'199-mile round-trips for away games is unsustainable'

Brunsmeer Athletic Women's Team only formed in 2022 and are now competing in Tier 5 in the North East Regional Womens Football League [Trevor Fox] Anyone driving on the A1 on a freezing night in February would have surely offered a sympathetic nod towards a group of women stranded at the side of the road. The coach taking Brunsmeer Athletic Women's first team back from their match against Sunderland had blown a tyre, leaving the players huddled together in the cold for two hours - just one peril of taking the regular long trips up and down the A1 which have become the norm for the team from Dore, in Sheffield, this season. Despite forming in 2022 and playing their home games at Hillsborough College in Sheffield, the Football Association (FA) placed the team in the North East Regional Women's Football League for the 2025-26 season, meaning regular visits to places such as Thornaby, Alnwick, Ponteland and South Shields, as well as closer locations like Bradford and Harrogate As a result, Brunsmeer Athletic's travel costs have so far reached £6,000 in coach fares this season - and for a team not bankrolled by a rich football club, and one that relies on limited sponsorship, it has left them with a difficult decision: either fold or relegate themselves to a division closer to home.

The team found themselves stranded on the side of the A1 returning from Sunderland after a tyre blew on their coach [Andy Harper] Striker Nat Shaw, 36, previously rubbed shoulders with some of the greats of the current women's game, including Rachel Yankey and Alex Scott. Shaw's career has taken her to the highest level with Arsenal and Doncaster Belles, and later Sheffield United and Barnsley, who folded in 2025 after financial difficulty . She now works for an autism charity and has played for Brunsmeer in Tier 5 for the past two seasons.

She says: "I keep telling the girls, they should be really proud of where they've got to. "We've practically no resources and we're playing against teams with five coaches, analysts, a physio and players in high-tech equipment showing how far they've run. "We didn't even have a manager that day [the tyre burst] - he was on holiday.

We joke we're like the Dog and Duck team. " 'Unsustainable cost' Brunsmeer Athletic has a rich history in grassroots football in Sheffield. Formed in 1967 after players at Meersbrook and Brunswick Church joined together, the club now runs 26 teams including men's, boys' and girls' teams.