Last season, Wolves Women were in contention for promotion to the second tier of the Women’s Super League, even holding a mathematical chance of finishing ahead of league leaders Nottingham Forest on the final matchday. Unbeknownst to the squad, the effort was ultimately futile because the club had missed the February deadline to submit the promotion application.
Despite meeting all the required criteria, the board deemed the demands of a full‑time programme too great, and the paperwork was never sent. Even head coach Dan McNamara only learned of the oversight after the season ended. The revelation came in the dressing room after Wolves secured a second‑place finish. Captain Anna Morphet described the moment as "a shock, complete disbelief" and recalled being overwhelmed with emotion, unable to articulate much beyond trying to absorb the news.
In the days that followed, several players took to social media to voice their frustration, expressing feelings of betrayal, a sense that they deserved better treatment, and anger over the lack of transparency and support from the club hierarchy. The episode acted as a stark wake‑up call for the organization. Fast forward a year, and Wolves Women find themselves once again on the brink of promotion, this time with the necessary application already filed.
Morphet reflects on the previous season as an "incredibly tough moment" that also served as a galvanising force for the squad. "Those moments bring you closer together. You look around and realise how special this group is and the characters in it.
If we didn't have the closeness that we had before finding out that news I don't know if we would have come through as well as we have," she said. She also expressed empathy for McNamara, who had to deliver the disappointing news. "For Macca, who has put in so much work for so many years to have to be the one to tell us – I knew it would not be anyone else, he would never shift responsibility – I cannot imagine how difficult it was," Morphet added. McNamara, visibly moved when recalling that night, described it as "one of the toughest things I have ever had to say." A former Royal Air Force serviceman, he leaned on his military training to navigate the emotional test of leadership.
"When I was first told the news I was emotional. Part of me wanted to tell the girls and let the whole thing blow up and hope they did not turn up for the last few games of the season," he admitted. Instead, he chose to withhold the information until after the final game, allowing the players to savour their achievement before confronting the harsh reality.
"We decided that the girls needed to enjoy the moment together before we brought them back down to earth right away. We did not want to take away that moment they had worked so hard for.
If we had done it, it would have been obviously horrendous." When the club asked whether he would stay, McNamara confessed he never imagined returning to Wolves. Yet the loyalty of the squad convinced him to remain. "I just could not walk away from the girls. They said, 'look, shall we give the club a chance?
Do we really want to play elsewhere?' The general consensus was that we wanted to stick together," he explained. A year later, the question was whether the team would crumble or use the setback as a stepping stone. "Thankfully, it has been the latter," says Morphet.
Promotion now sits just a game away. Wolves have won 20 of their 22 league fixtures in the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division and lead the league in goals scored. Yet despite that dominance, they finished a point behind Burnley and missed automatic promotion. McNamara acknowledges the disappointment but emphasizes pride in how the players responded.
"We feel a little hard‑done‑by," he says, "but the overriding emotion is pride at the team's response. They have done unbelievably well. Through disrespect at times, through adversity at times. They represent this football club and this city impeccably." Chairperson Jenny Wilkes describes the journey as a "rollercoaster." A local radio presenter, Wilkes became involved in 1999 at the invitation of club legend John Richards.
She set up a limited company, secured sponsors with help from former England cricketer Rachel Heyhoe‑Flint, and witnessed the early struggles of the women's game. "One of the players' dads worked in road‑working machinery and he used to bring the machinery down to bang a big divot in the middle of the pitch until it was sand because that was the sort of pitch we were playing on," she recalls. Players once had to pay their own subscriptions, collect cash on training nights, and fund coach transport. Even obtaining kits at cost price required negotiation.
Those hardships have largely faded. "It is a much different place.
This is the closest we have been. It has helped the club to see things in a bit of a different light. I am working closely with technical director Matt Jackson and we are in a much better place now that we have better communication," Wilkes notes. Wilkes has endured near‑misses before—a promotion bid halted by the pandemic and a playoff defeat to Southampton—so the emotional low of last year is not unfamiliar.
Yet the prospect of promotion to the Women’s Super League’s second tier would be transformative, ushering in full‑time professional status. McNamara admits that promotion would demand a rapid overhaul of club operations. "If we were to get promoted we have a really, really short time frame to try and completely change the football club," he explains.
For many players, that shift represents the fulfilment of a lifelong dream. "To be able to play a small part in creating their dreams would mean the world to me," he adds.
Morphet was among the first three women to sign a semi‑professional contract with Wolves, yet she still works several days a week as a physiotherapist. The possibility of a fully professional contract would be seismic for her and her teammates. "We know it can be life‑changing," she says.
The knowledge that this promotion would be genuine adds poignancy to memories of the previous year’s disappointment. "When you look at where we're at now, I think it just seems crazy that it happened but thankfully we have come out in a completely different light." After eight years and nearly 200 appearances, Morphet describes Wolves Women as her "home away from home." The sacrifice of balancing a second job with professional‑level training is finally being recognised. "I knew deep down that I was never going to give myself the best chance to achieve the dream in football – which is full‑time – without a few sacrifices.
The amount of sacrifice we have all put in, you start to feel like something good must be around the corner." Now the team prepares to face Plymouth on Monday at the Pirelli Stadium in Burton, with a place in WSL 2 on the line for the winner. The rollercoaster ride continues, but this time the players, staff and supporters alike deserve to savour the moment that has been years in the making.