Reading: Club to switch to part-time next season after Women's Super League relegation
- Published
Reading's fate was sealed on the final day of the season
Reading FC will revert to part-time football after their relegation from the Women's Super League, the club has announced.
The club finished bottom of the WSL and dropped into the second tier for the first time since 2015.
In a statement, they say that owner Dai Yongge had personally invested approximately £6m in the women's set-up since taking charge in 2018.
The club says it now needs to look at a more "sustainable" model.
Although the club acknowledges the increase in interest following England's Euro 2022 success, relegation from the WSL will result in a significant drop in broadcast fees and FA central funding.
"Difficult but necessary financial decisions are being made across the business following the club's relegation to League One last season," said Reading CEO Dayong Pang.
"After discussions with the FA, the decision to operate on a part-time basis represents the most viable solution at the present time.
"We would like to acknowledge all of the hard work and unquestionable dedication of [manager] Kelly Chambers and her coaching staff, the players and all the staff.
"The club will now be working extremely hard to build a team to proudly represent our town in the Championship in the 2023-24 campaign."
Analysis
Emma Sanders, BBC Sport
It is a situation which sadly will come as no surprise with Reading having struggled to compete financially with WSL clubs during its eight-year stay in the top-flight.
Several players remain on full-time contracts and it is understood they will have individual meetings with the club throughout Tuesday to discuss the financial implications.
It is believed the club will honour those full-time contracts with the appropriate wages, but those players may wish to leave in search of full-time training and therefore mutual terminations of contracts is not out of the question.
Players who had one-year extension options in their contracts were all informed last week that those would not be exercised and they were essentially made free agents.
A number of those players have already been in discussions with other clubs over potential moves with the summer transfer window officially opening on Friday, 9 June.
Some staff members will also be discussing their futures with several expected to be placed under redundancy.
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