Blackburn Rovers’ WSL 2 Exit exposes Fragility in Women’s Football

Blackburn Rovers pulled out of the newly renamed Women’s Super League 2 and it shows how fragile women’s domestic football is.

The withdrawal came after the club’s owners, Venky’s, were unwilling to meet the league’s standards on player welfare, staffing and facilities.

The club informed players on May 20, 2025, and confirmed their withdrawal hours later.

A club statement read: “The growing financial and operational constraints tied to tier-two status, including the requirement to move to a fully professional model, have reached a point where they can no longer be sustained under the club’s current financial framework.”

Blackburn’s latest accounts showed a profit.

However, the club would have posted a £17.2 million loss without the sale of Adam Wharton from the men’s team.

Women’s players at the club are understood to be on semi-professional deals worth no more than £15,000 annually.

The women’s team played all league fixtures at Ewood Park last season. But attendances remained low. The club said this, combined with increasing costs, had shaped their decision.

“Key factors influencing this decision include the significant rise in minimum criteria set by the league, including extended contact hours for players and the requirement for a full-time professional contract model, an increase in staffing levels, leading to further escalating wage costs, and a greater strain on training ground and stadium facilities.

“Regrettably, despite all Rovers Women’s league fixtures being played at Ewood Park last season for the first time, there was no noticeable upturn in home attendances, resulting in the absence of the substantial match-day commercial revenue and sponsorships required to support continued investment at tier two.”

The withdrawal underlines the fragile economics of women’s football.

Blackburn is the second club in two years to leave the second tier. Reading withdrew in 2023 due to financial difficulties.

In April 2025, Wolverhampton Wanderers revealed they did not apply for promotion to the second tier. The club feared financial pressure if their men’s team were relegated from the Premier League.

WSL Football, which operates the top two tiers of women’s football, confirmed they will find a replacement to ensure 12 teams play in WSL2 next season.

Sheffield United, relegated this year, are understood to meet the minimum standards.

Nikki Doucet, chief executive of WSL Football, said:

“Women’s football is on a journey, and whilst it remains in a financially fragile position, the game is growing and there will be brighter days ahead.

“We have a long-term strategy to drive more investment and to continue raising standards across the game.”

WSL Football maintains that minimum criteria are essential to professionalise the league.

Blackburn has said they are not sustainable, but Durham, who is unaffiliated with a men’s club, has met the standards.

Doucet added:

“We have been working with the club all season to prevent this outcome, and we are disappointed it has come to this.”

Blackburn says they are not walking away from the women’s game. They are in discussions with the FA about which level of the pyramid they will join next season.

FA rules state that a club withdrawing from a league must drop at least two tiers to return the following season.

However, the board can make exceptions. Reading, for example, re-entered the pyramid this season in the fifth tier.