2022–23 Scottish Women's Premier League
The 2022–23 Scottish Women's Premier League was the 22nd season of the SWPL, the highest division of women's football in Scotland since 2002. The league was split into two divisions – SWPL 1 with 12 clubs and SWPL 2 with eight clubs. Both divisions were enlarged after the 2021–22 season (from ten and seven clubs respectively).[1]
Rangers were the defending champions, after winning their first women's Scottish title in 2021–22 by beating the 15-time champions Glasgow City.[2] Dundee United and Glasgow Women won promotion to SWPL 1.[3] Montrose, Gartcairn and East Fife won promotion to SWPL 2 as the top three clubs in the SWF Championship in 2021–22.
In February 2022, a majority of SWPL clubs voted to leave the Scottish Women's Football association (under the auspices of the Scottish Football Association); from 2022–23 onwards, the two divisions will be administered by the Scottish Professional Football League.[4][1]
A 12-club "split" format returned in SWPL 1 in 2022–23, with a double round-robin before the "split",[5] then another double round-robin of the top six and bottom six clubs respectively.[1] The SWPL previously used a "split" format between the 2012 and 2015 seasons. In SWPL 2, the eight clubs simply played each other four times.[5] The top club in SWPL 2 won automatic promotion, the 12th-placed club in SWPL 1 was relegated, and promotion/relegation play-offs took place between the clubs finishing 11th in SWPL 1 and 2nd in SWPL 2, and between the clubs finishing 7th in SWPL 2 and 2nd in the SWF Championship.[5] The league season began on 7 August 2022 and ended on 21 May 2023.
Glasgow City won the SWPL 1 championship on the last day of the season, Lauren Davidson scoring in stoppage time for a 1–0 victory over Rangers at Ibrox Stadium to stay ahead of Celtic, despite the Hoops' simultaneous home win over Hearts which put them in a title-winning position for part of the day (Rangers could also have retained the title with a win).[6][7] City had been in first place and unbeaten at the split, but lost twice to Celtic and once to Rangers as the gap closed between the three clubs, leading to the dramatic conclusion.
At the other end of the table, Glasgow Women were out of their depth and relegated having lost every match; they were replaced by Montrose who won SWPL 2 and secured a second consecutive promotion. Gartcairn almost did likewise, but were defeated in the playoff by Hamilton Academical.[8] At the bottom of SWPL 2, East Fife were relegated to be replaced by Livingston, but Stirling University survived by defeating Rossvale in the playoff.[9]
Teams
[edit]SWPL 1
[edit]Team | Location | Manager | Home ground | Capacity | 2021–22 position |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aberdeen | Cove Bay | Emma Hunter Gavin Beith |
Balmoral Stadium | 2,602 | 5th |
Celtic | Airdrie | Fran Alonso | Excelsior Stadium | 10,101 | 3rd |
Dundee United | Dundee | Graeme Hart | Gussie Park[10] | TBC | 1st (SWPL2) |
Glasgow City | Springburn | Leanne Ross | Petershill Park | 1,000 | 2nd |
Glasgow Women | Glasgow | Andy Gardner | New Tinto Park | 1,000 | 2nd (SWPL2) |
Hamilton Academical | Hamilton | Gary Doctor | New Douglas Park | 6,018 | 10th |
Heart of Midlothian | Edinburgh | Eva Olid | Oriam | 1,000 | 8th |
Hibernian | Edinburgh | Dean Gibson | Meadowbank Stadium | TBC | 4th |
Motherwell | Motherwell | Paul Brownlie Leanne Crichton |
Alliance Park | 500 | 7th |
Partick Thistle | Springburn | Brian Graham | Petershill Park | 1,000 | 9th |
Rangers | Milngavie | Malky Thomson | Broadwood Stadium[11] | 8,086 | 1st |
Spartans | Edinburgh | Debbi McCulloch | Ainslie Park | 3,000 | 6th |
SWPL 2
[edit]Team | Location | Manager | Home ground | Capacity | 2021–22 position |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boroughmuir Thistle | Edinburgh | Suzy Shepherd | Meadowbank Stadium | 1,320 (500 seated) | 3rd |
East Fife | Methil | Liz Anderson | Bayview Stadium | 1,980 | 2nd (Championship North) |
Gartcairn | Airdrie | Robert McCallum | MTC Park[12] | 300 | 1st (Championship South) |
Kilmarnock | Kilmarnock | Jim Chapman | Rugby Park | 15,003 | 4th |
Montrose | Montrose | Craig Feroz | Links Park | 4,936 | 1st (Championship North) |
Queen's Park | Glasgow | Mark Kirk | New Tinto Park | 1,000 | 6th |
St Johnstone | Perth | Murdo Steven | Riverside Stadium | 1,000 | 5th |
Stirling University | Stirling | Nile Robbins | University of Stirling | 1,000 | 7th |
SWPL 1
[edit]Season | 2022–23 |
---|---|
Champions | Glasgow City |
Relegated | Glasgow Women |
Champions League | Glasgow City Celtic |
Matches played | 168 |
Goals scored | 621 (3.7 per match) |
Biggest home win | Rangers 14–0 Glasgow Women (7 August 2022) |
Biggest away win | Glasgow Women 0–10 Rangers (4 December 2022) |
Highest scoring | Rangers 14–0 Glasgow Women (7 August 2022) |
Highest attendance | 15,822 Celtic v Hearts (21 May 2023) |
← 2021–22 2023–24 →
All statistics correct as of 4 May 2023. |
Regular season
[edit]
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Glasgow City | 22 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 94 | 7 | +87 | 62 | Qualification for the Top six |
2 | Celtic | 22 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 90 | 4 | +86 | 56 | |
3 | Rangers | 22 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 89 | 5 | +84 | 55 | |
4 | Heart of Midlothian | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 33 | 19 | +14 | 40 | |
