About SWPL 1

History, Format, Organization, Media Coverage

The Scottish Women’s Premier League 1 (SWPL 1) is Scotland's top-tier women's football league. While the Scottish Women’s Premier League began in 2002, the SWPL 1 was formed in 2016 after the competition split into two divisions, with SWPL 2 being the second. The league was originally managed by Scottish Women’s Football (SWF) but has been administered by the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) since 2022.

The SWPL 1 season runs from August to May and features ten teams following a 2024 decision to decrease from 12 participants for the 2025-26 season onward. The campaign includes two phases, with each team playing 18 matches in a double round-robin format during the first half. The top six teams and the bottom four are then split into two groups — previously, the 12 participants would be divided into two groups of six. The top six face each other twice (home and away), same goes for the bottom four.

The club with the most points at the end of the second split is crowned the SWPL 1 champion and qualifies for the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Depending on the Scottish national coefficient, the runner-up may also qualify. The team finishing last is automatically relegated to SWPL 2, replaced by that division's champion.

Meanwhile, the second-to-last team enters a playoff against the SWPL 2 teams placed 2nd to 4th. The third and fourth-placed SWPL 2 teams lock horns in the first round, with the winner facing the SWPL 2 runner-up. Whoever triumphs in the latter fixture meets the ninth-placed SWPL 1 club in the playoff final, with the winner either securing top-flight survival or earning promotion to the first division.

Kilmarnock won the inaugural Scottish Women’s Premier League season in 2002-03, defeating Hibernian for the title. However, the first SWPL 1 champion was Glasgow City, who dominated the league with 13 consecutive titles from 2007 to 2019.