Latest news with #FAWomen'sNationalLeague
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Blackburn Rovers pull out of Women's Championship due to league demands
Image Source: Getty Blackburn Rovers have confirmed their withdrawal from the FA Women's Championship due to being unable to fund their squad as a professional side. The club is now in discussions with the FA Women's National League board regarding the level of the women's football pyramid that the team will be operating in next season, with a decision to be confirmed in due course over the coming weeks. Financial challenges and league requirements The move comes after the recent rebranding of the Women's Championship, which, from next season, will require its clubs to run fully professional sides with increased support and facilities in order to protect player welfare and the integrity of competition. The increased demands on clubs are taking a huge toll financially, especially on smaller clubs. While the effort to save the club is in vain, league officials and other interested parties did what they could to help out Blackburn, who blamed unviable financial pressure for the situation, including ballooning wage bills and reliance on matchday revenue. Rovers cited further problems of stagnant home crowds, despite playing their matches at Ewood Park. There have been some grim reports of the club's financial shortcomings, with players on part-time contracts just being paid the minimum wage, which has brought public criticism from former players and leading figures in the sport. Players were also notified of the withdrawal via WhatsApp, underscoring communication problems in the club. Also Read: FA Cup: Tottenham Hotspur suffer two cup exits in a week after fourth-round defeat to Aston Villa Impact on players and future prospects The withdrawal has left players, coaches, and staff in limbo. Defender Niamh Murphy expressed her frustration on social media, revealing that management had issued a seven-day deadline for securing funding and criticizing the ongoing lack of financial support from the club. The team, which is coming off a 10th-place finish in the division despite having one of the smaller budgets, has a proud tradition of developing talents such as Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, and Keira Walsh. The club's exit from the Championship has come in the wake of a similar announcement from Reading FC Women last year, which also cited financial pressures and an inability to comply with regulations. Such changes highlight the wider pressure point on women's football clubs to remain financially viable with higher professionalisation requirements. Get IPL 2025 match schedules , squads , points table , and live scores for CSK , MI , RCB , KKR , SRH , LSG , DC , GT , PBKS , and RR . Check the latest IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings.
Daily Mirror
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Premier League club slammed as women's team discover promotion bid was NOT submitted
Wolves women finished second in the FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division behind Nottingham Forest but were left "devastated" after discovering the club never submitted their bid to play in the Championship Wolverhampton Wanderers have been slammed by players from their women's team after failing to submit a bid for them to play in the Championship next season. After finishing second in the FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division with 55 points, Wolves Women missed out on promotion as Nottingham Forest pipped them to it by three points. But Wolves never would have been promoted - even if they finished higher than Forest - because the club never lodged their bid to play in the second tier in the first place, according to player Beth Merrick. Only one team is promoted to the Women's Championship from the third tier but midfielder Merrick said she and the rest of her team-mates have been left "absolutely devastated" to discover that their efforts were in vain regardless and questioned the club's ambitions for the women's side. Wolves still had a chance of winning the division ahead of their clash against Liverpool Feds - which they won 6-0 - but Forest kept their place at the top by beating West Brom 7-2 and Merrick claims players were informed about the decision shortly after their game. "Going into today's final game still in contention of winning the league and having to write this is crazy," she wrote in a statement on Twitter. "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. For our staff to have to deliver this news to us moments after is astonishing. "Some of us have been a part of this club for many years with endless amount of success, which has grown year on year through all the highs and the lows. Our players, our staff and fans deserve so much better. The staff have put in hours of dedication for a bid to never be submitted. The gravitas that we have collectively worked hard to create, has supported women's football growth and the movement of 'If you can see it, you can be it' throughout Wolverhampton. "It's not about the money, it's about the honesty and transparency - ironically not very apparent with the #OnePack campaign." Merrick was backed up by team-mate Lily Simkin, who said the team feel "let down" and that the playing group "deserve better". According to the Express and Star, Wolves could not commit to the cost of the application and feared the men's team could be relegated this season - which would have limited their spending power. The men's side were as low as 17th and two points off the bottom three in early February, only to surge to safety with a run of six consecutive Premier League victories. It goes on to say that Wolves have submitted the application to play in the Women's Championship in previous years but chose not to this season, despite the team competing at the top with Forest. Fans were not impressed by Merrick's revelation as one said: "Absolutely horrific And not a surprise Our leadership at Wolves doesn't care about the women's game. It's just a nice to have for them. Sorry you're all treated like this." Another added: "Completely fuming at this. Absolute solidarity with you and the girls, as well as @MaccaD11 and the staff. You made me and many, many others fans proud with how you pushed through the whole season." Mirror Football has reached out to Wolverhampton Wanderers for comment in response to Merrick's claims.
