Reading Women Deserve Better

Like the men’s side, Reading Women have been through the wringer in recent years. For Alex, improving their situation should be a priority for any new owners.

I have been guilty of writing almost entirely about the men’s team during my time scribing an assortment of nonsense for these good pages of fandom, and I do feel guilty about that. A lot of the attention seems to have been given to the struggles of the men’s team, but it wouldn’t be unfair to say Reading Women have been given an even rougher deal. In fact, it would be pretty accurate.

Upon their relegation in 2022/23 to the second tier, they were made part-time. And the way it was handled, including the announcement, was pretty poorly done.

Not only did the team lose its fantastic manager Kelly Chambers, but she was followed out of the door by first-team regulars such Grace Moloney, Faye Bryson, Justine Vanhaevermaet, Gemma Evans, Emma Harries and Amalie Eikeland. Between those names, in 2022/23 they made 122 league appearances. A lot of experience left the team last year.

And to make matters worse, in January we saw captain Lily Woodham depart, alongside Freya Gregory returning to Aston Villa and the cancellation of Sanne Troelsgaard’s contract. And for those that arrived in the summer, star signing Ava Kuyken picked up an ACL injury and was ruled out for the entirety of the season.

Liam Gilbert was drafted in quite late on in the summer, mirroring the delay that the men’s team also experienced with Ruben Selles’ arrival, though for different reasons. Gilbert’s appointment was announced on August 18, with the season due to start on September 2. He really had to hit the ground running.

His previous role was spent with Oxford United Women, narrowly missing out on winning the Southern Premier Division with them in the 2022/23 season, with Watford instead being promoted. He had a background of working with limited resources and fostering team spirit. It’s safe to say he’s done that with aplomb so far, though we can only wonder if he knew exactly what he would be walking into.

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Even with the capable Gilbert rebuilding the side on scraps, they had a real fight to be able to stay in the Women’s Championship. And it’s little wonder – from the team that started the 2022/23 WSL season, compared to the team that finished the 2023/24 Women’s Championship season, only nine players remained: Jacqueline Burns, Deanna Cooper, new captain Brooke Hendrix, Easther Mayi Kith, Bethan Roberts, Tia Primmer, Charlie Wellings, Madison Perry and Lauren Wade.

On top of this significant player turnover, they’ve had to deal with the late payments that the men’s team have suffered with too, as fellow Reading employees, though fortunately no points deductions.

It’s time to start taking the Women’s team a lot more seriously. After all, their under-21 side are flying right now, having finished top of the South Premier Women League, only losing two games all season in the league. Not bad going, especially since they are competing with Arsenal Women and Chelsea Women, whose first teams are two of the best in women’s football in all of Europe.

And frankly, it’s incredibly fortunate that Reading Women’s academy is able to produce such a high calibre of players. Much like the men’s team, the women’s team have relied heavily upon the production line to get numbers in the squad. This season, 10 players who have played some part in the first team have come from the academy, four of whom have been first-choice players.

Not only this, but the squad is so threadbare it has relied on seven loan signings this season. Now the campaign has ended, there are multiple gaps in the team that need to be fixed, to help the team progress onwards from their 10th-place finish (in a league of 12).

It’s quite simple really. Of all the problems at Reading FC right now, the Women’s first team is the number-one issue. It’s been neglected for not just the last two seasons, but Dai Yongge and the ownership began to lose interest in them long before this. It’s worth noting that they finished fourth back in 2017/18 and then fifth in both 2018/19 and 2019/20. From here, the slow slide down the table began.

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Highly respected Chelsea Women’s manager Emma Hayes commented last season about the issues Chambers had to deal with at Reading and the neglect the side had suffered. She noted that she didn’t believe she could have performed as well in the job as Chambers had. This, coming from arguably the best manager in the women’s game, is quite some statement.

With discussions ongoing in the background about a takeover of the club, in this writer’s opinion, the number-one priority to fix at Reading FC right now is the women’s team. Without a shadow of doubt, above all else, this is where the biggest amount of focus and work is required right now. I would love to see new owners, if they arrive, reinvest in the women’s team by allowing them to go full-time again, support the academy pipeline and get Gilbert the tools needed to get back into the WSL.

Gilbert seems to be much like Sellés, in that he is also a pragmatic and sensible coach who is able to make the most of the available resources. The only difference being is that Gilbert is working with far, far less at his disposal right now.

The time for change is now, before things are allowed to get any worse. It should be the absolute number-one priority above all else to right the many wrongs Reading Women have been put through over the last two years and beyond. Let’s hope the next season brings about some positive change for the side, as opposed to more of the same “mend and make do” they’ve had to tolerate. They deserve a hell of a lot better.