Following concerns about losing their status in the change to a fully professional WSL, Yeovil Town say they have now made ‘a very strong submission for a Tier One application for the 2018/19 season.’
The club said that the submission came after a lengthy and very detailed process of collaborative thinking and working with a number of interested parties.
The Lady Glovers’ statement went on to say;
The collaborative approach will not only see full-time players training 19.25 hours per week (rising to 20.25 in the 2020 season), but it also has a strong mission and vision, for the new academy programme.
With an already strong and established partnership with Bridgwater and Taunton College, this will see the education partners not only become an essential part for the clubs future elite players, whereby players aged sixteen plus can study and play, but it also becomes the clubs full time training ground, with access to grass pitches, 3G, gym, performance lab, medical room, classrooms, analysis suite, plus more.
Furthermore, the club has devised a strategic plan, which will focus on building its links even more in the community, with plans to engage with 20,000 children in the 2018/19 season.
Yeovil Town Ladies insist that the application relies solely on developing and growing its own financial resources and is based on long-term self-sustainability, without being reliant on any investment from their parent club.
Club Chairman Steve Allinson stated “As a club we have been open in expressing our concerns at the speed of the proposed changes announced by the FA. This application makes it clear that we want to grow and build on our incredible achievements in the last three years.
“It is now up to the FA to decide on whether they wish to reward our hard work, dedication and ambition by granting us the opportunity to continue to play at this level. I sincerely hope that they do.”
