Subway Players Cup Draw Sets Stage for Upcoming League Phase
The draw for the league phase of this season’s Subway Players Cup has been completed. Formerly known as the Subway Women’s League Cup, the competition will begin next month with a new format featuring northern and southern ‘Swiss-style’ leagues. This year, participating clubs are set to play a minimum of six league phase matches, a notable increase from previous years. Teams from the Barclays Women’s Super League that are involved in European competitions will not participate in the Subway Players Cup.
WSL Football CEO Nikki Doucet conducted the league phase draw earlier today, resulting in a total of 69 fixtures being announced.
The Subway Players Cup will kick off on Wednesday, 23 September 2026, with the following matchups:
Everton v Birmingham City
Liverpool v Sunderland
Manchester United v Sheffield United
Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa
Brighton & Hove Albion v Charlton Athletic
Crystal Palace v Watford
Leicester City v London City Lionesses
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United
To view a complete list of all league phase fixtures, you can click here.
After the league phase concludes, the top eight teams in the standings will move on to the knockout phase. The matchups for the quarter-finals will be as follows:
QF1 – 1st Place v 8th Place
QF2 – 2nd Place v 7th Place
QF3 – 3rd Place v 6th Place
QF4 – 4th Place v 5th Place
The winners from these quarter-final matches will then compete in the semi-finals, organized as follows:
SF1 – Winner of QF1 v Winner of QF3
SF2 – Winner of QF2 v Winner of QF4
The final of the 2026/2027 Subway Players Cup is scheduled for the weekend of 13/14 March 2027.