Wolves Women play in the third tier of women's football, 2 leagues below the WSL. There are 2 places available for promotion and after finishing second, they assumed that they had been promoted. However, they were told that this would not be the case because the chairman of Wolves, Jeff Shi, had not signed off on a promotion application which should have been submitted in February, a decision which they had not decided to tell the players until the end of the season.
As a result, many players and their star manager will inevitably leave. It's already looking like the budget for the team will be cut further in another blow to the team's ambitions. The coach, Dan McNamara was evidently furious, but does this represent a more deep-seated issue?
The owner of Wolves, the Fosun Group, see the women's team as an element to show participation in the women's sport, rather than seeing it as a chance to reach the elite, according to the Athletic. They believe promotion should be based on performance and merit rather than having to apply in advance. They do not see the commercial value in investing the money to make Wolves Women an elite football team.
Now, whether this opinion has any merit depends on how you perceive women's football. From a strictly statistical perspective:
Short term, yes, the finances may not seem worth the investment. However, there is a growing attraction to the women's game, coupled with a new WSL TV deal and more international investment and exposure in the game to make it prospective to investors and buyers.
Women's football needs to be protected and invested in, but with the possibility of minimal income and ROI, you can see why it may be an easy decision for owners to not invest more heavily.