Last campaign, Wolves Women were locked in a fierce battle for promotion to the second tier of the Women’s Super League, even holding a mathematical chance of overtaking league leaders Nottingham Forest on the final matchday. Unbeknownst to the squad, their efforts were ultimately in vain.
The deadline for submitting a promotion application had been February, but the club failed to lodge the paperwork. Although the team satisfied every technical requirement, the board deemed the demands of a full‑time programme too great. The oversight was discovered only later by head coach Dan McNamara, who then had to break the news to his players. After the season concluded with Wolves finishing second, the announcement was delivered in the dressing‑room.
Captain Anna Morphet described the moment as a painful memory: "It was a shock, complete disbelief. A lot of emotions. I remember not knowing what to say so I didn’t say much, I was just trying to digest it." The reaction quickly spilled onto social media, where players voiced feelings of betrayal and frustration. One lamented being let down, another insisted they deserved better.
The lack of transparency and support sparked a broader debate about how the club communicates with its athletes, serving as a wake‑up call for the organization. Fast‑forward a year, and the team once again finds itself on the cusp of promotion.
The previously missing application has now been filed, and the atmosphere around the club has shifted dramatically. Morphet reflects on the previous season as "an incredibly tough moment" that also acted as a galvanising force. "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 bore the burden of delivering 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." McNamara, visibly emotional 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 drew on his military background to navigate the leadership challenge.
"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 keep the information private until after the final match, allowing the players to savor their hard‑won moment before facing the harsh reality. He also revealed that he never imagined leaving Wolves again. "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." The question loomed: would the team crumble, or would this adversity become a watershed moment?
"Thankfully, it has been the latter," McNamara said. One year later, promotion is a single game away, and the club is prepared. Wolves have dominated the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division, winning 20 of 22 matches and leading the league in goals.
Yet that dominance was not enough for automatic promotion; they finished one point behind Burnley and missed the title on goal difference. "We do feel a little hard done by," McNamara noted, but his pride in the squad’s response outweighs any bitterness.
"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 roller‑coaster. A local radio presenter, she joined the club in 1999 at the invitation of Wolves legend and then chief executive 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 in those days," she recalled.
"Players had to pay subscriptions. It was the captain’s job to collect the cash on training night.
We had to pay for the coach transport. There was a time when even getting the club to let us buy the kits at cost price was a battle." Those hardships have given way to a far more professional environment. "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 explained. The low of last season could now be followed by the highest of highs. Wilkes has endured near‑misses before—a promotion push halted by the pandemic and a play‑off defeat to Southampton—yet the memory of last year’s disappointment still lingers.
Promotion to the second tier would be transformative, ushering the club into full professionalism. McNamara acknowledges the logistical challenges: "If we were to get promoted we have a really, really short time frame to try and completely change the football club," he said. For many players, the dream is simply to play at the highest level.
"To be able to play a small part in creating their dreams would mean the world to me." Morphet was among the first three women to earn a semi‑professional contract with Wolves, but she still works several days a week as a physiotherapist. The prospect of a fully professional setup could mean she no longer has to juggle dual careers.
"We know it can be life‑changing," she said. Reflecting on the journey, Morphet added, "When you look at where we’re at now, it just seems crazy that it happened but thankfully we have come out in a completely different light." Feeling finally valued by the club, even if belatedly, is significant for her.
After eight years and nearly 200 appearances, the club has become her "home away from home." The sacrifice of balancing a day job with professional‑level training could soon be rewarded. "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," Morphet concluded. Wolves Women now stand at that crossroads, preparing to face Plymouth at the Pirelli Stadium in Burton.
The winner secures a place in WSL 2, and the team hopes to cap off a season of resilience with the long‑awaited promotion they have fought so hard to earn.