Football Women’s league preparations started, group names announced, clash to be held from April 25

People News Chronicle March 31, 2023

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The Women’s Football League (IWL) is set to begin on April 25. This time the groups have been announced for the Women’s Football League. The groupings for the upcoming Indian Women’s League were announced on Thursday after the draw was held at the Football House in New Delhi. This time a total of 16 teams will participate in the league, which have been divided into two groups.

A draw was specially organized for this. Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran, General Secretary of All India Football Federation (AIFF) was also present during the draw. He added that this season of the Women’s Football League is like a qualification competition for a more competitive league which will take effect in the next campaign.

“My best wishes to all the 16 teams that will be a part of the IWL. We had a meeting with several clubs and all efforts have been made to create an overall condition for the growth and rapid development of Indian women’s football,” she added.

Significantly, this time the season will start from April 25, in which 16 teams have been divided into two groups. The top four teams from each group will get a chance to qualify for the knockout stage. Qualifying teams will get to play quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals. The top eight teams will get the benefit next year as well. They will get a direct slot entry for next year’s Women’s Football League, which will be played on a home-and-away basis.

it’s been five seasons
Significantly, a total of five seasons of the Women’s Premier League have been played so far. Eastern Sporting Union won the inaugural season in 2016–17, defeating Rising Students Club 3–0 in the final. Rising Students Club avenged this loss by winning the trophy in the 2017–18 season and defeating Eastern Sporting Union in the final. Sethu won the 2018–19 edition of the tournament after defeating Manipur Police in the final.Gokulam Kerala is the most successful team in the history of the league, having won the tournament in 2019–20 and 2021–22.

These are the two groups:

Group A: Gokulam Kerala FC, Mata Rukmani FC, Hopes FC, Misaka United FC, Kahani FC, East Bengal FC, Sports Odisha, Mumbai Knights FC.

Group B: Setu FC, Kickstarts FC, Celtic Queens FC, Eastern Sporting Union, CRPF FC, Churchill Brothers FC, Lord’s FA Kochi, Odisha FC.