Coventry United to lay off non-football staff after relegation from Women’s Championship

Coventry United to lay off non-football staff days after their relegation to the third tier of women’s football with ‘failure of off-field projects’ causing their budget to dry up

By Kathryn Batte for Mailonline

06:46 April 05, 2023, updated 06:46 April 05, 2023

Relegated women’s championship team Coventry United have made non-football staff redundant, Sportsmail can reveal.

Coventry’s demotion to the women’s national league was confirmed on Sunday following Sheffield United’s win over Bristol City.

But a club representative insisted the redundancies were not due to relegation but “failure of off-the-field projects” which caused their budget to be depleted.

Coventry survived the final day of the 2021-2022 season with a dramatic 97th-minute winner, four months after being hit with a 10-point deduction following a brush with settlement.

The club went into administration in December 2021 and was eight minutes from liquidation before being saved by Lewis Taylor, chief executive of Energy Angels, a Midlands-based energy company.

Coventry United players line up for a recent Women’s Championship match – non-football staff at the club have been made redundant following their relegation to the third tier.
The club plays its home games at the 4,000 capacity Butts Park Arena in Coventry.
Coventry’s Isobel Goodwin (2nd right) in action during a match with Birmingham City

The point reduction left them at -4, 10 points adrift at the bottom of the Championship table.

But a seven-game unbeaten run meant the club would stay on their feet with a win against Watford and Mollie Green fired a 97th-minute free-kick to complete the great escape.

The loss of several players in the summer and manager Jay Bradford led to a team overhaul.

Experienced boss Lee Burch was appointed, but was ultimately unable to keep the club in the division for the second successive season.

Despite a 1-1 draw with Lewes on Sunday, Sheffield United’s victory left them adrift 10 points at the bottom of the table with two games to go.

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