Wolves Women target history a year on from the decision that threatened to rip the team apart

In early May 2025, Wolves were reeling from missing out narrowly on claiming their divisional championship but, even more painfully, the discovery that even landin

Wolves Women could make the biggest leap in their 51-year history on Monday. Twelve months ago, they were a club in danger of imploding. There has been quite the turnaround from head coach Dan McNamara and his players in the period since, but it will count for even more if they can now take this huge step closer to the domestic elite.

In early May 2025, Wolves were reeling from missing out narrowly on claiming their divisional championship but, even more painfully, the discovery that even landing the trophy would not have delivered on their ultimate dream . Wolverhampton Wanderers, the broader club under whose umbrella they fall, and former chairman Jeff Shi had declined to apply for the licence the team needed to join the second tier of the women’s game in England — then called the Women’s Championship, now the Women’s Super League 2 (WSL2) — even if they had pipped Nottingham Forest to the FA Women’s National League Northern Division title. Ultimately, they fell short of top spot, and the only available promotion place, but the feeling of betrayal led McNamara and several of his players to question their futures.

Now, they are one win away from reaching WSL2 and in doing so taking Wolves Women to full-time status for the first time since they were founded in 1975. “Nine months ago, I don’t think we even had a team with everything that was going on,” McNamara told a press conference ahead of their single-leg promotion play-off against Plymouth Argyle Women, which will be played on a neutral ground at Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium. “Now we’re heading into Monday full of confidence.