Doncaster Belles manager John Buckley has said that he will not be leaving the club after their relegation into the second tier of women’s football. The English FA recently announced the decision to demote the club, but Buckley has said that he will remain with the club and will work towards getting them back into the top flight. The women’s super league will be splitting into two from next season onwards. The English FA had demoted them into the second tier of this league, and Belles had appealed against this decision. However, this appeal has come out and successful for the club.

This decision means that Belles will be dropping out of the first division for the first time in 22 years. Even though the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal have overtaken them with massive influx of funds, Belles still remains as one of the pioneering clubs after having lifted major trophies during the initial years of their formation. The English FA decided to demote Belles after analysing the club for several factors like financial stability, quality of facilities, management, and staff quality. Manchester City ladies will be replacing Belles from next season onwards.

However, manager Buckley is confident of getting promotion into the top flight once again.

“I’ve been here a long time. I just need to sit down with the players and make sure they stay focused on everything we need to do, this season and next season. I’m just so disappointed it’s unbelievable, but we just have to deal with the issues that follow it now. There is a possible legal route we can pursue, but we are a club that has to work within a budget. We’ve not got a massive budget, but we manage the budget we have quite well,” said the manager, who used to play for Doncaster Rovers.