Country Northern Ireland Founded 2004 Number of teams 8 | Confederation UEFA Divisions 1 Level on pyramid 1 | |
The Women's Premiership is the top level women's football league of Northern Ireland. The league was called the NIWFA Division League 1 until 2004 and Premier League until 2016. In 2016 it was rebranded the Women's Premiership and is now run by the NI Football League since then.
Contents
Eight teams play a double round robin to crown the champion, which qualifies for a spot in the UEFA Women's Champions League. The eighth place gets relegated to the Women's Championship 1, the seventh place plays a two-legged relegation playoff against the runner up of the Women's Championship.
History
In women's football the first league season was played out in 1977. Organised by the Northern Ireland Women's Football Association (NIWFA) the league was simply called the NIWFA Division League 1.
In 2004 the Division 1 was replaced by the Women's Premier League.
In 2016, after 40 years of administering and developing women's football locally, the league was rebranded the Women's Premiership and is run now by the Northern Ireland Football League. The main sponsor and name giver is Danske Bank.
2017 Teams
The following teams make up the 2017 season.
List of champions
Before 2004 the winner of the Division 1 league was national champion. The first season was played out in 1977.