THE Solihull Moors Foundation have released a statement in response to a number of accusations made by the club’s women’s team.
Moors women’s players released a public statement on X accusing the club of showing ‘neglect’ and a ‘lack of respect’ towards the women’s side.
The statement also revealed Moors Women had to forfeit a cup game last month due to the club’s failure to secure a pitch.
The Moors Foundation – the club’s charity arm – seeked to clarify the women’s team are part of the Foundation and not the club itself.
And the Foundation insist they are in ‘open and honest dialogue’ regarding the majority of issues raised by the women’s players and are seeking solutions.
Foundation chairman Edward Parker said via a statement: “Following a post on social media yesterday evening, it is appropriate to make a statement on behalf of the Solihull Moors Foundation.
“First, it is important to clarify that Solihull Moors Women’s football is part of the Foundation, not the National League Football Club as stated in the post.
“Second, as a charity, SMF is committed to supporting football in the community across all abilities and all ages and offers access to the game through many different programmes.
“We are very proud of the work we do with all of our girls and women’s teams, our Downs Syndrome team, our men’s Walking Football programme, those in Football and Education.
“We spend countless hours each week striving to provide the best possible environment for every single player, regardless of ability, regardless of gender, regardless of aspiration.
“We are very proud of how we have developed football for girls and women, and we are committed to encouraging female participation from grassroots through to elite.
“As an organisation which relies heavily on financial support from generous donors, our small number of staff work closely with our dedicated and inspirational coaching teams, who provide the opportunity for all of those within our programmes to play the game we love.
“Providing the perfect conditions is often hard due to limited resources, time and funding, but we continue to endeavour to achieve as much as we can and provide positive outcomes for all players.
“However, the allegations made on social media clearly do not align with the ethos of the Foundation and we take those issues seriously and will address them.
“Clearly there have been challenges around securing pitches which I know Foundation staff, team management and coaches have been trying their best to resolve so it is disappointing that frustration has led to those involved feeling the need to publish this post when the leadership of the Foundation has been in open and honest dialogue about many of the points raised and actively seeking a solution.
“We have subsequently been in direct contact with the players and invited them in to talk to us, and to senior management at the football club, this week to try and find genuine solutions.
“We will continue to support the expectations of all of our female players and our commitment to girls and women’s football at all levels, whether participation or development remains as strong as ever – we are proud that over 150 female players play for the Foundation teams each week and our support for the senior women’s game will continue to be a big part of what we do.”
Solihull Moors have confirmed the club will provide a response to the matter later today.
A Solihull Moors spokesperson said: “The Club are currently reviewing the statement and will be making a comment today.”
