COVENTRY United Women chairman Lewis Taylor has claimed the club “never belonged in Coventry” following their relocation and rebrand to Rugby Borough.
Taylor saved the club from liquidation in January 2022 with minutes to spare as Coventry miraculously avoided relegation that season under the guidance of Jay Bradford.
However, after losing manager Bradford and a host of key players prior to the 2022/23 campaign, Coventry were relegated from the Women’s Championship after managing just two league wins all season.
Earlier today, it was revealed that the club had rebranded as Rugby Borough and will now play 15 miles away from their home city at Rugby’s £2.5million 35-acre Kilsby Lane facility.
And owner Taylor believes the club’s relocation and rebranding as Rugby Borough will give them the best chance of making an immediate return to the second tier of the women’s game next term.
Taylor said: “We never really belonged in Coventry. They see themselves as a one-club city and I completely understand that.
“We were always kind of playing second fiddle before [at Butts Park Arena], trying to fit in where we could in a facility that’s not geared up for football.
“As soon as you go through the gates at Rugby Borough you feel like you’re in a proper football place.
“We’re very thankful for the fans that did come out to see us [in Coventry] but if there is a kind of feeling of ‘we’re taking away the club from Coventry’, my point would be, we didn’t really see those people on match days [in huge numbers].
“What I would say to reassure all the fans is that we’re doing this for longevity in the club. We were never guaranteed permanent residency previously, so we would have had to consistently renegotiate our terms.
“We’ve earmarked a piece of land at Rugby Borough and will be talking to architects in the coming months, with a vision to have a dedicated women’s hub.
“This will be dual-purpose for a training facility, offices and a hub that opens up on a matchday as well, and that helps us have a permanent home. It’s about putting down roots.
“We’re still going to keep working in the community within Coventry and Rugby, so we see it as an opportunity to cast our net far and wide, and now we’ve got somewhere to call home.”
The move brings an end to United’s eight-year stay at Butts Park Arena with the club to play in the Women’s National League next season.
