‘We feel betrayed’: 52 clubs demand vote on plans for WSL academy sides to join third tier

• National League sides write to FA as backlash intensifies

• Plans viewed as ‘a disaster waiting to happen’

An alliance of 52 Women’s National League clubs who oppose plans for Women’s Super League’s academy sides to be added to the third tier of the English pyramid have written to the Football Association to call for a vote on the matter.

The clubs, which represent a more than two-thirds majority of the 72 FAWNL clubs that compete in tiers three and four of the pyramid, believe the competition’s rules dictate that they are entitled to call for a special general meeting about the proposals.