To Wakefield AFC fans,
After much deliberation, we would like to announce the decision to discontinue the women’s team. This decision was not made lightly and followed months of efforts to find a suitable solution. Despite attempts to sustain the team, ongoing challenges, mainly related to funding and facilities, have made it unsustainable to continue.
You might have seen or heard some of this information on social media already. First, the club won’t reply to any social media posts on the topic. We understand the frustration on behalf of players and respect their right to express their dissatisfaction. To respond to some of the inaccuracies in the posts would require us to name and disclose the responsibility of individuals, and we won’t be dragged into this debate as we don’t see it as a constructive exercise.
The main reason the women’s team has to be shut down is the lack of facilities. Wakefield AFC management secured a home for the women’s team at Belle Vue for last season and the next two years. Unfortunately, after the Wakefield Trinity takeover, we were informed that the women’s team would not be able to train or play at the stadium to protect the pitch and due to low attendances, which would not allow for extra services such as opening the bar to monetize food and beverages to cover gameday costs. Although we disagree with this decision, we don’t own the facilities and ultimately have to play with the cards we’ve been dealt.
The club then searched around and found a great 4G facility at Frickley to finish the season and covered 100% of the costs involved. For the upcoming 24/25 season, the club was able to secure Frickley and Kettlethorpe for the whole season. Unfortunately, one of the locations was not convenient for the players and the other was not suitable for the manager.
Due to this, 2/3 of the players left, and the management staff resigned. We understand that no facility is perfect, but it is unfortunate that this didn’t work for most of our players. These are the same facilities where the men train.
Additionally, due to our difficulty in attracting sponsorships or other channels to raise meaningful revenue to cover costs, the way to fund the women’s first team would be to charge players to play. We have never charged players to play and we won’t start now. We understand that many clubs “support” women’s football by charging subs, but we decided not to go in that direction.
At that point, we were left with a decision to hire a new management team and sign about 12 to 15 players or, alternatively, to direct our attention to girls’ and junior football. We decided that the most sustainable alternative would be to focus on starting a girls’ junior session.
We admit that communication with the remaining players was poor and they have a right to be upset. At the same time, we fully stand by our difficult decision to shut down the team, after many years of investing in it, and start a girls’ program.
As mentioned in previous communications, the goal for WAFC is to achieve financial sustainability. To carry on would mean another year of significant losses that we can’t fund.
In the long term, having a healthy girls’ program and gradually developing players is the best option for our club, and we believe that’s the best way forward for Wakefield AFC.
We ask for your understanding regarding this matter, and we will not be providing further comments at this time.