The Subway Women’s League Cup returns for the 2025/26 season — and with it, the first shot at silverware in the women’s domestic calendar. Now entering its 15th edition, the tournament brings together clubs from both the Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) and WSL 2, kicking off with a group stage before heading into knockout rounds.
Clubs in the UEFA Champions League — Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United — receive a bye straight to the quarter-finals. However, if United are eliminated during qualifying, they’ll enter the group stage (draw TBC).
The group phase features 21 teams, split into North/South regional groups, with only the group winners progressing to join the Champions League teams in the quarter-finals. Matches begin 24 September, running through October and November, with quarter-finals on 20/21 December, semi-finals on 21/22 January, and the final set for the weekend of 15–16 March 2026. Fixtures are still to be confirmed.
Chelsea are the reigning champions, having edged Manchester City 2–1 in last season’s final at Pride Park. Only Arsenal (7), City (4), and Chelsea (3) have lifted the trophy to date – so here’s hoping we see a new name on the cup this year to keep things interesting.
We would love to see one of the WSL2 teams have a good cup run this year. Durham reached the quarters last season before being thumped by eventual champions Chelsea 5–0.
Groups
Fixtures
Group stage
- Game week 1: 24th/25th Sept
- Game week 2: 8th/9th Oct
- Game week 3: 18th/19th Oct
- Game week 4 (Group C only): 12th/13th Nov
- Game week 4 (Groups A, B, D, E) & Game week 5 (group C): 22nd/23rd Nov
Knockout stage
- Quarters: 20th/21st Dec
- Semi’s: 21st/22nd Jan 26
- Final: 15th March 26
