Liverpool have pleaded their case to avoid relegation from the Women’s Super League after the top-flight campaign was ended amid in the coronavirus pandemic.
The FA released a statement on Monday afternoon confirming that the decision had been made to end both the Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship early.
They cited “overwhelming feedback” that led them to curtail the season “in the best interest of the women’s game” and allow clubs to “plan, prepare and focus on next season.”
Crucially, however, they have yet to decide the “most appropriate sporting outcome” to the 2019/20 campaign, meaning champions, promotion, relegation and European qualification are yet to be determined.
There remains the prospect that the season will be voided entirely, but it could be that placings are finalised based on points per game.
If that is the case, Liverpool would be relegated, as they currently foot the table—a point behind Birmingham having played a game more—having taken six points from 14 games, or 0.43 per game.
But in a statement of their own reacting to the decision to end the campaign, the club hinted that they feel relegation should be scrapped.
“As a club we believe we would have been able to meet the operational and financial obligations associated with a return to play, once detailed drafts and accurate protocols had been shared with clubs,” the statement reads.
“Now that it has been deemed that a return to WSL play is not possible, we await an equitable solution to those issues still to be decided in a campaign where a third of our league games were still to be played.”
Manager Vicky Jepson described the season’s conclusion as “obviously disappointing,” but thanked supporters for their continued backing, including “the 23,500 who turned up at Anfield for our first WSL derby.”
The Reds have already seen striker Courtney Sweetman-Kirk leave the club on the expiry of her contract, and it is likely there will be many more departures.
Escaping relegation could be seen as a major let-off, though there was clearly a chance they could have pushed away from 12th.
No side had won fewer games in the WSL (one), and only Birmingham lost as many (10).
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