Wolves Women boss Dan McNamara has praised the club’s hierarchy for supporting his team on their journey to the Women’s Super League 2.

The women’s side were less valued under previous chairman Jeff Shi, but since Nathan Shi took his place, the club has attempted to get behind the team as they achieved their dream of getting to the WSL2.

Nathan Shi and technical director Matt Jackson were both in attendance at a recent home win over Burnley, and the head coach has welcomed their backing.

“The chairman and Matt Jackson have been fantastic with us since the start of the last season, to be honest,” McNamara said.

“They’ve given us the platform to perform and achieve and here they are now, turning up to support the girls in big games.

“It was brilliant to see them here. I know they enjoyed it. They came onto the pitch at the end and said they really enjoyed the performance. So hopefully we can see them down here more often.”

Captain Anna Morphet echoed her head coach’s words, and said the support the women’s team is now getting is a far cry from the previous regime.

“It’s huge,” she said.

“Just seeing the chairman and Matt Jackson here and being part of it, they’ve been brilliant.

“He just asked me at the end, what can we do for you? What can we add? And just their presence is fantastic.

“We want to make the club proud just as much as we want their support.

“It’s poles apart from years ago, and it’s fantastic to see.

“We had a difficult time a few years ago, but you’ve got to build on that and use it. “We could have crumbled, and there could have been no more Wolves Women at the end of the day, but here we are now, and it’s fantastic.”

It has been a long journey for Wolves to get to the second tier and become a fully professional outfit.

But now, five games into the season, they sit fifth after a very solid start.

“We do talk about the journey a lot, and it is something that we take a hell of a lot of pride in,” Morphet added.

“It was a big moment for everybody involved, not last year, but years and years before. Being part of the disappointments, then being part of the celebration.

“But at the same time we wanted to come into this season and not just let the dream stop there.

“We kind of had to use it, but in some instances, park it and make sure that we didn’t stay on that cloud nine. We brought ourselves down to earth and realised the challenge it was going to be.

“From the summer pre-season, right through pre-season to the first games, we’ve grafted very, very hard and it’s really great now to get off to a fantastic start.”

The 25-year-old joined Wolves as a teenager in 2018 before eventually taking the armband in 2024 and she has been a key figure in the side that earned promotion to the Women’s Super League 2.

Wolves have won two of their first three matches at this level and as she reflects on the journey to get here, Morphet insists she is loving every moment of captaining Wolves in the WSL2.

“It’s obviously been emotional at times,” Morphet told Inside Wolves.

“As much as you’re focused on the job and you’re trying to stay steady and composed, there are moments where there’s that energy and that excitement and it means a hell of a lot to me.

“Not only the girls that have been through it, but they are some of my close mates. “It’s important that we go again. We do keep taking every game as it comes, but enjoy these moments and build on them.

“You’ll see it from top of the pitch right to the back, that attitude to fight and to graft for it. I always say I don’t think you see strikers work much harder than the guys we have up top.

“So across the board, I think the girls are brilliant.”

With her every step of the way has been head coach Dan McNamara, who has overcome several near misses to finally lead Wolves to the second tier.

Following a 3-0 home win over Burnley, a game in which Morphet scored a penalty, McNamara could not hide his pride in his captain.

“I told her years ago that we’d get to this level together and I don’t know whether she truly believed it five or six years ago, but here she is now, flourishing, captain of Wolverhampton Wanderers, winning in the WSL2,” McNamara said.

“She’s living a dream and I’m delighted to have helped her play a really small part in that.

“She was terrific today. Not just her goal, she strikes the ball so cleanly on penalties, but also the way she dug in. She wins headers, fantastic, in possession, breaking lines, fantastic.

“I’m delighted for her. I know her family will be really proud of her.”

As well as retaining a number of impressive players such as Morphet, Wolves also recruited well in preparation for life in the WSL2.

“They’ve been brilliant,” Morphet added.

“A fantastic group of players that have come in, not just quality on the ball, but they’ve been really good characters off it.

“I think we’ve had a nice mix of the players that have stayed from last year and they know what it means to play for this club and they have that emotion, and I think the players that come in have really bought into that.

“They’ve been brilliant around the group. They’ve brought in their experiences at the top level as well. They’ve been fantastic.

“Many of them have played at the very top level and you have to integrate them, learn off them and make them know what it means.

“We’ve got a really good balance, from players that have come in, staff that have come in. Across the board, we’ve got a really good togetherness.”

