Stoke City's women's team are becoming semi-professional

Stoke City Football Club are marking international Women’s Day by announcing a significant increase in funding for the Club’s women’s team who are to become semi-professional.

The announcement will apply to the 2023-24 season onwards and puts the women's game under the full control of Technical Director Ricky Martin.

The Club’s owners, bet365 Group, have reaffirmed their financial commitment to the women’s team as the Club looks to build on the huge progress made in the sport in recent years.

The owners’ financial commitment doubled this season and will increase significantly further from the summer onwards with the aim of bringing success to the women’s team and encouraging young girls in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire to participate in the sport.

Joint Chairman John Coates said: “The changes we are announcing today have been in the planning for a number of months and International Women’s Day was the perfect opportunity to finally make this announcement.

“The changes represent a highly significant uplift in the funding of the women’s team with improvements to infrastructure and support. We believe these changes will give the women’s team the necessary investment to achieve sustainable success, starting with promotion to the Championship.”

Technical Director Ricky Martin added: “It is an exciting time for women’s and girls’ football in this country and we have a clear roadmap of where we want to take our women’s team.

“Our owners share that vision and I have no doubt that their financial commitment will provide us with a solid foundation to achieve our ambitions, both in the short and long-term.”

International Women's Day takes place annually on March 8 and celebrates the achievements of women globally, whilst also raising awareness of continued inequality.

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