Plymouth Argyle made every single player from their women's team redundant, which had only this season played in the playoff to reach WSL2. After the head coach resigned in protest, they appointed an assistant. The mood music indicates that this version of Argyle will be essentially an advanced academy squad.
Blackburn Rovers spent all season at the bottom of WNL Division 1 North but then received an official reprieve from relegation, with Donny Belles instead dropping back to the amateur ranks. We have been unable to get an explanation from the Football Association for the rationale behind this decision.
FA WNL Plate winners Cheadle Town Stingers, who were chasing promotion to the full-time ranks, have been replaced by Stockport County Women following a takeover of Cheadle Town by the SCFC owners.
Wythenshawe FC and Sheffield FC were moved to the Midlands, and while teams move between regions more regularly as part of the rebalancing of an open system, moving two teams from the northwestern portion of the North into a league whose teams are very far away is puzzling.
Meanwhile, in WSL2, Durham WFC came close to folding before outside investment secured their continued existence in the pros.
