Three into two - battle to reach WSL goes to final day

For the second season in a row Birmingham are involved in a winner-takes-all final-day fixture [Getty Images]

Three teams, but only two spots. Someone's got to miss out.

Just one round of fixtures remain in WSL 2 and two of Birmingham City, Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic will secure automatic promotion on the final day.

Things are a little different in the second tier this season with the top two both going up automatically and third place playing a promotion-relegation play-off, against the side who finish bottom of the Women's Super League.

With the final round of fixtures on Saturday, 2 May (15:00 BST) looming, including the top two facing off, here's everything you need to know.

How did we get here?

Last June the Women's Super League voted to expand the league from 12 to 14 teams from the 2026-27 season.

It means three teams could potentially go up from the second tier rather than the usual one, which had happened in every season since the 2019-20 campaign.

Going into the penultimate round of fixtures on Sunday, Birmingham were hoping to effectively seal a spot in the top two thanks to their superior goal difference, but were stunned in a 3-0 home loss by mid-table Ipswich Town.

Instead of going three points clear of Crystal Palace, Blues are now level on 41 points with Jo Potter's side who beat Sunderland 2-1 and are trying to return to the top flight at the first attempt.

However, both trail Charlton Athletic, who played later on Sunday and moved top on 42 points after a dramatic 2-2 draw with fourth-placed Southampton.

Charlton had gone 2-1 up in the 92nd minute, only for Saints to equalise in the 94th.