Scottish Sun
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
‘Holiday season has started' – Glam footballer Madelene Wright sends fans wild in bikini as she sprawls on the rocks
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MADELENE WRIGHT has sent fans wild after posing in a bikini while on holiday. The glamorous footballer has built an enormous fan base on social media with her racy content. 11 Madelene Wright showed off her figure in new pictures on social media Credit: Instagram 11 She posed in a bikini while lying down on the rocks Credit: Instagram Wright, 26, has done it again as she shared two bikini pictures on her Instagram account. The snaps show her sprawling on the rocks while wearing a salmon coloured bikini. She completed her outfit with a matching shell necklace and anklet. She wrote: "Holiday season has just started." Her 325k followers loved the snaps as they flocked to the comment section. One posted: "Oh my god, so beautiful." A second wrote: "Just amazing Maddie." A third commented: "Amazing as always Maddie." A fourth said: "Gorgeous." Another added: "A beautiful view." Glam footballer Madelene Wright shows off her new glasses with smouldering video before sharing cheeky bum pic She broke the hearts of Leyton Orient fans last year when she announced she was leaving the club after less than a year in E10. And she now lines up for FA Women's National League side Chesham United. Madelene used to be on books at Charlton Athletic before she was sacked in 2021. Her axing came after footage was uploaded to Snapchat of her swigging champagne while driving and inhaling a balloon at a party. Alongside her globetrotting lifestyle and her time on the football pitch, Madelene works as an OnlyFans model. She has previously boasted that her side hustle earns her a whopping £500,000 per year and helps fund her lifestyle away from the beautiful game. Inside Madelene's glamorous life as influencer, footballer and OnlyFans star... 11 Wright lives a glamorous lifestyle 11 She often wows her fans with raunchy pictures Credit: Instagram 11 Madelene has over 300k followers on Instagram Credit: Instagram @madelene_wright 11 The football also has an OnlyFans account Credit: Instagram / @madelene_wright 11 She claimed to have made over £500,000 from the platform Credit: Instagram @madelene_wright 11 The footballer has recently signed for Leyton Orient Credit: Instagram/@madelene_wright 11 She has continued her OnlyFans Credit: twitter @MaddieMadelene 11 She often dresses in revealing outfits Credit: Instagram
The Guardian
15-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Canadian Super League latest and FA Cup drama – Women's Football Weekly podcast
On this week's Guardian Women's Football Weekly, Jamie Spangher joins Faye and Suzy to talk about the FA Cup semi-finals and the FA Women's National League. Chelsea will meet Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley next month after Aggie Beever-Jones' late goal helped them beat Liverpool 2-1. And United are into their third successive final after a 3-0 win at Manchester City. The panel are joined by Canadian journalist Har Johal to talk about the highly-anticipated Canadian Super League. And some breaking news with England women's senior team assistant Arjan Veurink moving on and taking up the the role as head coach of the Netherlands – all on today's Guardian Women's Football Weekly. Join the Fantasy League this season on Code GUARDIANWFW. Sign up for our weekly women's football newsletter – all you need to do is search 'Moving the Goalposts sign up' or follow this link. Support the Guardian here.
