WSL 2023-2024 | NewCo

[jojojo]

So, the outcome to the Reading story now looks certain. Having decided they can't meet the new licensing conditions for the Championship, they've asked the FA to find them a place in Women's football tier 5. That takes them down to a local - probably a South East of England in their case - League.

Just to put a context on that - it's reckoned that the new WSL Championship licence requirements mean the minimum cost of running a team in that league is now over £1m. Which basically means getting a subsidy from a (solvent and wealthy) men's team or a private investor willing to bankroll it as a gamble on the game's future profitability.

Whether the women's game is ready for that kind of gamble on sustainability - where even the optimists are talking about five years before Championship clubs will maybe start to break even - is questionable.

The WSL Championship will be a full-time pro league next year. Some traditional women's teams like Doncaster Belles and Yeovil were squeezed out a few years back when it went semiprofessional, now some more whose owners don't have deep pockets will vanish as well.

Clubs with money to spend like Newcastle will take their place - that's inevitable and maybe even desirable. The cruel thing is that it will be the licensing system that throws out some of the financial minnows, rather than normal promotion and relegation.

I'm not sure it's helpful - more speed, less haste might be in order.

 

[cj_sparky]

So, the outcome to the Reading story now looks certain. Having decided they can't meet the new licensing conditions for the Championship, they've asked the FA to find them a place in Women's football tier 5. That takes them down to a local - probably a South East of England in their case - League.

Just to put a context on that - it's reckoned that the new WSL Championship licence requirements mean the minimum cost of running a team in that league is now over £1m. Which basically means getting a subsidy from a (solvent and wealthy) men's team or a private investor willing to bankroll it as a gamble on the game's future profitability.

Whether the women's game is ready for that kind of gamble on sustainability - where even the optimists are talking about five years before Championship clubs will maybe start to break even - is questionable.

The WSL Championship will be a full-time pro league next year. Some traditional women's teams like Doncaster Belles and Yeovil were squeezed out a few years back when it went semiprofessional, now some more whose owners don't have deep pockets will vanish as well.

Clubs with money to spend like Newcastle will take their place - that's inevitable and maybe even desirable. The cruel thing is that it will be the licensing system that throws out some of the financial minnows, rather than normal promotion and relegation.

I'm not sure it's helpful - more speed, less haste might be in order.

Blackburn players will be on 16 hours a week contracts and will be payed £9k for the season according to Kathryn Batte.

The idea that the WSL Championship can be fully professional is mental at this current point, I'd be curious to know if clubs like Charlton and Portsmouth who will feel the pinch financially being in League One can fund their Women's teams in this manner. Then you have the likes of Durham and London City Lionesses for whom I'd imagine it would be impossible. Although LCL have Michele Kang, who may be willing to swallow costs and invest.

Like you say a few clubs have already fallen by the wayside, I think it cost £500k for Coventry United to see out the second half of the WSL Championship a few years back.

 

[jojojo]

Blackburn players will be on 16 hours a week contracts and will be payed £9k for the season according to Kathryn Batte.

The idea that the WSL Championship can be fully professional is mental at this current point, I'd be curious to know if clubs like Charlton and Portsmouth who will feel the pinch financially being in League One can fund their Women's teams in this manner. Then you have the likes of Durham and London City Lionesses for whom I'd imagine it would be impossible. Although LCL have Michele Kang, who may be willing to swallow costs and invest.

Like you say a few clubs have already fallen by the wayside, I think it cost £500k for Coventry United to see out the second half of the WSL Championship a few years back.

I think they've got the FA's agreement to do the absolute minimum. 11 players on 16 hour "face to face" training time contracts and minimum wage. No payment for travel time etc. It's a tough contract - because it must be really hard to fit a part-time job in around it. They've got a 100k player wages budget.

The rest of the squad need to work for free, students and loan players maybe? They've let a lot of players go.

Worth noting that's just the player wages though, they'll have other player costs on top of that - including insurance, travel etc.

The FA also actually set minimum salary for some jobs like the manager and commercial manager that they insist are full-time (£35k from what I remember).

They're trying to get volunteers for everything else but given that includes physios, coaches, specialist goalkeeping coach etc - who need FA and in some cases professional licenses themselves - there's a lot of luck in that "how low can we go" budget calculation.

Reading did their sums and couldn't get it to add up.

 

[WeePat]

I think both her current game and her recent injuries make her a risky signing. If she can get her form/fitness back obviously she'll be a real boost to you but that's a big if.

It's a risk, and I'm generally against signing older players. I prefer younger, hungrier and more dynamic players at my club. Bronze looks like she's faded quite significantly in recent years. There was a time when it could be argued she was a top 3 player in the world but I don't think she would start over Perriset or Lawrence in 2024, so feels a bit like a redundant signing.

I don't know this player at all really, but whenever you see the words Spanish midfielder you start having expectations. Is she likely to be a starter or just an interesting gamble for the future? I'm assuming the latter.

I have no idea about this one. She barely played for the Barca first team, so I'd say it's more of a cheap punt on a potential gem.

 

[WeePat]

I was assuming she was leaving Chelsea to join NewCo. Perhaps not.

It's been suggested that she's joining NewCo to run the revenue development side - which I assume means get sponsors, get broadcasters etc. Maybe that's wrong and she's just a part-time member of the board of directors. Dunno'

There's a really nice interview out today with Zarah Al-Kudcy. It doesn't sound like she's leaving Chelsea. I'm about halfway through it and there's been no mention of this NewCo role yet, but lots of talk about the work she plans on carrying out at Chelsea for next season and beyond.

 

[jojojo]

The talk around Chelsea looking at other structures for ownership of the women's team unsurprisingly turned into a bit of a damp squib. Unlike Lyon where they were looking for actual external investment and sold 52% of it, Chelsea were doing a bit of financial juggling. Chelsea sold their team to their own parent company.

The deal has attracted attention though. I doubt it will come to anything, but the criticism offers a clue on why they did it.

 

[Scanny]

The talk around Chelsea looking at other structures for ownership of the women's team unsurprisingly turned into a bit of a damp squib. Unlike Lyon where they were looking for actual external investment and sold 52% of it, Chelsea were doing a bit of financial juggling. Chelsea sold their team to their own parent company.

The deal has attracted attention though. I doubt it will come to anything, but the criticism offers a clue on why they did it.

Constant fiddling the books by some clubs.