Latest news with #OnePack
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.
BBC News
22-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Wolves not 'stopping there' on sustainability ambitions
Wolves may have already made positive progress in their sustainability ambitions but they know there are still a "huge number of opportunities" to take it impact of climate change is being felt in many different ways and football is not immune to research, external has suggested one in four professional football pitches will be at risk from flooding in 25 so much of the focus is what is happening on the pitch, there is an increasing expectation from supporters that clubs should be doing more to reduce their impact off the second part of our Earth Day chat with Thom Rawson, Wolves' sustainability lead highlighted how important this relationship with fans has been to their One Pack, One Planet sustainability programme."A key part of [developing the strategy] was a fan survey to confirm this is something that fans wanted," Rawson said."The results of that survey told us that around 70-80% of fans agreed it was important for the club to be pursuing and agreed they had an expectation that the club should be acting on sustainability."A similar number also said they supported the idea of having to make changes themselves in support of the club's sustainability ambition."As part of the plan to engage supporters in the One Pack, One Planet work, Wolves have set up a fan focus group for environmental sustainability, similar to those that already existed in areas like ticketing and matchday experience."It [the focus group] gives fans who are interested and proactive on this subject an opportunity to directly shape the direction of travel for the club," Rawson added."It also gives them the chance to engage directly with those who are leading it in different areas of the club."On 9 April, Wolves announced they would be offering supporters a free cycle ride to the club's final four Molineux fixtures - the latest initiative with Transport for West is this kind of work that has been highlighted in their latest sustainability report, external, which Rawson believes shows "the real impact that the sustainability programme is delivering."Annual sustainability reports are a really good opportunity for us to reflect on the success of the programme and how much has been happening over the previous year."However, clearly that doesn't mean that we are stopping there. We know that there are a huge number of opportunities to continue to pursue."
BBC News
22-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
How are Wolves acting on sustainability?
Sustainability in football remains a growing area, but it is one where Wolves want to be "leading the way".In February 2023, the club launched their One Pack, One Planet sustainability programme - a project with four commitments in carbon, waste, nature and culture."The programme is embedded across the club," Wolves sustainability lead Thom Rawson told BBC Sport. "It's within every single department so everyone understands what their role is in delivering against those overarching sustainability ambitions."There has always been good sustainability activities at the club, but the opportunity was there with creating an overriding identity for the sustainability programme, which is what One Pack, One Planet is."Bringing all those activities together creates this common way of thinking about it and a common way of communicating about it with fans so that we can tell a holistic story of how the club is acting on it."Tuesday, 22 April marks Earth Day - a day in the international calendar that provides the opportunity to reflect on progress and understand future opportunities to be more in 2025, two years after the project's launch, Wolves released a progress report, external. Among the highlights of the past 12 months were the reduction in carbon emissions from energy and fuel by 71%, launching a free bus travel scheme for season ticket-holders and the introduction of reusable cups at January, the club also hosted their dedicated One Pack, One Planet focus fixtures for the men's and women's teams, providing an opportunity to introduce a new matchday recycling initiative and raise awareness of the programme and its sustainability work."Fundamentally, the club recognises that it has a responsibility, in terms of its platform, its importance within the local community and within the city of Wolverhampton," Rawson said. "That is the kind of platform that can have an impact nationally, and globally as well."It is the feeling of responsibility combined with wanting to lead and evolving best practice to be seen across the the football industry and to be positioned as a club that is leading and being proactive to do things in the right way."Come back later on Tuesday to find out more about Wolves' sustainability drive
