Sheffield United: Ladies hope for a major celebration next month as the FA prepares to reach promotion decision

Officials from the governing body, who are rebranding WSL2 as part of its overhaul of the game, are expected to unveil the successful candidates following the Premier League Championship play-off final, which takes place at Bramall Lane on Sunday 27 May.

United recently sent a delegation to Wembley where representatives of the club, including general manager Lee Walshaw, head of football adminstration Carl Shieber and manager Carla Ward, formally presented the bid.

“We feel we have one of the strongest on the table,” Shieber said. “Many of the criteria we have to meet to play at this level we already fulfil. We’ve done as much as we can and now we are awaiting the outcome.

“The intergration, infrastructure and support here gives us, we feel, an exceptionally strong case.”

United, who presently compete in the FA Women’s Premier League Midlands Division, will move two levels up the pyramid if they receive the green light.

Walshaw, the former United midfielder, said: “If we are successful, the players would become semi-professionals because of the amount of training sessions. The amount of national exposure, the television coverage and also the general media coverage would also dramatically increase. Everything, we hope, we have put in place.”