Fears grow that Blackburn will withdraw from WSL 2 due to financial reasons

There are increasing concerns that Blackburn Rovers whitethorn retreat from adjacent season’s Women’s Super League 2 campaign.

No determination has yet been made by the nine for adjacent play but aggregate sources person indicated that the nine are yet to afloat perpetrate to the other backing needed to conscionable the league’s enhanced minimum requirements for the 2025-26 WSL 2 run and Blackburn are truthful understood to person been fixed a deadline to corroborate by adjacent week whether oregon not they privation to participate.

Simon Parker’s squad finished 10th, second-from-bottom, successful the women’s 2nd tier this term, 5 points wide of danger, contempt operating connected what was understood connected a comparatively-low playing budget. The 2nd tier – which was antecedently known arsenic the Women’s Championship – was renamed arsenic WSL 2 connected Monday.

This summer, the minimum requirements to instrumentality portion successful the part are being accrued successful a bid to rise minimum standards for the players involved, to an grade whereby it is understood second-tier women’s clubs volition present person to fundamentally run a full-time, nonrecreational operation.

The database of criteria is believed to see requirements for clubs to perpetrate to appointing the pursuing unit wrong 1 period of adjacent play starting: a caput of women’s football, selling manager, caput coach, adjunct coach, physiotherapist oregon sports therapist, doctor, a spot and conditioning coach, a goalkeeping manager and respective radical successful circumstantial safeguarding and player-welfare roles.

Blackburn played each of their location women’s matches astatine Ewood Park this play and their erstwhile players see the England internationals Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone and Keira Walsh and person a arrogant past of processing young players.

The league volition beryllium keen to debar a repetition of past summer’s concern which saw Reading retreat from the 2nd tier astatine the extremity of June, for fiscal reasons, astatine specified a comparatively precocious constituent successful the summertime determination was deemed to not beryllium capable clip earlier pre-season to statesman a process of promoting a replacement club, which led to the part lone including 11 teams this season.

A root told the Guardian that 1 crushed Blackburn person been fixed a deadline of adjacent week by which to marque their determination is to debar different eleventh-hour withdrawal and guarantee determination is clip for a contingency plan, should Blackburn determine to propulsion out.