A clinical first half display saw Wolves net three at home to Burnley, which was enough to secure all three points and back-to-back wins in the Women’s Super League 2.

McNamara was not only pleased with the performance and result, but the manner in which his players are showing they belong at this level.

“Everyone had their own reasonings for wanting to perform tonight,” McNamara said.

“We had three girls who really wanted to do it for Matt (Beard) and rightly so. I thought it was brilliant what the fans did and remembered his name.

“We had some players who were really hurt last year by a dubious goal decision costing us a league title and I think we saw that in certain moments. The girls really went at it and put them to the sword.

“I have no doubt that a couple of those things stick in the back of their mind from last year.

“It was nice to come into a game against Burnley where we didn’t feel like the whole world rested on it and I think we saw that in the performance.

“We knew that three points would be fantastic, a point would be brilliant and no points wouldn’t be the end of the world. So it felt like a little less pressure, because we’re normally used to thinking if we lose against Burnley then that’s the title over.

“I’m just delighted. People told me some of these girls wouldn’t step up and play at this level, but they are proving those people wrong and long may it continue.

“It was a fantastic performance from the players, we blew them away in that 15 minute period in the first half. We were exceptional.

“Six points from nine to start the season in the WSL2, what a group! I’ve been saying it for years, they’re amazing people.”

A number of players stood-out on the night at Telford’s SEAH Stadium, including goalscorers Amber Hughes, Mel Filis and Anna Morphet.

But midfielder Chloe Williams was a class above, with her impressive technical ability.

McNamara added: “For 12 months I’ve been saying to people she’s a tier two player and some people scratched their head, but this is her stage!

“It sounds silly, but that little bit of extra time that you get to be technical, because other players are technicians in there, and she’s flourishing, she’s brilliant.

“There’s a reason why she was at Man United for a number of years and then went to Blackburn and played at this level.

“Her and Hollie (Olding) in there have formed a solid relationship and hopefully that can continue because they really are a brilliant foundation for us to kick-on from.”

Wolves made a strong start to the game at the SEAH Stadium in Telford, as they dominated possession and looked threatening in attacking areas.

Chloe Williams came close with a shot that whistled past the post, before Mel Lawley capitalised on a defensive mistake to take aim, but goalkeeper Jacqueline Burns made a strong save.

Burnley began to pile on some pressure of their own and came close on a few occasions, most notably when Charley Docherty was inches away from meeting a free header from close range.

Wolves took the lead in the 36th minute with a well-worked goal.

Lawley, who was impressive every time she touched the ball, played a one-two with Amy Sims before whipping in a good cross for Amber Hughes to head home.

Just two minutes later, Wolves had a second.

Forward Mel Filis, who was a nuisance for Burnley defenders, picked the ball up on the edge of the box and was twisting and turning before taking aim and her shot took a huge deflection to wrong-foot the goalkeeper and nestle into the net.

On the stroke of half-time, Wolves were awarded a penalty when Yana Daniels followed up a Hughes shot that had been spilled by the goalkeeper and a Burnley defender brought her down.

Anna Morphet stepped up and confidently tucked the ball away to give Wolves a 3-0 lead at half-time.

In the early stages of the second half, Wolves goalkeeper Emily Orman had a heart-in-mouth moment when she handled the ball outside of her box.

The referee gave a free-kick to Burnley, but did not even book the Wolves shot-stopper.

Burnley should have scored when the ball fell to Naomi Hartley at the far post, but she somehow directed her shot wide.

Another big chance fell to Jessica Hennessy, who headed over from a corner for the visitors.

It became a scrappy game deep into the second 45 as Burnley desperately tried to get a foothold in the fixture and Wolves kept them at arm’s length.

Wolves had some late chances to score again but in the end they kept a clean sheet and settled for an impressive 3-0 win.

The end of the 2024/25 season was clouded by controversy as the players found out on the final day of the campaign, as they were still fighting for promotion, that former chairman Jeff Shi had failed to apply for the licence to compete in the second tier.

That meant the staff and players were battling to go up without knowing that it would have been denied had they achieved it, due to Jeff Shi’s decision.

Everyone connected with the women’s team was furious at the decision - and since Jeff Shi left and was replaced by Nathan Shi, Wolves Women have achieved their dream of getting to the Women’s Super League 2, where they have just won their first game at this level.

Reflecting on that controversy, and the strides forward the club has made since, McNamara was full of praise for the hierarchy.

“It’s been fantastic,” he said.

