Thornaby FC has voted to continue without female teams (Picture: Facebook)
Lionesses Beth Mead and Bethany England have been left ‘disgusted’ by a football club’s decision to shut down their entire women’s section, leaving 100 players without a club.
Thornaby FC, based in Durham, announced on Sunday that following an emergency meeting the decision was taken to continue without its female teams, which range from youth squads through to senior level.
A statement said the club’s future was in doubt after a ‘difficult year’ and progressing without the women’s section was the only way to continue.
Club chairman Garry Morris, who disagrees with the decision and voted against it, has asked the board to ‘reconsider’.
England and Arsenal forward Mead, who helped the Lionesses win the European Championships in 2022, posted on X: ‘Disgusted to see this decision, the women’s game is on the up but we still have committees making these horrible decisions.
‘It’s not good enough, these young girls deserve better. I’d love to send the team a signed England shirt to keep them inspired.
‘If I can help with anything do reach out, us women need to stick together, Thornaby FC Women. £football4all.’
Beth Mead called the decision ‘disgusting’ (Picture: Getty)
Mead’s international team-mate Bethany England added: ‘Saddened and disgusted to be reading this. The fight for women to keep their place at the table is a never ending battle.
‘This should not be happening, these women and girls deserve better! My thoughts go out to everyone involved at the club, players, staff and volunteers.’
Following Thornaby’s decision, all six of their female groups will be removed from the club, including their senior side who finished third in the North East Regional Women’s Football League, tier six of the football pyramid.
In a post on social media they said: ‘And that’s a wrap… Yesterday we found out that a majority on the Thornaby FC committee voted to remove the entire female section from the club.
‘Under 7, Under 8, Under 10, Under 11, Under 15, Women’s. This leaves over 100 girls without a club. We would like to thank all of our Coaches, Volunteers, Players, Supporters and Sponsors for their dedication over the last 3 years, you are all amazing.
‘We are all devastated to hear of the Thornaby FC decision and would like to thank the members of the club who voted to keep female football.’
Thornaby Women manager Abbey Lyle says her players were ‘floored’ by the announcement and believes gender was the primary factor behind the club’s decision.
‘We narrowly missed promotion and that’s in our first season,’ she said. ‘It’s nothing to do with our positioning, it’s more to do with – I hate to say it – but it’s more to do with gender because there’s no other reason for it. I can’t see any other reason other than that, unfortunately.’
The Lionesses became European champions in 2022 (Picture: Getty)
Asked how her players reacted to the news, Lyle added: ‘I think they’re absolutely floored.
‘It ranges between the ages, the children, the really young ones, they’ll recover from it because they’re young enough not to be affected by all the social media and their parents will take them to another club and hopefully that club will support them.
‘But as you gradually get up the ages, the under-15s are a really good team, they’ve won everything in sight this season, same as the under-18s. They’re young and they see social media.
‘The women, it’s different, we’re all friends at the women. A lot of them do it for mental health, we’ve got firewomen, paramedics, policewomen, they do it to get away from life.
‘They come and see their friends, have a laugh, play sport. It’s affected everyone differently and we’ve had to approach it differently to every age group I suppose.’
Thornaby chairman Morris, meanwhile, criticised the decision and revealed he was not the only member of the committee to vote against the proposal.
‘In light of the recent actions taken by the board of Thornaby FC of which I am chairman, I would like to take this opportunity to clarify my thoughts at an extremely difficult time for the club and more importantly, the female players effected by these actions,’ he said in a statement.
‘The decision to withdraw support for the women’s team is one that I do not agree with, and along with another member of the committee, voted against it at yesterday’s emergency meeting.
‘I have made my feelings known to the board, have asked them to reconsider their decision, and also to consider their positions on the board as patrons and trustees of the football club.
‘We are empowered by the fans of the club to make the right decisions for the future of the club, and all those who show their unwavering support to both the male and female teams of all age groups deserve better.
‘I firmly believe this decision made yesterday does not do that, and will be making this clear to the remaining members of the board.’
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