Coventry Utd renamed Rugby Borough FC and relocate after Championship relegation

Lee Burch was appointed Coventry United head coach before the 2022-23 season

Coventry United will adopt the name Rugby Borough FC and relocate to Rugby following relegation from the Women's Championship this season.

The club will move 15 miles from the Butts Park Arena and set up base at Rugby Borough's current 35-acre site at Kilsby Lane in the Warwickshire town.

They will play in the Northern Premier Division next season after finishing bottom of the second tier in 2022-23.

The club say the decision to relocate was "not taken lightly".

"After our recent relegation, we have reflected upon how to move the club forward positively and reach our aim of promotion back into the Barclays Women's Championship," a statement said.

Coventry, who pulled off a miraculous final-day escape from relegation in 2021-22, endured a difficult Championship campaign this term, finishing 11 points adrift at the bottom, having won only two games all season.

The club have also experienced financial hardships over recent years and were saved from liquidation just 17 months ago after a takeover by West Midlands businessman Lewis Taylor, who became the club's chairman.

Coventry, which was founded 10 years ago, also went part-time at the end of last season in a bid to establish a more stable financial footing going forward.

"We never really belonged in Coventry," Taylor said.

"They see themselves as a one-club city and I completely understand that. We were always kind of playing second fiddle before [at Butts Park Arena], trying to fit in where we could in a facility that's not geared up for football, but as soon as you go through the gates at Rugby Borough you feel like you're in a proper football place".

Coventry had been training for periods at Rugby Borough FC's £2.5m base over the last two seasons and have plans to build a dedicated "hub" that will incorporate training facilities, a gym and offices and allow the club to have a "permanent home and put down roots".

Move to Rugby 'ticks a lot of boxes'

Current head coach Lee Burch and assistant Sian Osmond will stay in charge of the rebranded team next season.

Burch said the move "ticks a lot of boxes" and hopes the fans will accept the new venture "even though there's a change of colour and a change of badge".

In a change to the promotion and relegation plans for next season, the winners of both the Northern and Southern Premier Divisions will get promoted to the Championship.

It follows the scrapping by the Football Association of the pre-existing National League play-off final between the Northern and Southern champions to see who went up, with two teams now dropping out of the second tier in 2023-24.