“If you look at where we were last summer, would you ever have dreamt that we’d be in this position now?

“The club has been brilliant. Matt Jackson and Nathan Shi, everyone is driving it forwards. They gave us the opportunity last year.

“We’ve never wanted for any better with the facilities. We’re now on the finest grass pitches at Compton for training, we get access to everything at the training ground.

“The support with hotels has been fantastic. They really are coming together and backing what we’re trying to do.

“It was only a matter of time before the club saw real value in the women. I don’t think they used to, if I’m honest, but now there's real value in what the women bring to the brand.

“We are a fully professional football team now, and Wolves is a worldwide brand, so that can only strengthen it.

“Last Tuesday I was preparing training, and I had a tap on my shoulder. I thought it was one of my staff, but it was the chairman, which caught me by surprise! He came out to see what the girls were up to and what the session was looking like, and he was interested in a few of the players.

“It’s little things like that which often go far further than giving us more money, it’s those little touches where they do take an interest.

“Hopefully it continues because if we stay together as a whole club then we can achieve some good things.”

Following their opening day defeat at Newcastle, Wolves welcomed Sheffield United to Telford’s SEAH Stadium for their first home fixture in the second tier.

Amber Hughes broke the deadlock early in the second half with a pinpoint strike, before Amy Sims’ rocket of a strike made it 2-0.

The Blades swiftly halved the deficit through Mollie Rouse, but Yana Daniels restored the two-goal lead in the 81st minute, securing a historic 3-1 victory.

“It’s an emotional day,” McNamara said.

“It’s tough to win at this level, and I thought the girls were magnificent. They were absolutely unbelievable today.

“The way they’ve taken on information this week and applied themselves in the right moments, won duels, and put their bodies on the line.

“In front of our fans in an important game so early on in the season, credit to them, they were brilliant. I’m so proud of them.

“They have to celebrate these moments because it’s going to be a tough season for us, it will be hard, and the wins might not come as frequently as they used to.

“It’s a really great day for the club. Those first three points is the hardest one to do when you get promoted, so to do it on matchday two is brilliant.”

On the same day that the women’s team beat Sheffield United, the men’s team won 1-0 at Bramall Lane thanks to a late Raul Jimenez finish.

“It’s fantastic for the club and fantastic for Raul as well,” McNamara added.

“Let’s hope we have many more of these over the next 12 months! Two wins from both senior teams is brilliant.”

On the same day, the men’s first team will travel to face the same opponent in the Championship, as both the men’s and women’s teams play Sheffield United, both in the second tier, on the very same day.

For women’s head coach Dan McNamara, that is a clear sign of progression.

After years of working as a part-time outfit and missing out on promotion on several occasions, Wolves Women are finally a professional side playing in the second tier.

They showed promising signs in their opening day 2-0 defeat at promotion favourites Newcastle and now hope to make their first home WSL2 match a memorable one.

“It’s amazing, brilliant,” McNamara said when asked about the men’s and women’s teams playing the same opponent at the same level.

“It’s excellent for both clubs to be operating at the same level and competing against the same clubs. Hopefully it can only drive fan interest.

“Now you’ve got those household names within WSL2, it can drive interest from the fans.

“We’ve got to perform and make people want to come and see us, but hopefully that can only aid the fan base, interest and what we’re trying to do.

“It’s amazing.”

The home support on Sunday will be crucial to Wolves getting a positive result, and the head coach is hoping for an electric atmosphere at the SEAH Stadium.

“The ticket sales have been brilliant and really show an uptake in the interest since we’ve gone to WSL2,” McNamara added.

“It will be brilliant to be back with the fans that have supported us through those tough moments.

“The message for them is it’s tough, chances are at a premium, and we have to be ruthless in both boxes, and we have to stay patient and get behind the girls.

“I’ve seen a few WSL2 managers talk about the power of the fans last weekend and how the home support can really get you over the line in moments.

“As they have done in previous years, I’m hoping we can take a leaf out of some of the other books and cheer on the girls. It makes a massive difference at this level.”

Wolves Women open their Barclays WSL 2 home campaign on Sunday as they take on Sheffield United at the SEAH Stadium, looking to build on the positives from last week's season opener.

Despite defeat to a very strong Newcastle United in Gateshead last weekend, Dan McNamara was encouraged with aspects the visitors game and hopes they can use them as a springboard against a Sheffield United side who were also tasted defeat on the opening weekend.

Watch full press conference here.

