The 2016 Scottish Women's Premier League 2 was the first season of the SWPL 2 as the second-highest division of women's football in Scotland. The existing Scottish Women's Premier League (with 12 teams in the 2015 season) was split into two divisions of eight teams each, SWPL 1 and SWPL 2, with both above the Scottish Women's Football League First Division (SWFL 1). The change was made to increase competitiveness in the league. SWPL 2 became the new level 2 Scottish women's league, displacing the First Division (SWFL 1) to level 3.
The restructuring had begun in 2015 by requiring four SWPL clubs to be effectively relegated. Lewis Melee quoted a manager critical of the SWF's consultation and lack of notice for the league's new clubs: "Rather than saying we need to finish 11th for our first year in the league they were having to finish 8th and they didn’t have a 6 to 12-month plan to prepare... they were probably the ones that suffered more than anyone".
The first champions of SWPL 2 were Hamilton Academical, replacing Forfar Farmington in the top tier for the 2017 season.
Teams
Team Location Home ground Capacity2015 position Buchan Maud Pleasure Park 2nd in SWFL1 Glasgow Girls Glasgow Budhill Park, Shettleston 1st in SWFL1 Hamilton Academical Hamilton New Douglas Park 6,018 10th in SWPL Heart of Midlothian Edinburgh Kings Park, Dalkeith 9th in SWPL Hutchison Vale Edinburgh Saughton Enclosure 11th in SWPL Inverness City Inverness Millburn Academy 12th in SWPL Jeanfield Swifts Perth McDiarmid Park 3G 3rd in SWFL1 Queen's Park Glasgow Toryglen Regional Football Centre 4th in SWFL1
Format In the first season after the reduction to eight teams a new format is played. Teams will play each other three times, with the bottom placed team being relegated after the season. The split into a championship and relegation group is discontinued.
Standings Teams will play 21 matches each.
Results
Matches 1 to 14
Matches 15 to 21
References
External links Season at soccerway.com Women's League Competitions at Scottish Football Historical Archive