Notts County launch new senior women's team

Notts County are set to launch a new senior women's team, just over a year after the previous incarnation, Notts County Ladies, was folded.

Magpies owner Alan Hardy "called time" on efforts to save the Women's Super League 1 side in April 2017 when faced by debts of around £500,000, and folded just before the season started.

The Lady Pies had been moved from Lincoln to Nottingham and got to the FA Cup Women's Final in 2015, but Hardy stressed that "the numbers simply (did) not stack up; continuing would have been little short of financial suicide."

However, a new side called Notts County Women emerged on Twitter last weekend and announced that player trials would be held with a view to the team playing competitive football in 2018-19.

"We will be basement level working our way," Hardy told BBC Sport.

"I always said that I would relaunch it at some point in the future when the foundations were right and more importantly there was a pathway in place.

"We have built from the Under-8s to the Under-14s and the next logical step was a senior team.

"We understand that we may need to start at the bottom and work through the leagues. In five years we want to be at WSL 2 level, and that is a realistic ambition."

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