QPR Women's Team

[SheepRanger]

Ive seen recent updates that we're still in Tier 4, but we've appointed the manager Danny Harrigan on a full time basis and there have been some new signings. Are we putting more effort into the womens team? The clinical side of me suggests there maybe some mileage in this....for more than just the development of their game.

Ive noticed recently that many top flight teams have sold their womens team, to another part of their footballing group which provides the core men's team with in influx of income to meet the FFP/P&S rules.

- Chelsea sold their womens team to themselves for £198m.

- Aston Villa sold their womens team for £55m

- Everton planning the same move?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cdd2egjrp31o

https://www.sportindustry.biz/news-categories/news/american-investment-in-aston-villa-womens-team/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c1lj8zr12gdo

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c89eg19deyko

With women players earning a fraction of what men do, I wonder if we're trying to get our women's team onto the WPL, so we have a cost effective asset to sell further down the line. Any sale, or sideways transfer within the Group, could give the mens team additional funds to get into the PL where the big money is.

[SheepRanger]

Also, HQ haa a community covenant on it which means it would be nearly impossible to develop it for housing.

I wonder, like Everton, whether there's a long term strategy to house a QPR WSL team at Loftus Road and then sell it as a going concern to fund the men's new stadium?

[Darkranger]

That's an interesting insight into the women's game Sheep. Something I wasn't aware of before now.
There does (finally) seem to be a real intent to make a proper go with our female team this year.
Why we've left it so long is beyond me? Literally years after everyone else has worked out there's added benefits of having a successful women's team.
I've watched the women play a couple of times in the last few years, and I've been embarrassed for them, playing at empty low standard grounds in the middle of nowhere, I've always come away thinking "surely we can do better than this".
It's going to take us a few years, but hopefully one day we can have a women's team to be proud of.

[SheepRanger]

Yeah Dark, the actions of others seem to "use" the womens team to sort out the Financial mismanagement of the mens game, but personally, I think HQ would be perfect for a QPR WSL team and mean life long fans could still visit Loftus Road. There would be investors and some form of sell off like Villa have done which will add to our pot for a new mens stadium. Loftus Road as a plot of land isn't worth #### due to the covenant. It would be good to see it used for WSL, mens League & FA Cup games and the Development Squad.

My basic research shows that some of the England Lionesses are lucky to earn £100k a year, so it could be a very cost effective investment to generate a considerable asset in the future whilst keeping our current stadium. Playing at HQ could be quite a draw in itself for those who want that ongoing connection to the ground. As a small stadium it could even be used as a ground share for another London based WSL team.

If the mens team moved to a new stadium one day, I would almost certainly watch QPR WSL at Loftus Road for nostalgia if nothing else. And I might even grow to like watching the football too.

[Abseits]

I think having a women's team is a ticking time bomb in terms of a financially crippling equal pay claim lawsuit. Judges and courts love giving perverse outcomes and on a very binary black and white level they'd find that women doing the same job as men should get the same pay.

I wouldn't have a women's team anywhere near the club because of this. The only way it could work is to have cast-iron separation of entities where the women's team pay QPR to licence our name and access our facilities and we sponsor their shirts. But ultimately they are nothing to do with us.

Leaving all the complexities aside, I personally have no interest whatsoever in having a female QPR side - couldn't care less. I'd definitely be wary of doing it as some sort of cleverdick way of beating one cycle of FFP too.. All the club's who mucked about selling their stadia to themselves all went #### up one way or another in the ensuing years. CFC are NOT an example of sensible financial governance either... their day of reckoning is looming.

[FurtiveFox]

Have a feeling we have to have a womens team otherwise I wouldn't bother either. Is anyone vaguely interested beyond trying to appear PC?

[SheepRanger]

But Abs, surely it makes commercial sense that this useless piece of land with that ####ing covenant could be used for something purposeful? Maybe not to bankroll our promotion push, but to sell WSL and stadium as one entity. Perhaps we could sell a 75% stake.

The stadium probably has more value to us that way than sticking a sports centre on it. Nick de Marco tried to get the community covenant removed during Paladini's resign and failed.

I dont buy the equal pay stuff because due to commercial reasons there isnt equal pay in the men's game. We're not communists.

[SheepRanger]

Have a feeling we have to have a womens team otherwise I wouldn't bother either. Is anyone vaguely interested beyond trying to appear PC?

Here's some attendance data from last season

"Chelsea drew in an average attendance of 9,426 people across the 2024-25 season. However, Chelsea did go on to have an unbeaten season as they were crowned WSL champions by 12 points over Arsenal. Rounding off the top six are Manchester United (7,390), Liverpool (6,753), and Manchester City (6,536)"

I have just come back from the US where I watched some Club World Cup games in Florida. I was amazed by how many American families were there watching. More 8-14yrs old girls than boys.

Who knows where the WSL will be in 20yrs time. But it would be great to see football at Loftus Road if we ever get a new stadium.

I'm just getting the vibe, like DarkRanger, that we're putting some money into it and see where it takes us. Who knows........?

[davieqpr]

It's the same with every team. It's a book cooking exercise to manage PSR for the men's team.