Bristol Academy chairman Simon Arnold has spoken out about the difficulty his side faces in to competing with other Women’s Super League clubs who are backed by the men’s Premier League.
Bristol Academy suffered a 6-1 defeat against Manchester City Women at the weekend which meant they were relegated to the WSL 2 despite reaching the FA Cup final twice and playing in the Champions League in the past five years.
Speaking to BBC Sport Arnold said: “Premiership clubs have put massive, massive investment in, far more than we could ever dream of.”
“They are paying signing on fees greater than my annual budget for the whole team, so it’s very difficult to compete.
“It really is a different planet. You hear about pre-season tours to Dubai and we are lucky to get a bus to Weston.”
Bristol have had to let go key players like England’s Siobhan Chamberlain and Corinne Yorston, as well as losing Jemma Rose and Lucy Staniforth to Arsenal Ladies and Liverpool Ladies respectively.
Relegation to the WSL 2 now means the Vixens could lose yet more of their current squad as well as having their funding from the Football Association halved.
Arnold believes that the women’s game is beginning to draw negative parallels with the men’s game – something that the Bristol chairman sees as a real concern.
“I don’t want to sound bitter and twisted but it is going to become a league of five Premiership teams and those at the bottom fighting for who goes down,” Arnold added.
“Sadly what they have done is replicated the men’s game, with women playing it.
“I hope people at the top of the game recognise that having just three or four teams competing for the league isn’t going to be good for the development of women’s football overall.”
