2026/27 Season Preview: Key Dates and Fixtures

The 2025/26 season is in the books. The medals are packed away, the data is poured over, and the bruises are just about fading. Now the clock starts ticking on 2026/27 – and the calendar is already loaded.

This is what the next campaign looks like.

Pre-season: Opponents to be confirmed, work already underway

For now, pre-season sits in the “to be announced” column. Friendly fixtures and ticket details are still being finalised, with no official opponents confirmed yet.

Behind the scenes, though, those games will shape the early rhythm of the year. The club will confirm the schedule via its X, Instagram and Facebook channels once deals are done and venues locked in.

Transfer window: Deals from June to Deadline Day

The first hard date of the summer lands on Thursday, June 18. That’s when the transfer window opens and the market officially comes to life.

From that day, the club can buy and sell players up to Deadline Day on Thursday, September 3. Every squad tweak, every late bid, every medical will have to be wrapped inside that window. For recruitment teams and agents, the summer sprint starts there.

WSL 2026/27: A September start and a May finish

The Women’s Super League fixture list drops in the week beginning Monday, July 27. That’s when the full run of home and away assignments will be revealed and every fan starts circling dates.

The broad outline is already set. The league campaign kicks off across the weekend of Friday, September 4 to Sunday, September 6. The final round of fixtures is scheduled for Saturday, May 22.

Between those bookends, the domestic title race will unfold, with the squad juggling league demands around Europe, cups and international duty.

Champions League: Straight into the league phase

Last season’s second-place finish in the WSL brings a major reward: direct entry into the league phase of the Champions League.

The story begins on Friday, September 4, when the draw is made and six league-phase opponents are revealed. From that moment, every travel plan and tactical briefing starts to form.

The first league-phase match is set for Tuesday, September 22. The final group-phase game falls on Wednesday, December 16. The other league-phase dates are:

• September 30–October 1
• October 28–29
• November 10–11
• November 18–19

Once the league phase is complete, attention swings to the knockouts. The draw for the play-offs and quarter-finals takes place on Friday, December 18.

If the club is involved in the play-offs, those ties are pencilled in for Wednesday, February 3 or Thursday, February 4 for the first leg, and Wednesday, February 10 or Thursday, February 11 for the second leg.

Quarter-finals follow on Tuesday, March 23 or Wednesday, March 24 (first leg) and Wednesday, March 31 or Thursday, April 1 (second leg). The semi-finals are set for two Saturdays: May 1 for the first leg and May 8 for the return.

At the end of that road waits Warsaw. The Champions League final is scheduled for Saturday, May 29 at Stadion Narodowy, a date every contender quietly circles in red.

Adobe Women’s FA Cup: Wembley on the horizon

The FA Cup journey starts later in the season but always carries its own weight.

The club enters at the round of 32 on the weekend of Saturday, January 16. The round of 16 is staged across Saturday, February 20 and Sunday, February 21, with quarter-finals on Saturday, March 20 or Sunday, March 21.

Semi-finals arrive on Saturday, April 10 or Sunday, April 11. The winners step through to Wembley Stadium for the final, set for Saturday, May 15 or Sunday, May 16. One weekend. One trophy. One chance to etch another chapter into club history.

Breaks and pauses: International duty and winter reset

The calendar is brutal, so the breaks matter.

The first international window runs from Monday, October 5 to Tuesday, October 13. The second follows from Tuesday, December 1 to Saturday, December 5, splitting the autumn schedule and pulling key players away to national camps.

A winter break then brings a full reset: from Monday, December 21 through to Sunday, January 3, domestic action pauses and legs finally get a breather.

In 2027, the third international break runs from Wednesday, February 24 to Saturday, March 6. The fourth follows from Tuesday, April 13 to Saturday, April 24, cutting into the sharp end of the season when club and country demands collide.

Once the club campaign is done, the fifth and final international break begins on Monday, June 7, 2027. Many players will then pivot straight into the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which runs from Thursday, June 24 to Sunday, July 25.

By then, the story of 2026/27 will be written. The question now is simple: when those dates roll around, how much will this team still have to play for?