Blackburn Rovers have confirmed their Women's team will not compete in the rebranded Super League 2 next season.
Despite avoiding relegation from The Women's Championship, the club have withdrawn from the competition ahead of the 2025/26 season.
A club statement confirmed that Rovers are now 'in active discussions with The FA Women’s National League board regarding the level the team can enter the Women’s football pyramid next season'. A decision is likely to be reached in the coming weeks.
Rovers' controversial decision follows after new rules were put in place ahead of the rebranding of the Women's leagues. From next season, all first and second division clubs must adhere to new licensing agreements, which would make the team full-time.
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Currently, Rovers' players are contracted for 16 hours and many have second jobs. The club currently invests between 100-150K in their Women's team. However, to meet the new licensing, it would cost Blackburn around four times that amount.
The club state extra cost include '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.'
Therefore, Blackburn Rovers have decided to withdraw the team. Any investment in the Women's team does not count towards the club's Profit & Sustainability calculations and so is purely a financial decision by the club.
Rovers average around 300 home supporters at Ewood Park for their Women's games. The club say 'there was no noticeable upturn in home attendances, resulting in the absence of the substantial matchday commercial revenue and sponsorships required to support continued investment at Tier 2'.
The decision will raise eyebrows and once again paint the club in a poor light. Rovers were in the national press last summer after paying their Women's players just £9,000 per year, which was the minimum National Living Wage.
When asked about the future of the Women's team in April, Chief Executive Steve Waggott told BBC Radio Lancashire: "It's a huge discussion with the Women's Premier League and their new organisation.
"The demands are becoming higher and higher on clubs. A lot has got to be backfilled in terms of investment. That will have to be another discussion with the owners in terms of what level do we want to go to.
"There will be set criteria. Every player has to be full-time in the top two tiers, which raises salary levels. Operation costs will increase, we currently have all the games at Ewood Park, which is brilliant on the playing side.
"The attendance levels have only been 3,4,500, some not paying, some concessions. In a 31,000-seater stadium, that isn't great.
"You have extra broadcasting rights to look after. So it's going through a huge change and we will have discussions about how much financial commitment it will take but it will be high."
The club reiterate that they are 'not walking away from the Women's game' and 'remain committed to nurturing and developing young talent, fostering community engagement and working towards a sustainable future in Women’s and Girls’ football'.
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