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 Scotland Emma Hunter
Scotland Gavin Beith		 Balmoral Stadium 2,602 5th
Celtic Airdrie Spain Fran Alonso Excelsior Stadium 10,101 3rd
Dundee United Dundee Scotland Graeme Hart Gussie Park[10] TBC 1st (SWPL2)
Glasgow City Springburn Scotland Leanne Ross Petershill Park 1,000 2nd
Glasgow Women Glasgow Scotland Andy Gardner New Tinto Park 1,000 2nd (SWPL2)
Hamilton Academical Hamilton Scotland Gary Doctor New Douglas Park 6,018 10th
Heart of Midlothian Edinburgh Spain Eva Olid Oriam 1,000 8th
Hibernian Edinburgh Scotland Dean Gibson Meadowbank Stadium TBC 4th
Motherwell Motherwell Scotland Paul Brownlie
Scotland Leanne Crichton		 Alliance Park 500 7th
Partick Thistle Springburn Scotland Brian Graham Petershill Park 1,000 9th
Rangers Milngavie Scotland Malky Thomson Broadwood Stadium[11] 8,086 1st
Spartans Edinburgh Scotland Debbi McCulloch Ainslie Park 3,000 6th

SWPL 2

[edit]
Team Location Manager Home ground Capacity 2021–22 position
Boroughmuir Thistle Edinburgh Scotland Suzy Shepherd Meadowbank Stadium 1,320 (500 seated) 3rd
East Fife Methil Scotland Liz Anderson Bayview Stadium 1,980 2nd (Championship North)
Gartcairn Airdrie Scotland Robert McCallum MTC Park[12] 300 1st (Championship South)
Kilmarnock Kilmarnock Scotland Jim Chapman Rugby Park 15,003 4th
Montrose Montrose Scotland Craig Feroz Links Park 4,936 1st (Championship North)
Queen's Park Glasgow Scotland Mark Kirk New Tinto Park 1,000 6th
St Johnstone Perth Scotland Murdo Steven Riverside Stadium 1,000 5th
Stirling University Stirling Scotland Nile Robbins University of Stirling 1,000 7th
class=notpageimage|
Locations of teams in the SWPL

SWPL 1

[edit]
Scottish Women's Premier League 1
Season2022–23
ChampionsGlasgow City
RelegatedGlasgow Women
Champions LeagueGlasgow City
Celtic
Matches played168
Goals scored621 (3.7 per match)
Biggest home winRangers 14–0 Glasgow Women
(7 August 2022)
Biggest away winGlasgow Women 0–10 Rangers
(4 December 2022)
Highest scoringRangers 14–0 Glasgow Women
(7 August 2022)
Highest attendance15,822 Celtic v Hearts (21 May 2023)
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
Source: [13]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
Home \ Away ABE CEL DUN GLA GLW HAM HOM HIB MOT PAR RAN SPA
Aberdeen 0–3 1–2 0–7 2–0 2–0 0–1 1–3 1–3 2–2 0–8 1–1
Celtic 3–0 7–0 0–1 7–0 6–0 3–0 9–0 0–0 8–0 3–0 4–0
Dundee United 1–2 0–4 1–8 2–1 3–2 0–2 1–3 1–1 0–1 0–4 2–1
Glasgow City 2–1 2–1 7–0 11–0 6–0 2–0 2–1 3–0 8–1 1–1 7–0
Glasgow Women 0–1 0–8 0–4 0–5 3–4 0–3 0–6 0–2 1–8 0–10 0–2
Hamilton Academical 3–1 0–7 2–2 0–6 4–0 0–1 0–4 1–3 1–5 0–5 0–1
Heart of Midlothian 3–0 1–2 2–0 0–3 3–0 5–0 1–1 1–0 3–1 0–0 2–0
Hibernian 0–0 0–2 4–1 0–4 7–0 4–0 1–1 2–3 0–0 0–1 1–2
Motherwell 4–1 0–8 2–1 0–1 4–0 2–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–7 2–2
Partick Thistle 4–3 0–2 1–0 1–4 6–0 1–0 1–2 0–4 1–0 0–6 3–0
Rangers 4–1 0–0 5–0 0–0 14–0 6–0 2–0 4–0 4–0 5–0 2–0
Spartans 2–0 0–3 1–0 0–4 2–1 1–2 2–1 2–2 0–0 0–0 0–1
Source: [13]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

