by Matt Slater
CARDIFF Bluebirds Ladies’ Yasmin Wells believes that smaller clubs could be forced out of the sport following the FAW’s restructure of the women’s domestic leagues.
This comes after 37 clubs have applied for 24 spaces across the new Tier 1 and Tier 2 divisions.
The clubs to be selected will be those that the organisation believe best supports their aims of developing the domestic game.
Cardiff City, Swansea City and Barry Town United are among the 15 teams that have applied for Tier 1. Wells believes that the restructure only benefits clubs of that stature, and not those of the Bluebirds.
“Without the right amount of investment into the clubs, more women’s teams could be forced out.” Wells said.
“The FAW needs to look at the lower clubs. The bigger clubs like Cardiff and Swansea have the resources from the men’s game.
“Essentially, the restructure does not impact them at all.”
Clubs like these thrive off the financial power of their male counterparts. But for the independent Bluebirds, they do not have that economic pillow to fall back on.
And with the pyramid system coming into play for the 2020/21 season, Wells believes that this time frame does not give clubs enough time to implement the criteria required, leading to clubs being forced out of the league.
“The Bluebirds do not have the stadium, the money and the qualifications.” Wells continued.
“We would have to outsource that and potentially join a male team to get the stadium. We would lose our independence as a club.”
“By restructuring the game, the pressure is put onto numerous clubs to hit certain criteria.
“The stadium must be a specific size, there must be a certain amount of money in the pot and you must have certain qualifications within your organisation.
“They are asking for it within such a short time frame, it will not be possible for a lot of women’s sides.
“Ultimately, less women’s sides will be involved in the game.”
With the Bluebirds unable to meet the criteria and apply to join the new system, it would be impossible to claim promotion, even if they win the league.
“With the restructure, we have been put into the league above after doing well last season.” Wells added.
“If we were to get promoted again, the restructure would push us back down into league two as we do not have the requirements.