5 | Hibernian | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 45 | 34 | +11 | 32 | |
6 | Partick Thistle | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 37 | 50 | −13 | 31 | |
7 | Motherwell | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 28 | 39 | −11 | 30 | Qualification for the Bottom six |
8 | Spartans | 22 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 38 | −19 | 26 | |
9 | Dundee United | 22 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 21 | 61 | −40 | 17 | |
10 | Aberdeen | 22 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 20 | 56 | −36 | 15 | |
11 | Hamilton Academical | 22 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 20 | 74 | −54 | 13 | |
12 | Glasgow Women | 22 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 6 | 115 | −109 | 0 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
Top six
[edit]
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Glasgow City (C) | 32 | 27 | 2 | 3 | 112 | 18 | +94 | 83 | Qualification for the Champions League first round |
2 | Celtic | 32 | 26 | 3 | 3 | 115 | 11 | +104 | 81 | |
3 | Rangers | 32 | 24 | 6 | 2 | 111 | 9 | +102 | 78 | |
4 | Heart of Midlothian | 32 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 39 | 42 | −3 | 49 | |
5 | Hibernian | 32 | 11 | 6 | 15 | 54 | 51 | +3 | 39 | |
6 | Partick Thistle | 32 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 42 | 73 | −31 | 32 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions
Bottom six
[edit]
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 | Spartans | 32 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 48 | 51 | −3 | 54 | |
8 | Motherwell | 32 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 52 | 53 | −1 | 47 | |
9 | Aberdeen | 32 | 9 | 3 | 20 | 39 | 77 | −38 | 30 | |
10 | Dundee United | 32 | 8 | 5 | 19 | 45 | 76 | −31 | 29 | |
11 | Hamilton Academical (Q) | 32 | 8 | 3 | 21 | 38 | 93 | −55 | 27 | Qualification for the SWPL1 relegation/promotion play-off[8] |
12 | Glasgow Women (R) | 32 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 9 | 150 | −141 | 0 | Relegation to the SWPL2 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated; (R) Relegated
SWPL 2
[edit]Season | 2022–23 |
---|---|
Champions | Montrose |
Promoted | Montrose |
Matches played | 96 |
Goals scored | 334 (3.48 per match) |
Biggest home win | Boroughmuir Thistle 7–0 Gartcairn (5 March 2023) |
Biggest away win | Stirling University 0–5 Montrose (23 April 2023) East Fife 1–6 Montrose (30 April 2023) |
Highest scoring | Boroughmuir Thistle 3–5 Kilmarnock (7 August 2022) Montrose 7–1 St Johnstone (18 January 2023) |
← 2021–22 2023–24 →
All statistics correct as of 30 April 2023. |
League table
[edit]
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Montrose (C, P) | 24 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 75 | 25 | +50 | 55 | Promotion to SWPL1 |
2 | Gartcairn | 24 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 46 | 42 | +4 | 42 | Qualification for the promotion play-off[8] |
3 | St Johnstone | 24 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 34 | 35 | −1 | 39 | |
4 | Kilmarnock | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 34 | 25 | +9 | 37 | |
5 | Boroughmuir Thistle | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 53 | 38 | +15 | 35 | |
6 | Queen's Park | 24 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 41 | 42 | −1 | 32 | |
7 | Stirling University | 24 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 28 | 65 | −37 | 18 | Qualification for the SWPL2 relegation/promotion play-off[9] |
8 | East Fife | 24 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 62 | −39 | 9 | Relegation to the SWF Championship |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "SWPL top flight expanding to 12 teams for next season". BBC Sport. 1 Apr 2022.
- ^ "Park's SWPL: Rangers Women champions for first time". SheKicks. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022.
- ^ "Glasgow Women promoted in thrilling final day for SWPL - Scottish Women's Football". SWF. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022.
- ^ "SWPL to be administered by the SPFL for season 2022/23". Scottish Women's Football. 15 Feb 2022. Archived from the original on 15 Feb 2022.
- ^ a b c "SWPL announce 12-team top flight plans to mirror mens' [sic] SPFL". Edinburgh News. 1 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2 April 2022.
- ^ "Rangers 0 Glasgow City 1 RECAP as Celtic denied SWFL title by last gasp Lauren Davidson goal". Daily Record. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
- ^ Watch SWPL: City dramatically snatch title from Celtic in dying seconds, BBC Sport, 21 May 2023
- ^ a b c SWPL1: Hamilton come from behind against Gartcairn to secure top-flight status, BBC Sport, 4 June 2023
- ^ a b Stirling University narrowly win SWPL 2 play-off, SheKicks, 5 June 2023
- ^ "GUSSIE PARK FUNDING UPDATE". Dundee United Football Club. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
- ^ "Rangers Confirm Broadwood Stadium as Home Venue For 2022/23 SWPL season". Rangers Football Club. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
- ^ "Gartcairn FA". SWF. Archived from the original on 12 Apr 2021. Retrieved 14 Aug 2022.
- ^ a b "Summary – SWPL1". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ a b "Summary – SWPL1". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
- ^ a b "Summary – SWPL1". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Summary – SWPL2". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 April 2023.