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
Source: [14]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions


Home \ Away CEL GLA HOM HIB PAR RAN
Celtic 3–1 2–0 3–0 2–0 0–1
Glasgow City 2–4 3–0 2–1 2–1 1–2
Heart of Midlothian 0–6 0–2 2–1 1–1 0–6
Hibernian 1–2 0–2 1–1 3–1 0–1
Partick Thistle 1–2 0–2 0–1 1–2 0–5
Rangers 1–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 3–0
Source: [14]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

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
Source: [15]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(Q) Qualified for the phase indicated; (R) Relegated


Home \ Away ABE DUN GLW HAM MOT SPA
Aberdeen 1–0 5–1 2–1 0–2 1–2
Dundee United 3–4 5–0 1–1 4–2 0–1
Glasgow Women 1–3 0–7 1–3 0–3 0–1
Hamilton Academical 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–4 2–4
Motherwell 3–0 1–1 4–0 1–3 2–3
Spartans 6–2 4–2 2–0 4–2 2–2
Source: [15]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

SWPL 2

[edit]
Scottish Women's Premier League 2
Season2022–23
ChampionsMontrose
PromotedMontrose
Matches played96
Goals scored334 (3.48 per match)
Biggest home winBoroughmuir Thistle 7–0 Gartcairn
(5 March 2023)
Biggest away winStirling University 0–5 Montrose
(23 April 2023)
East Fife 1–6 Montrose
(30 April 2023)
Highest scoringBoroughmuir Thistle 3–5 Kilmarnock
(7 August 2022)
Montrose 7–1 St Johnstone
(18 January 2023)
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
Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2023. Source: [16]
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted


Home \ Away BOR EFI GAR KIL MON QPA STJ STI BOR EFI GAR KIL MON QPA STJ STI
Boroughmuir Thistle 0–0 2–2 3–5 3–2 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 7–0 1–2 2–3 5–1
East Fife 2–2 0–2 0–1 0–4 1–1 0–1 3–3 1–4 1–3 1–6 2–1 1–3
Gartcairn 1–3 4–1 1–0 3–2 2–1 1–0 2–2 5–2 2–1 1–4 2–3 1–3
Kilmarnock 1–0 2–1 2–3 1–1 1–2 3–1 1–1 4–2 0–0 0–1 0–1 0–0
Montrose 0–3 5–1 2–0 1–1 5–2 2–0 5–0 3–3 5–1 3–1 7–1 4–1
Queen's Park 2–1 2–1 2–1 0–2 0–1 2–1 3–4 2–2 1–2 2–3 1–2 3–0
St Johnstone 3–2 1–1 1–3 0–0 2–1 3–2 1–1 2–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 3–2
Stirling University 1–4 2–0 0–3 0–3 0–4 1–5 1–3 0–1 2–2 2–1 0–5 2–1
Updated to match(es) played on 30 April 2023. Source: [16]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "SWPL top flight expanding to 12 teams for next season". BBC Sport. 1 Apr 2022.
  2. ^ "Park's SWPL: Rangers Women champions for first time". SheKicks. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Glasgow Women promoted in thrilling final day for SWPL - Scottish Women's Football". SWF. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ Watch SWPL: City dramatically snatch title from Celtic in dying seconds, BBC Sport, 21 May 2023
  8. ^ a b c SWPL1: Hamilton come from behind against Gartcairn to secure top-flight status, BBC Sport, 4 June 2023
  9. ^ a b Stirling University narrowly win SWPL 2 play-off, SheKicks, 5 June 2023
  10. ^ "GUSSIE PARK FUNDING UPDATE". Dundee United Football Club. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  11. ^ "Rangers Confirm Broadwood Stadium as Home Venue For 2022/23 SWPL season". Rangers Football Club. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  12. ^ "Gartcairn FA". SWF. Archived from the original on 12 Apr 2021. Retrieved 14 Aug 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Summary – SWPL1". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Summary – SWPL1". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  15. ^ a b "Summary – SWPL1". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Summary – SWPL2". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2022–23_Scottish_Women%27s_Premier_League&oldid=1224515968"