Liverpool Women will be back in the top flight next season after a two year absence following their 4-2 victory over Bristol City on Sunday afternoon.
The win over their closest challengers secured the title and promotion back into the FA Women's Super League with two games to spare and it's been a long time coming for the Reds following their relegation back in 2020.
Their first campaign in the second division ended in a third place finish, but Beard reiterated nobody has a 'divine right' to be in the WSL and Liverpool have earned their return with a phenomenal campaign.
VERDICT: Liverpool Women celebrate title glory as next big challenge emerges
READ MORE: Liverpool Women player ratings as victory over Bristol City secures Championship title and promotion
“The first thing I will say is nobody has a divine right to be there," he said after the win. "We’ve worked incredibly hard to get back there. We’ve got plans in place, not just for this year but we’ve got a three-five year plan in place that we’re working towards.
“It’s a tough division. You look at Aston Villa, two years [they’ve been in the WSL] and they’ve struggled a little bit. Leicester have gone up and struggled. It’s not an easy division to go back into.
“But I do think we’ve got a great group of people here. There will be changes in the summer and our aims and ambitions will be sensible. We’ll consolidate our position and then progress year on year.
"Like I said, nobody has a divine right to be there. You’ve got to earn that right and we’ve earned it.”
Beard is an experienced WSL manager and is more aware than most of the challenges they'll face, but progression will be key for the Reds as they complete the first step in their plan to once again compete with the game's biggest teams.
He continued: "We’ve had a plan A, we’ve had a plan B. Obviously plan A was going up, so we’ve been working behind the scenes but until it’s done, it’s just talk.
“Now we can really focus on plans for next year. It’s not an easy division so we need to consolidate first and foremost, we need to be competitive, which I think we will. I think we’ve proved that in some of the games we’ve played this year.
“We’re a great group and I’m confident with us going up that we can stay in the division. We’ve just got to take it a step at a time. We’re a year into a bigger project here.
"We’ve had some really [big] highs this year but we’ve got to make sure that we stay grounded, as always, and just keep progressing."
