Reading manager Kelly Chambers called out the competitive disparity gripping women’s teams not bankrolled by Premier League clubs following her side’s 4-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur all but securing their relegation to the Championship.
Reading’s top-flight fate hinges on a favour from West Ham tomorrow (Sunday) as well as an unlikely victory over league-leaders Chelsea on the final day of the season after succumbing to a 16th league defeat of the season on Saturday.
And Chambers, who has coached Reading since 2015 and led them through the lower tiers, cut a realistic figure in her post-match press conference following her side’s defeat as she admitted relegation was the imminent outcome after eight years in the league.
“We can’t be deluded with what needs to happen. When you have Chelsea in the final game of the season it makes it 10 times harder,” Chambers said. “Leagues don’t lie. You end up being where you are at the end of the season, but for a club like us it’s getting harder and harder every year.”
Reading are currently the only club in the top-flight backed by a non-Premier League club, a reality that, if Reading remain in the top-flight, is set to be exacerbated by the club’s first-team men’s side suffering relegation to League One following an arduous season punctuated by an ultimately insurmountable points dedication.
Women’s teams currently rely heavily on funding garnered from the success of their corresponding men’s teams, with Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City all injecting significant investment into their women’s departments over the last few seasons to cut an almost impenetrable upper echelon.
Meanwhile, Reading’s coffers run conspicuously lighter, and Chambers admitted that the women’s department, while employed full-time for staff and players, often sees staff forced to work multiple jobs, with herself taking on the role of director of football and first-team manager.
Chambers emphasised her praise for the investment arriving into the league but maintained that the challenge of staging a competitive front against the heady investments continually pouring in from the top has begun to create an onerous financial gulf for non-Premier League backed clubs to confront.
“I’m a bit of a realist, because if we stayed up or if we stay up, sorry, if a miracle happens, we’ll probably be having another season like we’re having now,” Chambers said. “We can’t compete with clubs who are in the league right now because of budgets. The women’s game is growing like this. Premier League clubs are investing which is what we want them to do, it’s what they should do. But they’re doing that and we’re staying here so it’s hard for myself, the staff, even the players to be fair. They’re all competitors. We don’t step out onto the pitch to lose a game.”
Tottenham Hotspur secured safety from potential relegation from the WSL with their victory over Reading on Saturday as part of a first-ever Premier League/WSL double-header.
And Chambers pointed to Spurs striker Bethany England, signed in January for a domestic bumper fee of £250,000 and pivotal in Spurs’ salvation, as evidence of the disadvantage clubs like Reading face when attempting to compete in tight margins.
“I think you’re starting to see the danger now a little bit,” she said. “I don’t think right now there’s a lot of teams that will compete with the top four. It’s nice to see Villa up there but again they’ve had huge investment but you only have to look at Spurs they’re in the relegation battle with us. Clubs will have their own growth plans of where they ant to be now but even Bristol coming up, they’ve got a great young squad but I know it will be a challenge being a side with a championship men’s club trying to compete with some of these teams.”
The WSL faces a major crossroads in the coming months with heated debate around how to navigate it’s exponential evolution as one of the world’s elite women’s leagues.
Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has repeatedly called for the privatisation of the women’s top-flight to capitalise on the current fervour surrounding women’s football, while Spurs chairman Daniel Levy recently stirred headlines by being the latest proponent to back scrapping relegation and promotion to encourage further investment into the league.
Chambers conceded that a potential rebuild could be on the cards for Reading, with Bristol City’s recent bounce back into the top-flight a blueprint for the club to follow. But the manager also aired on the side of caution, noting that Bristol City—backed by a Championship club—await the same challenges her side did this season.
“It’s about keeping the foundations that we’ve got, supporting the players and staff that we’ve got to be as successful as we can,” Chambers said. “I’ve had to be very clever with the way we do things at times because even the size of staff, I’m not making excuses but for a club like us it is as getting harder anyway and it will only get harder.
“It’s about being realistic and if we are relegated it’s about pressing the reset button and going again. I truly believe we have good foundations, staff and players that we’ve got so I feel like we can bounce straight back up.”
As for Chambers’ future with the club she's managed since 2015, the 37-year-old said, “I’ve been at Reading a very long time and right now that’s where I see myself and that’s all I can say.”
Reading return to action on the final day of the season next Saturday as they host league leaders Chelsea who are on track for a fourth successive league title.
