Club news
Written by: Joe
Everyone at Lewes FC would like to express our sympathy for the staff, players, fans and volunteers of Blackburn Rovers Women and Sheffield United Women for being caught up in the fragility of women’s football.
Blackburn’s statement regarding their decision to not compete in the 2025/26 Women’s Championship carries hard truths about the state of our domestic game.
Clubs are required to meet licensing standards that, in most cases, they are either not capable of meeting on their current budgets, or their owners (who primarily own the club to focus on the men’s team) operate the women’s team at a loss.
While the very top of the game flourishes, the pyramid beneath is vulnerable.
Reading Women were withdrawn from the Championship last summer; Wolves Women didn’t apply for a license to the Championship when promotion was still possible this season; MK Dons Women played valiantly all season with an impossible budget and reliance on youth players. Teams in our league saw funding shifted from the Women’s to the Men’s side mid season to manage men’s needs and leave the women struggling.
After a year of stability in the Women’s National League South, we at Lewes FC believe we’re in a position to move forward and, within a few seasons, challenge for promotion back to the Championship – all while building a better infrastructure that supports our ecosystem. But we’re just as vulnerable as anyone else, living on a knife edge due to the system and structure of the women’s leagues.
How can women’s teams even consider promotion when the mandatory licence requirements in the top two tiers are vastly beyond the budgets of those in tier three?
Players, staff and volunteers commit their lives to their teams and we, collectively, have a duty of care to support them, properly finance women’s football, and reward clubs that make every effort to stand on their own two feet. This isn’t about throwing money at the game but about ensuring it is steadily nurtured in a sustainable manner, so we don’t see more Readings and Blackburns.
The game has suffered as the structure of governance in women’s football fosters an ever-increasing dependency on men’s teams to finance women’s clubs rather than prioritising sustainable growth. Women’s football has reached a crossroads where it chooses to increase its dependency on men’s football or be properly governed and be allowed to flourish independently.
England defend their European crown at Euro 2025 this summer — women’s football is hugely popular and growing. We can’t wait to cheer on the Lionesses! But the pyramid below can’t keep up with the growth at the top without a system of fertilisation in the improves the support across the pyramid.
The business model needs to be sustainable and investable. We have a duty of care to get the business of women’s football right for women and girls across the country. If we don’t, there will be more Readings, more Blackburns.
We don’t have all the answers and are facing our own, very real financial challenges. We’re not alone. Teams are battling not against each other right now but merely to stay afloat.
When we launch campaigns like Equal FA Cup it’s not because more money is a “nice thing to have”. It’s the right thing to do and ensures women’s teams across the country can meet licensing requirements and treat their staff and players like athletes. Like people. It means clubs are properly financed to be able to act independently rather than be reliant on handouts from men’s (often Premier League) clubs.
Blackburn’s predicament is a horrible one and we express our solidarity with their players, staff, volunteers and fans. But make no mistake, they won’t be the last club to face this situation.
We have work to do to cultivate the women’s game as its own unique industry – new models, new investment structures, new partnerships metrics, new community engagement efforts. We have to build a sustainable women’s football ecosystem for the women’s game.