Yeovil Town Ladies will go down two tiers after Championship licence is denied

Yeovil Town Ladies have had their bid for a second-tier licence rejected by the Football Association.

They will now drop down two divisions from the Women’s Super League. The club were relegated from the WSL and expected to play their football in the Championship next season, after finishing bottom with -3 points.

However, this will not be the case after they were informed that they do not meet the relevant criteria.

An FA spokesperson said:

“The FA women’s football board has confirmed that Yeovil Town Ladies FC did not meet the required criteria to be awarded a tier-two licence for the 2019-20 season.

“The club was unable to provide sufficient evidence that it could meet the key minimum requirements of the tier-two licence.

“The FA will continue to work closely with Yeovil to fully support their move into tier three for the start of next season and to ensure their academy players’ dual career programme combining academic study and football is maintained.”

The Glovers, who won promotion to the top flight in 2016, were given a 10-point deduction by the FA – who run the WSL – on 28 March.

The points penalty was a result of the club informing the FA of their initial intention to appoint an administrator, even though staffing cuts and financial support from the FA meant insolvency was avoided.

Administrators were never formally appointed, but Yeovil opted not to appeal against the 10-point sanction, and were hopeful of competing in next season’s Championship as a part-time club. This has not been possible and the Lady Glovers will be in the third tier for the next campaign.