Wolves Women
As we are at the winter break in the 2023/24 season for Wolves Women, I thought it was a good opportunity to look at how the season is going.
Let’s start by looking at performances in the Cup games… Having put on a very professional performance in the preliminary round of the League Cup against “Doncaster Rovers Belles” they came up against Forest. Forest were the winners of the Cup last season, and in the Northern half of the draw, it would have been seen as the toughest draw possible. Due to injuries/international call-ups, Macca undertook a rotation of the team and came up against a near enough full-strength Forest team. Whilst the team lost 2-0 it was a really close game that must leave Macca and the team thinking they can compete with a team that has had increased funding and is moving to a “Hybrid” funding model, including some full-time players.
In the restructured County Cup, Wolves are in the “Women’s Challenge Cup” which is restricted to teams in Tiers 1 (WSL) to Tier 5 (two leagues below Wolves). So, Villa and Blues Reserves/U21s are joining the competition and realistically there are no easy games. In the opening round Wolves were away to Sutton Coldfield (currently sat mid-table in Tier 4 Midlands Division) and whilst Wolves dominated, they were only able to win 1-0 with a calmly taken penalty by captain, Anna Morphet. We then dismissed Boldmere St Michaels in a professional performance winning 4-0 to set up a Semi-Final against the stripey lot…. The Semi-Final will be played on 18th February at the New Bucks Head and it will be great to see as many Wolves fans as possible there (this will be a chance to win the 9th Black Country Derby on the bounce).
In the FA Cup we have had a tough run of games against either another Tier 3 (Stourbridge) or top Tier 4 teams (Peterborough & Hull). Over the three games, Wolves have scored 19 goals with only one conceded. In the game against Hull, 16 year-old Elise Stocking came on to make her debut after Bec Thomas was substituted off with a head injury. Elise did well and took the game in her stride; she has subsequently been added to the England talent pool for her age group.
We were then drawn away to Championship side Reading (relegated from the WSL last season) – what a game that was!! With a good contingent from London Wolves, the Wolves fans’ out sung the Reading fans’ and cheered on an amazing cup-upset, running out 2-1 winners in a convincing win. This win has been rewarded with a home tie in the 5th round against Brighton of the WSL – we will get to see Tammi George vs Vicky Losada (Champion League Series A, FA Cup etc. winner) in the midfield…. What a battle! This game is going to be 11th February at the New Bucks Head!
In the League itself, now after 10 out of 22 games we have done well, though there are always areas of improvement. Losing to Stoke was poor, especially as we didn’t lose a single away game last season (dropping just two points away).
One area of concern on the pitch has been some poor finishing, for example in the County Cup game against Sutton Coldfield the club had over 40 shots scoring one from the penalty spot. Against both Fylde and Huddersfield in the League, the games were won by half time and plenty of chances were missed. This is a particular concern, as last season Wolves missed out on the title by 19 goals & with guaranteed promotion this season for winning the title every point and goal will count!
We have also been impacted by some “interesting” officiating with Tammi George being sent off for two yellows against Forest when the second Yellow appears to have been for being run into by the opposition player. At least we don’t have VAR delays to deal with as well….
With the results so far (three defeats including to Forest and Burnley), it is likely that we are out of the title race as Newcastle are dominating the league (currently on 31 out of a possible 36 points) and our next league game. This demonstrates how tight the League is again this season and how investment into the newly promoted Newcastle team, has undoubtedly supported their rapid progression and will likely be promoted.
Off the pitch, we have seen steps forward with the welcome introduction of Season Tickets for the women’s team and an improved commentary service that is getting rave reviews (do give it a listen if you can’t make it to a game, via the Wolves website). The Trust has met with the club and discussed many issues surrounding day to day operations & commercial progression. This has seen the sale of Wolves Women shirts in the club shop and the availability of League patches.
However, there are also negatives - at times the social media output has been a bit hit & miss, especially in the build up to games/when there are no men’s games on; patches/font aren’t available online and we must see further investment in the players & management team – the club’s aspirations must be promotion to the Championship as soon as possible.
It is noticeable that there has been no formal statement from the Senior Leadership Team (Matt Hobbs/Jeff Shi) on Wolves Women this season and the club’s aspirations in the way they did for the Men’s team. It was noted by fans listening to the commentary of the Reading game that as Wolves ran out winners there were chants of “Are you watching Matt Hobbs?”. In addition, there was no senior leadership representation at the Reading game – this would have been a great opportunity to show “one club” support for the women’s team.
In the wider League we have seen that Newcastle have stepped up to Full Time and this extra training/fitness/focus has seen them become the League leaders this season so far. The investment that Newcastle have put into their women’s team is something that Wolves should be looking to replicate. The investment in the women’s team does not count within the “Profit & Sustainability” calculations, whereas revenue generated from merchandise and increased visibility of the club can help. The FA Cup run this season has won the club over £103K and increased investment would help to support further successes in this competition as well as the league, and is a way to generate further revenue. It should be noted that it is likely that within a few seasons the Championship will all be Full Time Professional and surely it is better to start that process now before promotion, so that when promotion occurs the club is ready?
That’s it for now and hope to see many of you at the New Bucks Head at some point soon.
The fixtures can be found here with home games at the New Bucks Head, Telford and the Wolves Women Podcast addresses all things Wolves Women & can be found here.