The Women’s Championship could be renamed as Women’s Super League 2 from next season onwards, the Guardian can reveal, in a move that would involve the second tier of the English women’s game reverting to its previous name.

The division, which sits directly below the Women’s Super League in the English pyramid, was known originally as WSL 2 when it was first introduced in 2014 and it kept that title until being rebranded as the Women’s Championship before the 2018-19 campaign, when the domestic women’s calendar switched from a summer to a winter season, but it could now soon be switching back.

It is understood that no final decision regarding such a name change has yet been ratified, but the proposal was first tabled more than a month ago, multiple sources have said, and it is believed to have the provisional support of the majority of shareholders following a meeting in October.

It has been known since July that the names of the top two leagues might be changed. It is believed that the name of top tier, the WSL, will remain unchanged, in contrast to the period between 2014 and 2018 when the top tier was labelled WSL 1 alongside WSL 2 – under the latest plan, the “1” would not be returning.

The proposed new combination of WSL and WSL 2 from next summer is said to have been tabled because it would “unify the brands”, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Any such change to the second tier’s name would need to go through further legal hurdles before it could be rubberstamped by the new company that is running the division – temporarily known as Women’s Professional Leagues Limited – but it is understood to have passed its first key hurdle, when the first shareholders meeting was held in October. The member clubs are, in essence, the principal shareholders in the new entity, which took over from the Football Association in running the top two tiers in August.

According to sources, it has also been proposed that the long-term name of the company operating both the Women’s Super League and the second tier could be Women’s Super League Ltd, under plans being discussed. Similarly, no final decision on that potential change has yet been finalised but it would be another move towards placing emphasis on the WSL from a branding point of view. League officials have said publicly previously that the name WPLL was merely a temporary company name. The entity was originally dubbed “Newco”. The name of the company matters merely for administrative purposes primarily.

There are 11 teams in the second tier, following Reading’s 11th-hour withdrawal from the league in June for financial reasons, but that number is set to return to 12 teams next summer. Crystal Palace won the division last season and Birmingham City sit top of the table this term. The Guardian also exclusively revealed on Monday that every match in the second tier will be streamed live on YouTube from next season.