FA Women's Championship introduces relegation
Thursday 6 June 2019 12:27, UK
The FA Women's Championship will introduce relegation next season after Yeovil Town Ladies were denied a licence.
The FA Women's Football Board have agreed that at the conclusion of the 2019/20 season, one team will be relegated from the Women's Championship, while two will be promoted from the league below.
Last season, the Championship had 11 teams and no relegation, and had been set to expand to a 12-team competition.
Yeovil, who were deducted 10 points in March, failed to secure a licence to play in the second tier, meaning the league will remain with 11 once again with the aim to expand to 12 in 2020/21.
An FA statement on Wednesday said: "Following the withdrawal of Yeovil Town Ladies FC from FA Women's Championship, the FA Women's Football Board has agreed that at the conclusion of the 2019/20 season, two teams (champions of the FA Women's National League Northern and Southern Divisions respectively) will be promoted.
"One team (bottom placed team in the FA Women's Championship) will be relegated (either the Northern or Southern Division of the FA Women's National League based on the geography)."
However, a spokesperson for Yeovil Town Ladies denied that the club had withdrawn from the league.
"The term 'withdraw' used by the national governing body is factually incorrect," he said.
"We submitted an application for the second tier and were rejected.Despite reports, the club did not go into administration."
Earlier this year, the club found themselves in financial difficulties and the FA released a statement that they intended to appoint an administrator.
This situation was avoided when future FA funding was advanced to the club early.
"The perception that we had gone into administration has not helped at all. But a positive future can be assured if the financial support of individuals and businesses can be rallied," a club spokesperson said.
"Our aim is to win tier three and get back up to the Championship, where there is more money available and more options for further growth."
The FA added that teams' promotion to the Championship would be subject to meeting the second-tier licence criteria.
The top two spots in the Championship, claimed by Manchester United and Tottenham, were promotion berths last season - this time only the club that finishes first will go up.
The two teams that gained promotion to the Championship last season were Blackburn and Coventry.
