Sheffield United relegated to FAWNL after defeat to Southampton | OneFootball

Sheffield United have been relegated to the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division following this afternoon’s results in the Barclays Women’s Championship.

The Blades knew that they had to equal or better Portsmouth’s result to take their survival bid down to the final day. Sheffield United lost 3-2 to Southampton at Bramall Lane while Portsmouth recorded an emphatic 4-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers at Fratton Park.

Sheffield United ended the afternoon on seven points, five points adrift of safety and their seven-year stay in the Barclays Women’s Championship will therefore come to an end following next weekend’s trip to Sunderland.

It has been a tough season for The Blades. The club appointed Ash Thompson as their head coach last summer and he was tasked with building a new squad from scratch. The team’s only league victory came in the form of a 2-1 success at Blackburn Rovers back in October. Since recording that win, Sheffield United have gone 12 league matches without a victory.

For long spells, it had looked like newly-promoted Portsmouth would be the ones to drop out of the second tier but their much-improved form in the final weeks of the season, combined with Sheffield United’s winless run, has resulted in The Blades falling through the trapdoor.