Leicester City Women will face Charlton in a Women's Super League play-off on May 23 to determine their place in the 2026-27 season. The match will be played at Charlton's The Valley stadium. This is the first time a play-off has been held in the WSL, with the top two teams in the second tier automatically promoted to the top tier. Leicester City Women have been in the WSL for the past five seasons but have struggled this season, collecting only nine points from 21 games. Charlton, on the other hand, finished third in the second tier and are hoping to join Crystal Palace and Birmingham City, who have already confirmed their automatic promotion to the WSL. The play-off will be a one-off match, not a home-and-away tie, and will be played at the WSL2 club's home ground. In previous years, the last-placed team in the WSL would have been automatically relegated and the WSL2 champions promoted in their place. However, the WSL is expanding from 12 teams to 14, and two extra teams were promoted from WSL2 this season. The expansion was announced in June 2025 after a vote by the 24 member clubs of the top two tiers. The introduction of a promotion/relegation play-off creates distinction for the women's game and introduces a high-profile, high-stakes match. Leicester City Women will be looking to avoid relegation and retain their place in the WSL, while Charlton will be hoping to secure a spot in the top tier for the first time.