Last season, Wolves Women were locked in a fierce battle for promotion to the second tier of the Women’s Super League. Heading into the final matchday they still held a mathematical chance of finishing above league leaders Nottingham Forest.

What the squad did not realise was that their hopes were ultimately unattainable. The deadline for submitting the promotion application had been February, but the club had failed to file the paperwork. Despite meeting every required criterion, the board concluded that the demands of a full‑time programme were too great at that moment. Even head coach Dan McNamara was only informed of the oversight after the season had ended.

The news was delivered in the dressing room after Wolves secured a second‑place finish. For captain Anna Morphet, the announcement remains a painful memory. “It was a shock, complete disbelief.

A flood of emotions. I didn’t know what to say, so I said very little and just tried to absorb it,” she recalled. In the days that followed, several players took to social media to voice their disappointment. One expressed feeling let down, another insisted the team deserved better treatment.

The lack of transparency and perceived absence of support sparked anger and prompted the club’s leadership to take a hard look at its internal processes. A year later, with Wolves once again on the cusp of promotion, the missing application has finally been lodged. The situation has changed dramatically. Morphet describes the events of the previous year as an "incredibly tough moment" but also as a galvanising experience.

"Those kinds of crises pull you closer together. You look around and realise how special this group is and the characters within it.

If we hadn’t built that bond before the news arrived, I don’t think we would have come through as strongly as we have," she said. Morphet also sympathised with McNamara, who had to be the bearer of bad news.

"For Macca, who has poured his heart into this club for years, to be the one delivering that blow – I know he would never try to shift responsibility. I can’t imagine how hard that was for him," she added. McNamara, visibly emotional when recounting that night, described it as one of the toughest moments of his career.

A former Royal Air Force serviceman, he leaned on his military background to navigate the leadership challenge. "When I first heard the news I was gutted.

Part of me wanted to tell the girls immediately and let everything explode, maybe even see them skip the last few games of the season," he admitted. "Instead I kept the information to myself until after the final match.

We wanted the players to savour the achievement of the season before we brought them back down to earth. To do otherwise would have been cruel." He also confessed that he never imagined he would stay at Wolves. "I could have walked away, but I couldn’t abandon the girls.

They asked, ‘Should we give the club another chance? Do we really want to go elsewhere?’ The consensus was to stay united." The question loomed: would the team crumble, or would this become a watershed moment for Wolves Women? "Thankfully it’s been the latter," McNamara affirmed. One year on, promotion is now a single game away, and the club is fully prepared.

Wolves have dominated the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division, winning 20 of 22 matches and leading the league in goals scored. Yet automatic promotion eluded them; they finished a point behind Burnley and missed the title on goal difference.

"We do feel a little hard‑done‑by," McNamara said, but his overriding feeling is pride in how the squad responded. "They have performed unbelievably, despite moments of disrespect and adversity. They represent this club and this city with distinction." Chairperson Jenny Wilkes describes the journey as a roller‑coaster.

A local radio presenter, Wilkes first became involved in 1999 at the invitation of Wolves legend and then‑chief executive John Richards. She set up a limited company, secured sponsors with the help of former England cricketer Rachel Heyhoe‑Flint, and helped lay the foundations for the women’s side. She recalls the humble origins: "One player’s dad worked in road‑working machinery and would bring his equipment to flatten a huge divot in the middle of the pitch until it turned to sand – that’s the kind of surface we played on back then." "Players had to pay their own subscriptions. The captain collected cash on training nights.

We even had to fund the coach’s transport ourselves. Getting the club to let us purchase kits at cost was a battle," Wilkes reminisced.

Those struggles have given way to a more professional environment. "It’s a completely different landscape now.

We’re much closer to our goal, and better communication with technical director Matt Jackson has helped us get here," she noted. The low point of last year could have been the beginning of a decline, but instead it became a catalyst for growth.

Wilkes has endured near‑misses before – a promotion bid halted by the pandemic and a play‑off defeat to Southampton – and the disappointment of a year ago adds to that narrative. Achieving promotion to the Women’s Super League’s second tier would be transformative, ushering in full professionalism. McNamara acknowledges the massive logistical challenge this would present. "If we get promoted, we have a very short window to overhaul the whole club structure," he explained.

For many players, the dream is simply to play at the highest possible level. "Being part of making those dreams a reality would mean the world to me." Morphet was among the first three women to sign a semi‑professional contract with Wolves, yet she continues to work several days a week as a physiotherapist. The prospect of a fully professional contract would be life‑changing for her and her teammates. "We know it can be life‑changing," she said.

"When you look at where we are now, it feels almost surreal, but we’ve emerged in a completely new light." After eight years and nearly 200 appearances, Wolves Women have finally found a club that values them, albeit belatedly. The Pirelli Stadium in Burton will host Plymouth on Monday, with a place in WSL 2 on the line for the winner.

After another roller‑coaster season, Morphet and her teammates deserve to seize the moment and write the next chapter of their remarkable story.