Nikki Doucet and NewCo are set to complete their takeover of the Women’s
Super League and Championship before the fast-approaching 2024/25 WSL
season begins.
But what does this change of hands involve?
Despite the FA being in charge for 14 years, a takeover of the professional women’s
football leagues in England was proposed early in 2024, which is due to be
completed over the next few weeks.
This change of hands was agreed by the clubs in the top two divisions of English women’s football to form a club-owned organisation to have in charge and take over responsibility of these professional leagues.
NewCo’s acquisition of the top two divisions is understood to officially be completed
prior to the WSL season commencing on 21-22 September, but following the kick off
of the Championship season on 7-8 September, despite the takeover originally being
delayed.
Growing up in Canada and being a former Nike director, Nikki Doucet is the CEO of
NewCo- the temporary name for the company. She has a vision of where she would
like the growth of the women’s game to be in the future, hence being a leader of this
takeover.
With the first official meeting in September followed by the first shareholders’
meeting in October, the board of NewCo is starting to come together including an
interim chief marketing officer already in place as well as a chief football officer, chief
revenue officer and a head of communications due to begin their roles in September.
Another aim for the newly formed NewCo board is to form a player advisory board
and also a fan advisory board, as well as searching for a head of products to add to
their team.
Doucet told the BBC back in March how she believes NewCo will continue to
improve the WSL as well as expanding the growth of the women’s game.
She stated: "It's all about the investment on the pitch. We need to have the best
players want to come and play here.
"We need to have the most competitive league, and the better the football, the more
fans, and ultimately that will make it the most successful league in the world."
In an original interview with the FA about her takeover, she again touched on how
she would like to continue the growth of professional women’s football in England.
Doucet believes: “We are ready for this growth opportunity. The market is ready. The
audience is there. Everyone is screaming for this.”
This idea to enforce the takeover of NewCo is fundamental for the development of
the women’s football world, particularly at a time when revenues, attendances and
coverage is skyrocketing compared to earlier times.
Their responsibilities can involve the capability to initiate rule changes, make changes to the structure of the league, invest in new technology as well as agree new broadcast deals- all in best interest of continuing the incredible growth of the game.
Featured image courtesy of David Plimmer via Flickr. No changes have been made to this image. License details found here.
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