Portsmouth Women’s players will be offered professional contracts for the first time following their promotion to the Championship.
The move to a full-time professional model will include the appointment of backroom staff, a general manager/head of football, a women’s safeguarding and player welfare officer and a sales and marketing executive.
CEO Andrew Cullen told portsmouthfc.co.uk: “After winning promotion to the Championship and having our licence granted by the FA, we are now absolutely thrilled to announce that Pompey Women will become fully professional.
“This will have a huge impact on our competitiveness in a higher division as well as enabling our players to achieve their dreams of becoming professional footballers for the first time in their lives.”
Head coach Jay Sadler added: “This is a significant step forward for the club and we are incredibly excited about moving to a full-time professional model. This transition will allow us to increase our contact time, enhance our preparation, and ultimately enable us to compete at a higher level.
“By providing our players and staff with the opportunity to train and develop on a full-time basis, we will unlock further potential and heavily increase our chances of achieving even more success for the club.”