Are Independent Clubs The Future?

Only a select number of women's clubs stand alone without a male counterpart, and perhaps for a reason. When there is a potential to gain fans and advertisement through a club's identity, building a team from the ground up feels like a large ask.

"La Napoli":

Photo Credit: @napoliwomenofficial

However, one club has decided to part ways with its male partner "Il Napoli", instead creating their own path as an independent female team.There are two ways in which they are achieving this - changing their team name and reworking the club symbol. Their collaboration with Modì for the 26/27 home shirt revealed a beautiful jersey in two-shade ombre blue with a white collar. The shirt, a different design to the men's home shirt, is a statement itself but it's the smaller details that tell the full story.

The masculine article "Il" didn't account for the female team and was handed to them by default, but now the club has officially embraced the feminine article "La" to validate the team. They are rebranding in order to make it clear that their ownsership and corporate structures are independent, as they intend to reclaim the team's identity in the hopes that they can create their own legacy. They have made the change visually symbolic through the embelishments on the club logo. The "N" itself has a squiggly font to create a more textured and detailed symbol, the letter a nod to the old logo, whilst still engineering their own creative direction. They are using their jersey as a vessel to make clear their ambition to grow women's football culture in Italy - and by being independent, they get to grow the game on their own terms.

Kang's Dynasty:

Michelle Kang's OL Lyonnais stands as the direct antithesis to this narrative, alongside the majority of female teams attached to a male counterpart. While La Napoli have resorted to separating from the male side, Kang's ownership of Lyon includes the most succesful women's team of all time alongside a men's side that hasn't won a trophy since 2013. Kang origionally acquired her majority stake for just the women's side in 2023, but later brought the two teams under a unified leadership in 2025. With the merging of the teams, OL Lyonnais are no longer independent, yet Kang's priorities clearly lie with their success. In an unironic inversion of football's typical status quo, OL Lyonnais are the primary selling point, while by compaison the men's side continue to struggle for traction in Ligue 1.

The question remains whether OL Lyonnais being considered independent is more beneficial for their image as female powerhouses. Kang's independent London project arguably carries a more empowering message due to its complete lack of a male counterpart.

London City Lionesses are another independent club that have carved out a massive name for themselves within the women's football world. The club's massive financial backing following their promotion two seasons ago into the WSL has created a divide among WSL fans. Many view Kang's project through a positive lens, arguing that if an owner possesses genuine capital and ambition within the women's game, that investment should be celebrated. However, her aggressive spending over the last two years has been deemed unsuitable by critics, and its role in widening the quality gap across the league remains a major concern. This comes alongside ethical reservations regarding multi-club ownership, having relocated manager Jonathan Giráldez and transferred players directly from OL Lyonnais to London City, essentially purchasing talent from herself.

Nevertheless, her overarching ambition remains largely commendable. By acquiring an independent club, securing marquee signings - including two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas, who explicitly praised complimented Kang's bold ambitions to secure Champions League football, this is a pure example of why building an independent project is so great for the growth of the sport. Kang has topped this off with a historic Nike deal exceeding the value of several Premier League contracts. Nike have designed a logo that sits central to the shirt, depicting the Goddess of Victory, an addition to the iconic swoosh that sits on the chest of the shirt.

"How could you possibly accept the notion that your daughters, grandaughters, sisters, are treated as second class citizens where in the same sport the boys go to play as if it's their birth right?"

Kang's powerful declaration offers a compelling argument for the positives London City brings to the WSL, yet this model of an independent club remains an exception rather than the standard. While Kang's financial structure makes London City's independent vision viable, most independent clubs face immense difficulty in securing sponsorship and building a sustainable fanbase.

The Reality of Being Independent:

Durham Women exemplify this struggle. Spending the last 12 years in the WSL2 and achieving a peak finish of 2nd in 2020/21, the club revealed last season that they had to find a new sponsor or would face complete financial collapse. A club that origionated as an U-10 girls' squad in 2007 and matured into a fully-fledged senior institution risked facing instant erasrue this summer simply because a sponsor pulled out. Fortunately, South Shields co-owner Geoff Thompson stepped in as majority shareholder to preserve the club, yet this instability underscores why pure independence so rarely survives.

