Wolves Women - Silence isn’t always golden
Following the news that came out last weekend after Wolves Women's final game of the season, the silence from the club has been deafening.
As a reminder, the club decided not to support the application for the Women’s team to gain promotion through sporting merit.
This silence does not treat the fans of the club with the respect that they deserve; especially when the club was feeding stories to the media on Monday, only to change the story by the time we got to Tuesday.
Being honest with fans, players and staff from the start has got to be the lesson learnt from this sorry period in the history of the club; honesty and integrity are the minimum we expect.
However, the current ongoing veil of secrecy does nothing to rebuild trust between the club, staff and fans.
An example of the club’s silence on Women’s football matters is that the most successful Wolves Women Manager of recent times is up for a National Award (FAWNL Tier 3 Manager Of The Year); there has been no mention of it by the club on any of the club’s communication channels. Contrast this with the club rightly promoting Vitor’s nomination for Premier League Manager of the Month; again reinforcing the widely-held view that our club doesn’t take the women’s football seriously.
Vote for Dan McNamara as Manager of the year: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=vJLiD0i_YkiKXLAvdQrp9ZQpXP_zJthEtAwiI_ROsttUNFExTTRLQzBRSVRFWFpNRUVVRlBBRTJCWS4u&route=shorturl
The current club silence is doing the club reputational damage, especially within the women’s game worldwide – who will want to come and play for our club if this is how we treat our players?
With all players soon to be free agents why would they want to stay at a club that denies the opportunity of progression through success on the pitch.
The question now is whether the club will have enough players for a competitive Wolves Women’s team next season, and what impact this will have at junior and academy levels for girls wanting to play football for Wolves?
Whilst we are questioning the commitment of our club to diversify its footballing operations, we are also watching current, former, and soon to be departing Premier League teams stepping up their funding in Women’s football. We risk being left behind, why do others see opportunity to invest, and grow their brand but the management at Wolves don’t?
Playing catch up is going to cost far more in the long run. Women’s football is the fastest growing participation sport in England. Football is the core of the Wolves brand, investing in this growth market sector should be second nature to our owners.
The synergy that exists in promoting Wolves Women’s related merchandise fits perfectly with the wider strategy of establishing Sudu as a premium sportswear manufacturer and the Wolves brand worldwide.
For a club that espouses a “One Pack” mantra, our female supporters, players, and staff are left wondering if inclusivity is a core ethos of our club.
The issues surrounding the women’s team will be raised at the upcoming Fan Advisory Board meeting; the Trust will be seeking answers to our members’ concerns. We reiterate our call for a full public apology to players, staff and fans, with an unequivocal commitment to take Wolves Women full-time through a structured development plan over the next three seasons.
After last summer’s ticket pricing PR disaster, and a chaotic season for the men’s team, the club is again faced with building trust between the club, staff, and fans.