Following half a century of highs and lows for the women’s team since its formation in 1975, this season sees significant additions to both the playing squad and management personnel as Dan McNamara’s side looks to go one better than last term's second place finish.
Since agonisingly missing out on promotion in 2021/22 through a play-off defeat by Southampton, Wolves have twice had to settle for the runners-up spot in the FA WNL Northern Premier Division.
The current campaign is the 51st in the club’s history since beginning as Heathfield Rovers, playing in the West Midlands League second division, later becoming Wolverhampton & Wednesbury Tube and then Wolverhampton Ladies before taking the name Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1993.
That final name switch was a good omen as the 1993/94 season saw them promoted to the Premier League – which was then the top flight of the English women’s game – where they spent two seasons before relegation.
In 1999 the club was incorporated under the Companies Act with several influential business people joining the board, among them BBC presenter Jenny Wilkes (Chair) and former England Women’s cricket team captain Baroness Rachael Heyhoe Flint.
The club evolved a strong youth development programme, several players going on to become senior internationals – Rachel Unitt, Jody Handley and Emily Westwood for England, Kerrie Manley for Wales and Amy McCann for Northern Ireland.
In a landmark move in the 2008/09 season the women’s section was taken on board by Wolverhampton Wanderers FC as part of Wolves Community Trust.
At junior level the club was awarded a new FA Girls’ Regional Talent Club licence in 2016, supporting the identification and development of players with elite potential as part of the England Talent Pathway.
Encouragingly, the RTC has seen some talented young players moving through the ranks and making their mark at senior level as the women’s set-up has become part of the Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy.
These progressive moves have dove-tailed with sharing the men’s Premier League team’s Compton training ground facilities as part of Wolves’ ‘one club’ ethos.
Current squad members Lily Simkin and new signing Louanne Worsey have both played for England at youth level, while Sareet Binning has captained England’s Under-16 side and Ania Denham has represented Wales at Under-19 level.
And as the women’s team now looks to produce a 2025/26 campaign to top their achievements of recent seasons, they are doing so with Telford United’s impressive, 5,500 crowd capacity SEAH Stadium as their home ground.
