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2025-26 Subway® Women’s League Cup Draw
- samwraight
- Jul 29
- 3 min read
The countdown to the 2025-26 Subway® Women’s League Cup begins this week, with the group stage draw taking place on Thursday 31st July — and London City Lionesses are in the hat.
The draw will be conducted live on BBC Radio 5Live Breakfast from approximately 8:30am, with former England international Toni Duggan overseeing proceedings.
London City Lionesses are in the Southern draw, and our ball number for the draw is 4, and we’ll be eagerly waiting to find out which group we’ll land in for the opening rounds of this season’s competition.
What is the Subway Women’s League Cup?
Now entering its 15th season, the Subway Women’s League Cup is the first domestic silverware available each year in the women’s professional calendar.
The competition features teams from both the BWSL and the BWSL2 — giving clubs the chance to test themselves across tiers in pursuit of a place in the final.
Chelsea are the reigning champions, having defeated Manchester City in last season’s final at the Pride Park Stadium in Derby.
How does the competition work?
This year, 21 clubs from across the BWSL and BWSL2 will begin their journeys in the group stage, which is regionally split into Northern and Southern sections.
There are five groups in total:
Groups A & B – made up of Northern clubs.
Groups C, D & E – made up of Southern clubs.
London City Lionesses are part of the Southern section, alongside 12 other clubs:
Leicester City
Portsmouth
Tottenham Hotspur
London City Lionesses
Aston Villa
Charlton Athletic
Brighton & Hove Albion
Ipswich Town
Birmingham City
West Ham United
Southampton
Bristol City
Crystal Palace
Here’s how the Southern group draw will unfold:
The first five numbers drawn will go into Group C
The next four into Group D
The final four into Group E
Once the draw is made, each club will play group stage fixtures between September and November.
Key Dates
Group Stage Matchdays
24th/25th September 2025
8th/9th October 2025 (Group C matches only)
18th/19th October 2025
12th/13th November 2025 (Group C matches only)
22nd/23rd November 2025
Quarter-Finals: 20th/21st December 2025
Semi-Finals: 21st/22nd January 2026
Final: Weekend of 15th/16th March 2026 (Venue and KO time TBC)
The group winners from each of the five groups will advance to the quarter-finals, where they will be joined by Arsenal and Chelsea, who receive byes due to their involvement in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL).
There is a chance Manchester United could also join the competition at the group stage — but only if they exit the UWCL and fail to qualify for the UEFA Women’s Europa League. In that scenario, they’ll be added to Group A or B via an additional mini-draw.
Follow the Draw Live
Make sure to tune in to BBC Radio 5Live on Thursday at 8:30am to find out our group stage opponents as we begin our 2025-26 League Cup campaign.
We’ll also be sharing full draw results and reaction across our official channels, which you can find below.
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