This financial fragility is precisely why clubs like Glasgow City are so inspiring. Founded by Laura Montgomery and Carol Anne Stewart in 1988, Glasgow City made a name for Scottish women's football, winning 16 Premier League titles and operating under solely women, their dominance has been undisputed for decades. However, with team's like Celtic and Rangers who have well established male teams, Glasgow City are now struggling to compete commerically. This reveals that while independent clubs can succeed, they often have a ceiling far lower than those clubs that are heavily subsidised, male-oriented teams.

Similarly, Spain's Madrid CFF established in 2010 by Alfredo Ulloa as an independent club, has consistently punched above its weight in Liga F. Currently sitting in 3rd place, the club continuously develops talent through top-tier scouting and academy work. However, staying afloat when competing against team's that are given larger sponsorship and greater commerical attention is an uphill battle. Madrid CFF can provide exciting and consistent footballing quality, but it begs the question whether they could be challenging for Champions League spots if they were able to partner up with bigger brands and attract a bigger audience.

Investment Issues:

While independent clubs struggle commercially and financially, those systemic issues do not magically vanish for women's sides affiliated with male clubs. Real Madrid offers a glaring case study. Despite formally absorbing their women's team in 2020, the club's backing has felt hesitant and secondary. While the men's team continues to spend record-breaking transfer fees, most recently spending 120 million euros on teenage sensation Yan Diomande, investment in the women's side remains secondary. Despite signing talents like Felicia Shröder, who has proven to be an immense asset, leadership has publicly signalled where their priorities lie. Real Madrid director José Ángel Sánchez openly criticised Liga F's financial demands, deeming an 8 million allocation "too much". It remains deeply disappointing that while the men's side operates with massive budgets, the women's side is still denied access to play at the Santiago Bernabeu, with president Florentino Pérez stating they will not play there until they "win their first title". How can they win if their professionalism isn't invested in and their needs are continuously undermined?

We see similar imbalances across other clubs. Badalona women spent last season without medical staff for away fixtures, a level of neglect that renders women's football without independent backing vulnerable, unprofessional, and unsafe.

Womens teams are tired of being sidelined by their owners. When you are seen as an afterthought, taking radical action like La Napoli becomes a necessary declaration of self-worth regardless of the commerical risk.

Club That Are Doing It Right!

However, there are teams that are successfully considering their female counterparts, proving that the integrated model can be positive, as demonstrated by Brighton & Hove Albion and FC Barcelona.

Brighton have set a benchmark by greenlighting a stadium dedicated exclusively to the women's team, set to be built by 2030. The stadium itself will have a bridge that gives access to the Brighton men's stadium, ensuring they too are given prime location for accessibility but never play second fiddle to men's scheduling. The 10,000 venue has a breastfeeding room for families who make up a large part of the crowd, and the capacity fitting the expectations of the game today is designed to give it a fuller atmosphere. They were also one of the first clubs to build a training ground solely for their women's team. While other WSL clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea have moved their home games to the Emirates and Stamford Bridge, it still feels as though they haven't considered the capacity, audience, and time-of-day disparity between men and women's games. These big clubs are undoubtedly investing, and as a result attract large crowds and dedicated fans, however Brighton's attention to detail shows the true positives that can be extracted from being connected to an established club.

Barcelona however, represent the pinnacle of what an integrated club can achieve. Despite broader financial troubles, Barça has invested unreservedly in their women's team, creating an ecosystem where both sides share an iconic status while charting their own historic paths. Since professionalising in 2015, the club prioritised giving the women's team their own dedicated infrastructure, constructing the Estadi Johan Cruyff in 2019 as their custom-built home. Crucially, Barcelona refused to restrict their women's team to just that venue. To mark 50 years of women's football at the club they opened the doors of the Camp Nou, and a year later they hosted the UWCL there, shattering women's attendance records with 91,553 fans in the stands. The Camp Nou consistently sells out its 60,000 capacity when Barça Femení play there, at times outselling the men's side in ticket demand. Every detail reflects equal respect: renovating the Camp Nou with new-installed women's changing rooms for the players, fans walking the streets proudly wearing jerseys with the names of the women's players. Backed by 4 UWCL titles, multiple Ballon d'Or winners, and a decade of domestic dominance, they are the best example of how financial and commerical backing can grow the women's game to the greatest heights.

Ultimately, whether a team achieves success as a standalone entity like London City or through an integrated giant like Barcelona, the decisive factor is not merely the presence of a male counterpart, it is genuine, uncompromsed commitment. Independence grants women's football total ownership over its culture and identity, but until broader financial parity is reached across the sport, true equality relies on owners and clubs who refuse to treat the women's game as an afterthought.