The prospect of B teams from Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship clubs entering tier four of the pyramid from the summer of 2026 onwards is dividing opinion in the game, as consultations over the idea continue.
The proposals, revealed by the Guardian, have been put forward by the Football Association to clubs this month as part of a major restructuring of tiers three to six of the English women’s pyramid. No final decisions would be made at board level until March or April but the proposals also involve expanding the number of teams in each regional division of the lower tiers, such as moving from 12 to 14 teams in each league in tiers three and four.
The concept of expanding the leagues appears to be receiving a relatively positive reaction from across the industry, but it is the potential introduction of B teams that could prove the most controversial issue. At present there is a limit on any such B team or reserve teams playing above tier six in the pyramid, but that ceiling could be lifted to tier four initially and any such B teams could be promoted as high as the third tier in the future, or up to two tiers below the league in which their first team competes. It is not yet clear what would happen to a B team’s position in the pyramid if their first team was relegated or what the implications would be for other promotion or relegation places.
What there does appear to be consensus on at a large number of higher-level clubs is that the current academy-league system is not providing a sufficiently challenging environment for elite youngsters to develop their skills. Indeed, the FA’s now-outgoing women’s technical director, Kay Cossington, said last July: “The pipeline is bursting. We now need to solve that next part of the jigsaw, which is to provide it with those meaningful minutes to allow it to survive and move to the top echelons of the game.”
Speaking last Friday, Liverpool’s assistant manager, Scott Rogers, who has also previously worked in youth coaching at Blackburn and at Liverpool’s centre of excellence, said, when asked about the prospect of B teams: “From a development point of view, I think it would be really good. It would bridge the gap between the under-21s and then first-team level.
“I think logistically it could be hard work, and that’s for cleverer people than me to solve. From a player point of view, for them to be playing senior football earlier, more minutes earlier, I think would be a positive. Sometimes under-21 football is very nice and it’s not actually the reality of when they hit first team, so they get a bit of a shock, so I think it could be a good way to bridge the gap. From our point of view, we think it would benefit our younger players.”
However, across many lower-league teams, there is understood to be considerable unease at the idea of pitting themselves against B teams in their competitive leagues, and a lot of fans on social media have reacted with concerns that the top teams would simply continue to dominate. The chairman of the third-tier side Rugby Borough, Lewis Taylor, whose team currently sit fourth in the Northern section of the tier three behind Wolves, Nottingham Forest and Burnley, welcomes the idea of the divisions’ expansion and the addition of more promotion places, but is worried B teams will affect the Women’s National League’s credibility.
“The idea of being able to play more competitive games is a good thing. We want to see the leagues expanded,” said Taylor, whose side have reached the fifth round of the FA Cup where they will face either West Ham or Liverpool on 9 February. “More teams going up and down is a really good thing for football overall. But I think what we’d see with the B-team inclusion is we’d end up seeing B teams starting to get promoted from tier four, and over the years we’d end up seeing a lot more B teams at tier-three level. Which is then going to hold other teams down that could have got promoted. So it’s kind of like a forcing down of the smaller teams.
“My concern is this plan is being seen as a long-term approach, whereas surely everybody concerned – fans, the FA, players – don’t want to be pitting themselves against B teams. They want to be playing other clubs. The biggest concern for me as a club owner and the players is that somebody at the FA is stating this is a long-term vision. I think ‘credibility’ is a key word here. While I think there might be some short-term benefits, within the next few years, tier three is probably going to be all-professional, and as a professional club, you don’t want to be playing against B teams in your league matches. Fans just won’t really be that interested in seeing that, as well. It’ll be seen as a friendly game.
“For me, I think it should be ‘build it and they will come’, so expand out the leagues, give clubs more support to then compete in those leagues, and let’s get more movement of players going out on loan and actually then I think you’d get more diverse set of fixtures that fans would engage with.”
after newsletter promotion
It is understood the proposals are set to be scrutinised by clubs further over the coming weeks. An FA spokesperson told the Guardian: “It is our long-term objective to enhance the structure of tiers three to six of the women’s football pyramid to best serve clubs, players and fans. To fulfil that objective, we are undertaking a thorough review and consultation of the current pyramid system with all clubs and key stakeholders. No decisions stemming from this review have yet been made and we look forward to the two-way dialogue with clubs and stakeholders.”
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email [email protected]
-
This is an extract from our free weekly email, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions.
Source: theguardian.com
