The 2023 China Taiping CFA Women's Super League will kick off on March 4th. With the expansion of the army, the Women's Super League will welcome 12 teams, reinstate the home-and-away system, and the schedule will cover the whole year from March to December. China's professional women's soccer league will bloom in the spring with a new season.
Compared to last season's Women's Premier League, this season has expanded to 12 teams through a new round of elevation adjustments. After last season, the top nine teams stayed in the Women's Super League. The last-place women's soccer team from Henan Zhongyuan also won the play-offs to stay in the league.
In addition, Hangzhou Bank Women's Football Team and Chongqing Yongchuan Chashan Bamboo Sea Women's Football Team also succeeded in the 2022 Women's First Division League to advance to the Women's Super League this season. The Hangzhou Bank Women's Football Team has played in the Women's Super League before with a young squad, but this time it is still those young players who are returning. Chongqing Yongchuan Chashan Bamboo Sea Women's Football Team is a newcomer to the Women's Super League, but Yongchuan has always paid a lot of attention to the women's soccer team program, and has been hosting international invitational tournaments for women's soccer teams for many years, and has become one of the training bases for Chinese women's soccer teams.
In addition, the 2023 Women's Premier League finally saw the return of the home-and-away system and completed its expansion before the spring season began this year. From the beginning of the new season, everything is revitalized. By then, fans of the Women's Super League will have the opportunity to cheer for the women's soccer team on the spot, and the women's team will become another soccer card of the city.
It is understood that some teams in the new Women's Super League season are still playing their home games as they did before the outbreak. For example, Beijing continues to stay in the deep-rooted First Farm Stadium, and Yan'an, Foshan and Shanghai Jinshan. Local teams have also been introduced as the new home of the Women's Super League, and even some of the stadium facilities have reached the standard of Chinese Super League matches.
In recent years, the level of the Women's Super League has gradually improved, and the professionalization process and packaging have become increasingly mature. In addition to accumulating rich experience in signing, new breakthroughs have also been made in coaching this year. At the beginning of the year, Shanghai Rural Commercial Women's Football Team introduced the top coach of the international women's soccer team, former head coach of the Japanese women's soccer team, Asako Takakura, who was awarded the title of the best women's soccer team coach of the year by the AFC for six times. Through the addition of high-level coaches, it can also really help the professional development of Chinese women's soccer team and connect with the international level faster.
According to the signings of the clubs, the giants Wuhan Chegu Jiangda Women's Soccer Team, which has won three consecutive Women's Super League titles, still maintains its strongest lineup this season. New and old international players such as Wu Haiyan, Lou Jiahui, Wang Fei, Liu Yanqiu, Ma Jun, Zhai Qingwei and Wang Xiaoxue are still sitting in the side, and the team has also brought in versatile player Wang Shanshan. The foreigner Temwa, who won the Golden Boot in the League Cup, also stayed in the team.
Other teams' lineups have not changed much. It is worth noting that Chongqing Yongchuan Chashan Bamboo Sea women's football team introduced "Chongqing girl" Li Ying, after many years, Li Ying finally had the opportunity to play for her hometown team; Shaanxi Zhidan women's football team 02, 2003, the young force is the main force; in addition to the introduction of the foreign manager, the women's football team of the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank has also introduced the Brazilian player Marta, who has shown great strength in the previous women's football championship. previous women's soccer tournaments showed strong strength. 2020 season, Zambia's Banda continues to play for the team.
The criteria for promotion and relegation in the Women's Super League have also been adjusted this season. The team that finishes 12th this season will be relegated outright. A single play-off will be held between the 11th placed team in the Women's Super League and the 2nd placed team in the 2023 Women's First Division League. The winners will play in the 2024 Women's Premier League while the losers will play in the 2024 Women's First Division. The play-offs are single elimination matches. In the event of a draw within 90 minutes, penalty kicks will win outright.
This year, the Chinese women's soccer team will have intensive international competitions: the Women's World Cup in July, the Hangzhou Asian Games at the end of September, and the second phase of the Olympic qualifying tournament at the end of October. After research and development, the league schedule makes full use of the training time of the non-national team, in parallel with a week of single matches and a week of double matches, to achieve the effect of combining the clubs tournaments, to avoid injuries caused by the schedule is too intensive.
The Women's Super League is indispensable for the smooth running of the tournament without the support of sponsors. China Taiping will continue to be the title sponsor of the league and plans to organize viewing groups from different regions to cheer on the Roses. After becoming a sponsor of the league, Joma has also become the equipment sponsor of six clubs, supporting the development of women's professional soccer more comprehensively.
