Southampton Women win promotion to second tier after victory against Wolves

Southampton claimed the FA Women’s National League playOff trophy in a tense and highly competitive victory over 10-player Wolves, securing promotion to the FA Championship. Sophia Pharoah’s first-half strike was enough to see them claim the coveted spot and sink a spirited opposition.

In the words of Wolves manager Dan McNamara this week, this was “the game that shouldn’t exist”. The culmination of this season’s FA WNL saw two Premier Division champions go head-to-head. The prize, one singular promotion spot into the second tier of the women’s pyramid. For many, like McNamara, this is an unsatisfactory conclusion to what has been a superb campaign for both with such dominance deserving of reward.

This disappointment aside, the buzz around this finale has been unprecedented. With 1,354 in attendance and the game streamed on the BBC for the first time, rarely has the FA WNL enjoyed this overdue spotlight.

The parallels in the clubs’ journeys to this afternoon’s meeting were notable. With progress stalled due to the cancellation of the last two seasons, they moved into the Premier Division as a result of the Football Association’s “upward movement” initiative. Wolves cruised to the title in the Northern Division, winning 18 and losing only once. Marieanne Spacey’s well-funded Southampton were equally dominant – they lost one of their 26 games, scoring 99 goals in the process.

A raucous atmosphere greeted the sides as they ran out on to the pitch. After a tense opening, Sophie Pharoah’s first-half strike gave the Saints the ascendancy as they began to exploit the space available across the pitch. Wolves were stretched and their woes increased when Kelly Darby received a second yellow on the stroke of half-time for a rash