Wolves Women’s Promotion Bid Rejected: A Blow to the Team’s Future
A recent revelation has left the players of Wolves Women "absolutely devastated" after learning that the club never submitted their bid for promotion to the English second tier. The team, affiliated with the Premier League men’s club Wolverhampton Wanderers, finished second in their current league behind Nottingham Forest, but were informed after the final whistle that winning the league would not have delivered promotion to the Women’s Championship.
According to a report by The Athletic, the club’s owner Fosun chose not to commit to the investment required for promotion, leaving the players and staff feeling let down. The news has raised concerns that Wolves might now lose their best players and coaches this summer, with head of women’s football Jenna Burke-Martin recently handing in her resignation to take up a role elsewhere.
The background to the story lies in the team’s history and their recent performances. Wolves Women, who celebrated their 50th anniversary this year, play in the FA Women’s National League Northern Division, the third tier of women’s football, two levels below the Women’s Super League (WSL). In recent years, they have been challenging near the top of their division, even winning it in 2022, only to lose out in a play-off against Southern Division winners Southampton to earn a place in the Women’s Championship.
This season, Wolves took the race for top spot to the final game before losing out to full-time rivals Nottingham Forest. With two promotion places now available to the Championship, the players thought they would have been promoted had they won the league, but after beating Liverpool Feds 6-0 in Telford, they were called into a meeting by bosses of the women’s side and informed they would not have been promoted regardless of their finishing position.
As The Athletic reports, Wolves chairman Jeff Shi had declined to sign off on their promotion application, which had to be submitted in February. Shi had informed management of Wolves Women of his decision, and the women’s hierarchy decided not to tell players until the end of the season.
The players have expressed their disappointment and frustration on social media. Midfielder Beth Merrick wrote on X: "Imagine fighting for promotion all season to find out our Championship bid was never submitted. As a group, we are absolutely devastated to finish the season this way and believe it speaks volumes about the club’s ambitions for the women’s team."
Fellow midfielder Lily Simkin added: "We feel let down… As a group of staff and players who have been fighting all season and still achieved what some people at the club thought was impossible. We took it to the last day to find out it would have all been for nothing anyway. We deserve better."
Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs and head of professional football development Matt Jackson will meet with Wolves Women players and staff on Thursday to explain the club’s position. However, according to The Athletic, Fosun has made no secret of how it views the women’s team as a vehicle for participation rather than a chance to reach elite, full-time football.
The club’s stance on the women’s team has raised questions about its commitment to the team. Fosun objects in principle to the idea of having to apply in advance to join a higher division and believes league places should be decided purely on on-field performance. The company would have considered appealing against the process if Wolves Women had won the league.
In terms of expenditure, Wolves’ spending on their women’s team has been consistent, if modest. In each of the past two seasons, Wolves Women cost the wider club £300,000 ($400,000), though the women’s team also benefited from merging their training facilities with the club’s academy. If promoted, the team would have needed to spend £1m-£1.5m annually, with income unlikely to have offset the expenditure.
The majority of professional women’s teams make a loss, and certainly in the Women’s Championship. Using the most recent figures for 2023-24’s second-tier clubs, the division lost £8.5m — £709,000 per club — on average. However, some clubs that struggle to run their women’s team sustainably do not see the benefit of paying the licensing fee to be promoted if the costs to be in that environment outweigh the benefits.
The Wolves situation is not unusual in the women’s game. Conversations over affording licensing fees occur regularly among clubs in the lower tiers and even as high as the second tier. The most recent high-profile case of a club failing to meet licensing criteria was Reading last summer, who were demoted to the fifth tier of English football.
The implications for the future of Wolves’ women’s team are significant. Sources fear that players and coaching staff will be tempted to leave Wolves, and the budget will be cut further this summer, meaning Wolves will struggle to maintain their recent position near the top of their division, let alone push for promotion again.
As The Athletic notes, the worth of investment in women’s football is dependent on one’s viewpoint. While handing over £1m a year to stand still in the Championship does not make great business sense, hardly any football club in England — male or female — makes good business sense. There is also the point that several other clubs are investing with a view to promotion to the WSL; without a greater commitment, Wolves would not have been among the favourites to continue up the pyramid.
In conclusion, the rejection of Wolves Women’s promotion bid has significant implications for the team’s future. The players and staff are devastated, and the club’s stance on the women’s team has raised questions about its commitment to the team. The team’s budget and expenditure will likely be affected, and the implications for the future of Wolves’ women’s team are significant. As The Athletic reports, time will tell how this situation unfolds.