In what was the club’s first ever fixture in the Women’s Super League 2, a goal from Beth Lumsden and an own goal from Georgia Marshall gave the Magpies a 2-0 lead inside 18 minutes, which was enough to seal all three points.

But after making history by getting to the second tier, McNamara was full of praise for his team.

“We knew today was going to be a learning experience,” he said.

“They’re a top side. I don’t think they’d be out of place in WSL with the players they’ve got, the way they move the ball, and I also don’t think that’ll be the worst goal line that you see here this season.

“I thought they were excellent. But on the flip side of that, I also thought we showed real heart and real character.

“For our first outing in WSL2, a lot of the team never experienced this level or have been out of the level for a long time.

“So, I thought they showed some real good fight and character and what we want to see is that we can work on the other bits, the bits that cost us the two goals, the transitional moments that we know are so key at this level. We can work on them.”

He added: “Today was about testing ourselves at that WSL2 level, getting this historic day out of the way, if you like, because yes, it’s been good.

“Yes, it’s been emotional, but ultimately we get on the coach with no points. So, we’ve got to make sure we put that right quickly.

“It’s a scoreline that is not to be too disheartened by and as I said, look, if we’d have come here and sat in front of the goal and not got out of our half, which in moments we did, but we still threatened their goal at times.”

Wolves face a trip to Newcastle on Sunday in their first ever second tier game and they will be huge underdogs against one of the league’s favourites.

McNamara admits he has seen opinions from pundits that have suggested Wolves may finish bottom of the division, but the head coach is ready to shock the division and he has full belief in his players to perform.

“I’ve spent my whole life proving people wrong,” McNamara said.

“It’s what makes me tick, it offers you a challenge that no-one else can, it’s brilliant.

“Over the last few years we’ve consistently proved people wrong with regards to being able to compete with what we have.

“Now we step into WSL2 with one of the lowest budgets again, but I love that, that’s great, we’ll compete and utilise that to maximise the output that we get.

“I enjoy proving people wrong and I know the girls will certainly enjoy proving people wrong on this journey, because it gives us energy and helps us get through the tough moments.

“There’s been plenty of them over the years and we’ve always come through them and I’ve no doubt we’ll come through the next 12 months in just the same manner.”

He added: “The expectations are to try and shock people and to be competitive,”

“We’re under no illusions that we’re not going to compete with Newcastle, Bristol and Sunderland.

“We’re just coming into the league, previously as a part-time outfit, so success will be keeping the dream alive. Can we turn the dream into the norm?

“We feel we’re good enough and ready to do that.”

To finally get to WSL2, Wolves missed out on several occasions in desperately unfortunate circumstances.

But a play-off win over Plymouth in May meant they finally achieved that dream and McNamara reflected on that journey.

“I feel really emotional, it’s incredible,” he said.

“One of my friends, and very good coach, Karl Milgate has just joined the group and we always laugh about writing a book on the last nine years - it is incredible some of the stuff that we’ve come through.

“I can still remember walking into Aldersley dome and there was a big burn mark in the middle of the astro turf, so we had to cone off the middle of the pitch and we couldn’t use the middle - how on earth did we get through sessions? It’s all helped us get to this stage.

“It’s been an incredible journey.”

The striker scored the only goal of the game in last season’s play-off against Plymouth to earn Wolves a place in WSL2.

Now, they face their first ever match at this level as Wolves take on Newcastle on Sunday, and although Greengrass admits the team will have to get used to not having it all their own way, she believes they are capable of competing.

“We haven’t always had the investment that other teams have had and that can be a good and a bad thing sometimes,” Greengrass told Inside Wolves.

“You can pump a lot of money into a team but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get the outcome that you want.

“Wolves has always been that club that has attracted players to have that drive, togetherness and work hard.

“I personally thrive in that environment, I’m not interested in being a star, I’d rather be part of a collective that’s driving forward and winning games.

“Things will change this season, we’ve been so used to winning and dominating tier three. That mindset potentially has to shift, but I don’t think our mindset in applying ourselves and the principles we have here at Wolves need to change.

“That will still win us games in moments and belief has been a massive thing. We need to believe we deserve to be here because we do, we’ve achieved the right to be in this league.

“It’s about taking that forward and really believing in ourselves that ultimately we deserve to be here.

“You have to beat the team in front of you, so it’s up to other teams to break us down and try to get a result. We don’t want to go into games and try to defend a 0-0, we want to be part of the league and push as high up as we can.”