Negotiations to create the league since the beginning of the WPSL/W-League offseason, with plans that the league will be a national league of two conferences. Spearheaded by the New England Mutiny (a former member of the short-lived WPSL Elite), UWS's first five teams were leaked on December 15 ahead of the league's official announcement the next day UWS hopes to provide a true second division beneath the NWSL. There had been no outward signs that the league or its teams were struggling, but the league had been contracting steadily over the preceding several years - from 30 teams in four divisions for 2012 to just 18 teams in three divisions for 2015 - and many of the teams that had left were recent finalists ( Buffalo Flash, Vancouver Whitecaps Women, Pali Blues, Ottawa Fury Women, and several Washington D.C.-area teams) leaving relatively few flagship teams. Later that year, the USL W-League suddenly announced that it would be ceasing operations. The 2014 WPSL final four hosts ASA Chesapeake Charge elected to skip the 2015 WPSL playoffs altogether as did the entire Sunshine division, Fire & Ice SC was a no-show, and the New England Mutiny published a threatening response to how WPSL as a league was run and was regressing. This, combined with a general lack of competitiveness due to rapid expansion, led to frustration from many long-time WPSL teams. In the summer of 2015, disorganization and the inability to field teams led to many last-minute changes in the WPSL playoffs.
1.5 Further expansion and creation of League Two.