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Durham, the Women’s Super League 2 side, have issued an urgent plea for funding and warned that they will have to “cease operations” if they cannot find fresh investment within the next 21 days.
The independently run club, who are not affiliated to a professional men’s side, have been competing in the second tier of the English women’s football pyramid for 12 years, but say their owners can “no longer keep pace” with the women’s game’s development.
In a statement published on Monday afternoon, the club said that advanced talks with potential investors had fallen through. They now need additional investment otherwise the club “does not have sufficient funds to operate in a fully compliant way in the Barclays Women’s Super League 2 for the 2026-27 season”. Their players and staff were informed of the bleak situation on Monday.
As recently as the 2024-25 campaign, the club received investment from lottery winners, with Patrick and Frances Connolly, two longtime fans, acquiring a 25% stake. The Connollys, from Hartlepool, had been sponsoring Durham for several years, having built a friendship with the club long before they won their fortune in 2019. But the majority of the club is still owned by Lee Sanders and Dawn Hepple, who have spent the past 20 years trying to grow women’s football in the region.
Their most critical requirement is understood to be a short-term cash investment to meet the rising costs of participating in WSL2, after the raising of the minimum licence requirements to take part in the division since the league started being run independently by WSL Football, away from the Football Association.
The club statement read: “Durham Women Football Club can today confirm that the club is seeking offers for investment into or the complete purchase of the football club. The club has been in prolonged talks with potential investors for several months but these have fallen away in recent weeks. Unfortunately, without this additional investment the club does not have sufficient funds to operate in a fully compliant way in the Barclays Women’s Super League 2 for the 2026-27 season.
“We have today informed staff and players that unless a buyer or investor comes forward within the next 21 days, the club will have to cease operations at all levels. This would bring to a close nearly 20 years of championing the development of women’s and girl’s football in the north-east. The club was founded in 2007 as a single under-10 girls grassroots team, before expanding quickly and becoming major achievers in the game. Some players from that team remain members of our first-team squad today.
“The club’s current majority shareholders can no longer keep pace with the development of the women’s game. The club needs to continue – and they are now seeking to pass this over to a party who can build on this legacy and realise the opportunities that the club has moving forward.”
The club’s predicament is a stark reminder of the financial fragility in the sport, following swiftly after the third-tier side Plymouth decided to significantly reduce their women’s team’s budget, just weeks after missing out on promotion to tier two.
Durham finished fourth in WSL2 in 2025, before a 10th place finish this term.
