Reading FC women's team to become part-time
It follows relegation from the women's super league
Reading Football Club says it has decided to make the Reading FC Women's team part-time ahead of the 2023-24 season.
It follows the side's relegation from the WSL on the final day of the season.
A club spokesperson said:
"Ten years ago, funding Reading FC Women cost the club just over £100K per year. However, alongside the growth of the women’s game, the financial commitment to meet FA requirements has also grown exponentially in recent years. Owner Mr Dai Yongge has been personally funding the Reading FC Women’s side since he took charge of the club in 2018 – investing approximately £6m across that five-year period to keep the team operating at the very highest level.
"Following defeat at home to Chelsea in our final league game of the campaign, Kelly Chambers’ side were relegated from the Women’s Super League last month, dropping into the second tier of the women’s game for the first time since 2015.
"We recognise that the women’s game is making huge progress. However, despite seeing a considerable spike in interest following the success of England’s women in the Euros last summer, an increased average gate for Reading FC Women and a boost in sponsorship and broadcast revenue earned as a result, our owner still needed to provide just under £1m to finance Reading FC Women in 2022-23. In addition, relegation to the WSL Championship will result in a significant drop in broadcast fees and central funding from the FA.
"We remain exceptionally proud of everything Reading FC Women have achieved to date.
"Now we focus on establishing a more sustainable model for Reading FC Women which can ensure that pathway for young female footballers can extend into competitive women’s football played in the blue and white hoops of Reading Football Club."
CEO Dayong Pang said:
“Difficult but necessary financial decisions are being made across the business following the club’s relegation to League One last season and, after discussions with the FA, the decision to operate Reading FC Women on a part-time basis represents the most viable solution at the present time.
“We would like to acknowledge all of the hard work and unquestionable dedication to Reading Football Club of Kelly Chambers and her coaching staff, the players and all the staff. The club will now be working extremely hard to build a team to proudly represent our town in the WSL Championship in the 2023-24 campaign.
“Our owner, Mr Dai Yongge, has his full focus concentrated on our club’s rebuild. He is fully committed to consolidating our efforts into a sensible and sustainable reset, designed to bring success back to RG2.”