COVENTRY United Ladies have confirmed they will enter voluntary liquidation in their first season as a professional club.
The announcement was made hours after some of the club’s players expressed their devastation at learning they had lost their jobs on social media.
The FA Women’s Championship side are second from bottom in the table having won just one league game all season, taking six points from 11 matches.
Red and Greens goalkeeper Olivia Clark tweeted: “I have no words. To come into work and to find out that you no longer have the job that you’ve always dreamed of is heartbreaking.
“Thanks for making me a professional footballer and for the best two seasons.”
Teammate Holly Chandler posted: “Sometimes life is filled with things outside your control! I’m heartbroken.”
Coventry were due to play their next fixture on January 9 next year against Bristol City and released a statement regarding the club’s situation.
The statement reads: “With regret the board of directors have instructed BK Plus Limited to assist with placing the company/club into creditors voluntary liquidation.
“At this point we cannot go into detail. We would like to thank everyone for the support over the last seven years. The club will keep you updated on developments of the club’s future.”
However, the Football Association only allows clubs to participate in the Women’s Super League and Championship if they meet licensing criteria.
The FA said: “We are liaising with all relevant parties. Our priority right now is to gain as much information as possible to ensure we can provide the right support to those associated with the club.”
And United’s results would be expunged if they cease to operate under the governing bodies rules with the FA’s owners’ and directors’ test applied to Championship clubs.
England defender Alex Greenwood expressed her sympathy to everyone involved with Coventry who were playing in the second tier for the third successive season.
Greenwood tweeted: “The sacrifices these girls make to become professional footballers to be told halfway through a season you no longer have a job, or a club, is simply not good enough.”
The club were Founded in 1991 as Coventry City Ladies before merging with Coventry United in 2015 – a local non-league team who were only two years old at the time.
They won promotion to the Championship in April 2019 and survived two relegation battles to remain in the second tier.
Last season a trio of businessmen – Steve Quinlan, Darren Langdon and Paul Marsh, owners of cleaning brand Hycolin – bought a 49 per cent stake in the club, and vowed to take the team to new levels.
This included granting players professional full-time contracts for the first time over the summer prior to Thursday night’s shock announcement.