Forbes
01-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Greaer Investment Allows Ipswich Town To Brink Of Women's Championship
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 12: Ipswich Town players take a selfie on the pitch prior to The Adobe ... More Women's FA Cup Fourth Round match between Manchester City and Ipswich Town at Joie Stadium on January 12, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker - The FA/The FA via Getty Images) At the end of the season, both Ipswich Town men's and women's teams could be heading into the Championship but for the women's team it will be the result of sustained investment. On Sunday, a 2-0 win over Gwalia United at the Martello Ground in Felixstowe moved Ipswich Town three points clear of their nearest rivals Hashtag United having played one game less. After years of coming close to promotion into the fully professional second tier of the English game, the Suffolk side know they now only require one win from their last three matches to secure the FA Women's National League title and a place in the Women's Championship next season. Yesterday, Ipswich Town released their accounts for the previous season. They revealed that investment in their women's team has increased by five times in the last two years and more than doubled in the past season. Part of that investment has seen the women's team recruit a new general manager, Rachel Harris from London City Lionesses, and assistant coach, Lauren Phillips from Southampton. Earlier in the season, planning permission was also submitted and approved for the club's training base at Playford Road to be redeveloped from 2025 into a state-of-the-art facility in time for the start of the 2026/27 season. The current main building at the training ground will be developed and refurbished to then be used by the women's teams on a permanent basis and a new hydrotherapy center, modernised gym, rehabilitation and performance locations will be constructed. For Kyra Robertson, currently captaining the side, the creation of something more mundane would be equally as important for the women's team. She told me 'I think just having our own area would be really nice." "Obviously, at the moment we share a lot of facilities so having our own dedicated area that's ours and probably one big, nice changing room, just so we can all really be together. We've talked about that a lot, how we are such a together team. I think the changing room is really somewhere you build the bonds with everyone. So yeah, I think that would be a nice part.' The club's record goalscorer Natasha Thomas added another two to her tally to ensure the win on Sunday and she was confident the club will this time get over the line. 'We know what we've got to do, we know how many games we've got left. So for me, until it's done , until we know that is going to be the case, we'll keep on providing the goals, we'll keep on providing the performance." "Even if we do that in the next game, or the second game, we'll perform until the end of the season. We want to ensure that we can get all the points on the board that we possibly can and we'll keep going from there.' MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 12: Im A Celebrity star GK Barry, girlfriend of Ella Rutherford of ... More Ipswich Town, is pictured prior to The Adobe Women's FA Cup Fourth Round match between Manchester City and Ipswich Town at Joie Stadium on January 12, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by) The women's team has also been sprinkled by star dust during this campaign with their matches regularly being attended by television personality GK Barry, the girlfriend of striker Ella Rutherford. The Loose Women presenter was there again on Sunday, one of 1,013 fans in the small ground watching the game, inbetween graciously posing for hundreds of selfies with patience and good humor. Last weekend, when the club played only their second match at the club's main stadium, Portman Road, the team were watched by music legend, Ed Sheeran. His Mathematics tour are the principal shirt sponsor of the club and he visited the women's team changing rooms after the game to show his support with a video of the players joining him in singing 'Castle on the Hill' going viral on social media. Thomas told me 'it was just really good because you know how much he loves the club, so I think it's just him ensuring that he was with us as well as the men's first team. It was just nice to have him there. We had some pictures, got some autographs. We sung along with him and to be honest, it was such a good day and it really topped it off for us.' Head coach Joe Sheehan added that 'it's amazing. I'm fortunate I've met him previously so it was maybe a little bit different for the players today. I was quite pleased to just stand back and watch it because seeing our players spend some time with him and sing and whatever else, chanting or dancing, was great.' 'I think it's a really great feeling and he's incredible for this football club, the support he provides, and he's such a great guy, such a genuinely nice man, a real family man. Passionate about the region and the football club and he was delighted to come here and watch us, is gutted he can't do it more often, but his support is absolutely brilliant.' The captain of the men's side, Sam Morsy is also showing his support for the women's team. He told me 'it's been brilliant for them to be fair, they're doing amazing and they're on the same journey as us, they're progressing. Joe's a really good coach, and a good guy. He's always in and around the men's first team to probably see how he can develop himself. It's great to have them around and great to see them improving as well, and being on their journey.'
