20 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 23 | 48 | −25 | 21 | |
| 9 | Lewes | 20 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 23 | 47 | −24 | 17 | |
| 10 | Crystal Palace | 20 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 14 | 44 | −30 | 11 | |
| 11 | Millwall Lionesses | 20 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 14 | 70 | −56 | 5 | |
* ↑ Dependent on obtaining a licence.

## Results

| Home \ Away | AST | CHA | CRY | DUR | LCW | LEW | LON | MNU | MIL | SHU | TOT |
| Aston Villa | — | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–12 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 1–1 |
| Charlton Athletic | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 |
| Crystal Palace | 1–3 | 1–4 | — | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–5 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Durham | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | — | 0–2 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| Leicester City | 1–1 | 0–4 | 2–3 | 1–1 | — | 4–0 | 4–2 | 0–7 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 |
| Lewes | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 4–3 | — | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 |
| London Bees | 1–5 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | — | 0–5 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 |
| Manchester United | 5–0 | 3–0 | 7–0 | 0–0 | 6–1 | 5–0 | 9–0 | — | 8–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 |
| Millwall Lionesses | 1–3 | 0–8 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 0–5 | — | 1–1 | 2–3 |
| Sheffield United | 4–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 0–4 | 6–0 | — | 1–2 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–6 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–5 | 8–0 | 1–2 | — |

## Top goalscorers

    As of 11 May 2019
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Jessica Sigsworth | Manchester United | 17 |
| 2 | Rianna Dean | Tottenham Hotspur | 14 |
| 2 | Elizabeta Ejupi | Charlton Athletic | 14 |
| 2 | Lauren James | Manchester United | 14 |
| 2 | Ella Toone | Manchester United | 14 |
| 6 | Mollie Green | Manchester United | 13 |
| 7 | Kit Graham | Charlton Athletic | 12 |
| 8 | Katie Zelem | Manchester United | 10 |
| 9 | Beth Hepple | Durham | 8 |
| 9 | Jodie Hutton | Aston Villa | 8 |
| 9 | Jade Pennock | Sheffield United | 8 |

## Awards
### Player of the Month

Results of Player of the Month voting as polled by FA Women's Championship. Number of nominations in brackets.
| Month | Winner | Winner | Nominated | Nominated |
| Month | Player | Club | Player | Club |
| September | Lauren James | Manchester United | Rebecca Carter | Lewes |
| September | Lauren James | Manchester United | Jessica Sigsworth | Manchester United |
| September | Lauren James | Manchester United | Sarah Wiltshire | Tottenham Hotspur |
| October | Rianna Dean | Tottenham Hotspur | Rosie Axten | Leicester City |
| October | Rianna Dean | Tottenham Hotspur | Kit Graham | Charlton Athletic |
| October | Rianna Dean | Tottenham Hotspur | Sarah Wiltshire (2) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| November | Mollie Green | Manchester United | Sophie Barker | Sheffield United |
| November | Mollie Green | Manchester United | Abi Cottam | Durham |
| November | Mollie Green | Manchester United | Katie Startup | Charlton Athletic |
| December | Beth Hepple | Durham | Elizabeta Ejupi | Charlton Athletic |
| December | Beth Hepple | Durham | Lily Agg | Charlton Athletic |
| December | Beth Hepple | Durham | Emma Beckett | London Bees |
| January | Sarah Wiltshire (3) | Tottenham Hotspur | Rianna Dean (2) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| January | Sarah Wiltshire (3) | Tottenham Hotspur | Zoe Ness | Durham |
| January | Sarah Wiltshire (3) | Tottenham Hotspur | Evie Clarke | Millwall Lionesses |
| February | Ella Toone | Manchester United | Angela Addison | Tottenham Hotspur |
| February | Ella Toone | Manchester United | Gemma Bryan | Crystal Palace |
| February | Ella Toone | Manchester United | Evie Clarke (2) | Millwall Lionesses |
| March | Katie Zelem | Manchester United | Jade Pennock | Sheffield United |
| March | Katie Zelem | Manchester United | Kit Graham (2) | Charlton Athletic |
| March | Katie Zelem | Manchester United | Maddy Cusack | Sheffield United |
| April | Ashleigh Neville | Tottenham Hotspur | Danielle Cox | Sheffield United |
| April | Ashleigh Neville | Tottenham Hotspur | Charlie Devlin | Manchester United |
| April | Ashleigh Neville | Tottenham Hotspur | Lauren James (2) | Manchester United |

### LMA Manager of the Month

Results of Manager of the Month as awarded by the League Managers Association. Number of awards in brackets.
| Month | Manager | Club |
| September | Karen Hills | Tottenham Hotspur |
| October | Lee Sanders | Durham |
| November | Casey Stoney | Manchester United |
| January | Karen Hills (2) | Tottenham Hotspur |
| February | Casey Stoney (2) | Manchester United |
| March | Carla Ward | Sheffield United |
| April | Casey Stoney (3) | Manchester United |