Wolves eye WSL 2 promotion as club backing grows and the spotlight intensifies

“The last 27 years have been a rollercoaster,” she said. “When they first started, it was three of them on park pitches until adverts in the local newspaper got them playing football.

“It was a completely different time then, when women and girls didn’t play football. It’s nothing like it is now.”

In mid-April, club Chair Jenny Wilkes received the club’s Volunteer of the Year award for 2026. (Photo by Cameron Smith – WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)

Jenny believes that the growth of the women’s game is most evident in the relationship between the women’s team and the wider club. When the women’s team formed in 1975, it adopted the name ‘Heathfield Rovers’ after the local school.

Shortly after, they became Wolverhampton Wanderers and played in the top tier after the FA started a new league. However, it wasn’t until the late nineties that the club started to acknowledge its women’s side.

The team has moved from a time of scarce resources and limited opportunities to full integration within the club’s broader vision.

“Over the years, we’ve gradually got closer and closer to Wolves,” said Jenny. “First of all, our youth teams have been taken on by the foundation alongside our seniors.

“But it’s only more recently that we’ve been taken on board by the academy, and that’s made all the difference. With our semi-pro status and with players like Anna [Morphet] having semi-pro contracts, we’re in a much different place.”

Wolves pushing for promotion to WSL 2

Credit: Wolves Women

With just one game to play in the FA WNL, Wolves are hoping to defeat struggling Halifax to keep their promotion dreams alive. Burnley face Stoke City on the final day, who sit in fourth place.

After an ‘unlucky’ few seasons, Jenny is hoping this is the year that the side advances to the WSL2.

“In the COVID season, we would have got promoted. And then in the playoff when we lost to Southampton — we got really close then as well,” she said.

However, this season feels different. For Jenny and many involved with the club, this season feels like the ‘closest’ they have been.

With promotion within touching distance, the stakes are higher than ever. A place in WSL2 would not only professionalise the squad, but accelerate the club’s investment and visibility — areas which have already seen vast improvement over the last 12 months, especially.

WSL 2 Promotion would be ‘life changing’

Dan McNamara, manager of the side, joined in January 2018, before transitioning full-time in the summer of 2024.

Credit: Wolves Women

He believes the team would achieve something remarkable by securing promotion with the club’s current facilities.

“I think nine out of ten, the best budget normally wins the league and the worst budget normally has to try and avoid relegation,” said Dan. “We break that mould year on year, and this year hasn’t been any different.

“For us to take this league title to the last game is all credit to the girls and staff that are involved.”

Having won 20 league games this season, drawing and losing just one match, he doesn’t know another league in the world where you can replicate these numbers and not win the title.

If Wolves win on the final day, but Burnley avoid dropping points, they will sit second on 61 points — enough to have won the league title for the last 20 years.

Last season’s disappointment

After a whirlwind season, players were left disappointed as the club decided not to apply for a chance to compete in the then Women’s Championship. Players felt that their grueling promotion hunt against Southampton was ‘all for nothing’, and the club once again fell short.

Dan recalls telling the players, calling it ‘one of the toughest’ things he has had to say.

He believes the board must act now to properly respect and acknowledge the women’s team to prevent it from ‘disappearing’. Rather, they should build on their momentum and view it as a stepping stone to the next stage of the journey.

However, this setback has ‘helped’ build bridges between the women’s team and club hierarchy, according to Jenny.

“I think it helped the club to see things in a different light. And I think the answers that we had from the cub is that they weren’t listening properly.

“So we do feel in a much better place now we’ve got better communication and the advisory board.”

She also highlighted her evolving role within the club.

“It’s my job to sort of poke the club and say ‘what are you doing about this?’, but we’re getting a really good response from the club now.”

That renewed backing is already translating into progress, from improved fan engagement initiatives to efforts to establish a stronger home identity at Telford.

From having to pay for their own kit and transport, Wolves women are finally being recognised.

“We’re a massive club,” said Jenny. “It’s a really weird time to be a Wolves fan, with the men going down and hopefully the women going up.

“But we really want to raise the profile of Wolves, and we’re galvanising the fans more. We just want to raise that visibility.”

What are the talking points in Wolves’ history?

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For Dan, there are several ‘standout’ moments during his tenure. The FA Cup clash against Manchester United sparks nothing but good memories for the side.

He said: “Walking out against Manchester United last year in a packed-out Telford with 5,500 there is obviously up there.

“I think the FA Cup runs, knocking Reading out and to get into the fifth round the season before. But I think it’s really hard to look past that Tier 3 league title — the league we won the first time of asking.”

These moments stand out even more because they happened despite ‘promised expenses’ from the club never arriving. But the broken promises brought the team closer together and propelled them on to victory.

Juggling football and work

Credit: Wolves Women

Dan, who is also part of the Royal Air Force, describes promotion as the start of the next step, which would be ‘life-changing’ for the girls.

Captain Anna Morphet works as a hospital physio three to four days a week and has to juggle her career alongside training and playing.

She made history in 2024 as one of the first players to sign a part-time contract with the club and has made almost 200 appearances in old gold since joining.

“I’ve been here for almost eight years, and it’s unimaginable to where we are now,” she said.

“I did cut down my hours to give myself the opportunity to give almost everything I could to football.”

She acknowledges that working full-time while committing several nights and weekends to football was not giving her the best chance of achieving her football dream. If Wolves get promoted this Sunday, it would allow her to ‘park’ the physio job for a while and enjoy a life of just playing football — the dream she has held since she was a child.

And with stronger backing, greater visibility, and a team delivering on the pitch, Wolves are closer than ever to making these dreams a reality.