The Players Cup, also known as the Subway Players Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a league cup competition in English women's association football. It was previously known as the FA WSL Cup and the Women's League Cup.
The competition underwent a restructure ahead of the 2026–27 competition, adopting the Swiss-style league format which guarantees all teams play a minimum of six matches to ensure players are not game underloaded. With the new format, teams competing in the UEFA Women's Champions League or UEFA Women's Europa Cup are not participating due to their own increased load management.
Fifteen editions have been played, with Arsenal being the most successful club with seven titles.
Following a successful use of the video assistant referee (VAR) and goal-line technology in the 2023 Women's FA Cup final, they were used for the first time in the 2024 FA Women's League Cup final and have both been used in finals since.
History
Before the Women's Super League (WSL) was established, the top women's clubs competed in the FA Women's Premier League Cup.
The first League Cup edition under the WSL was played after the inaugural FA WSL season. Arsenal, having already won the WSL and the FA Women's Cup, completed the national treble after a 4–1 win over Birmingham City.
The 2012 edition saw a change of format. The straight knockout system was abolished and a group stage with two groups was established. The top two teams from each group advanced to the semi-finals.
In 2014, 18 teams entered, and new WSL 2 teams joined the WSL teams. There were three groups of six teams. In 2015, the quarter-final stage was played for the first time.
For 2016, the cup changed to a true knockout format and abolished the group stage, a move made in agreement with the clubs to increase excitement and competitiveness. With 19 teams, the bottom six teams played a preliminary round. In the round of 16 that followed, the seeding system was used, so the WSL 1 teams met the WSL 2 teams, who had home field advantage.
In 2017–18, a group stage was added again.
In 2018–19, as part of the restructuring of women's football, 22 teams entered. The competition was split up into North and South, with each region having one group of six and one group of five. Each team would play one match against each other, with the top two in each group advancing to a quarter-final.
The format was similar in 2019–20, with an extra team in the South for a total of 23 teams.
Starting with the 2026–27 season, teams competing in the UEFA Women's Champions League have been excluded from the tournament, and the group stage format has been switched to a Swiss-style league format.
List of finals Only Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have won the WSL Players Cup. Arsenal, Birmingham City and Chelsea have lost the most finals, finishing as runners-up three times.
+WSL Players Cup winnersSeasonWinnersScoreRunners-upVenueAttendance2011Arsenal4–1Birmingham CityPirelli Stadium, Burton upon Trent2,1672012Arsenal1–0Birmingham CityUnderhill Stadium, London2,5352013Arsenal2–0LincolnThe Hive, London3,4212014Manchester City1–0ArsenalAdams Park, High Wycombe3,6972015Arsenal3–0Notts CountyNew York Stadium, Rotherham5,0282016Manchester City1–0 Birmingham CityAcademy Stadium, Manchester4,2142017–18Arsenal1–0Manchester CityAdams Park, High Wycombe2,1362018–19Manchester City0–0 (4–2 p)ArsenalBramall Lane, Sheffield2,4242019–20Chelsea2–1ArsenalCity Ground, Nottingham6,7432020–21Chelsea6–0Bristol CityVicarage Road, Watford02021–22Manchester City3–1ChelseaPlough Lane, Wimbledon8,0042022–23Arsenal3–1ChelseaSelhurst Park, London19,0102023–24Arsenal1–0 ChelseaMolineux Stadium, Wolverhampton21,4622024–25Chelsea2–1Manchester CityPride Park Stadium, Derby14,1872025–26Chelsea2–0Manchester UnitedAshton Gate, Bristol21,619
Results by team Teams shown in italics are no longer in existence.
+Results by teamClubWinsFirst final wonLast final wonRunners-upLast final lostTotal finalappearancesArsenal7201120243202010Chelsea420202026320247Manchester City420142022220256Birmingham City0——320163Lincoln0——120131Notts County0——120151Bristol City0——120211Manchester United0——120261
Title sponsors PeriodSponsorName2011–2018Continental AGFA WSL Continental Tyres Cup2018–2019FA Continental Tyres League Cup2019–2024FA Women's Continental League Cup2024–2026SubwaySubway Women’s League Cup2026–presentSubway Players Cup
References
External links Women's League Cup at wslfootball.com