WSL Promotion 2: How Newcastle United plan for the WSL tournament

Grace Williams, director of women’s football since August 2025, believes the club cannot wait for promotion before behaving like a top-flight side.

“The best way to explain it is the different departments we’ve developed,” Williams says. “It’s not just a medical person and a coach. We have a medical department, a head of performance, and then there’s social media, marketing, sports psychology, nutrition…

“All the different departments under the club are in place.”

Difficult decisions have also been made. In October, Newcastle sacked manager Becky Langley, who had guided the club through successive promotions from the Fourth Division to the Second Division.

In place of Langley, the club poached Tanya Oktobi from Northern Ireland to be their new manager.

“Massive respect and thanks to Becky for where she has taken the club,” says Williams. “She should be really proud of what she has achieved.” “For me, it was about looking at what we can do to get to the next level.

“We wanted to be able to bring someone with experience at the top. Tanya brings everything we wanted on and off the field.”

For its part, Oxtoby has taken over the bid for the top flight entirely.

“The biggest thing when I took this job was trying to get us ready for Premier League football,” the former Chelsea assistant told BBC Sport. “From the moment I walked in the door, I tried to challenge the processes and the way we work.

“The club is ambitious – we’re not ashamed of that. Whether promotion happens this season, or next season, our fate is in our hands, which is great, because this league is very competitive.”

In terms of whether she had any reservations about taking the job under current ownership, Oxtoby says she is aware of the issues surrounding sportswashing, but her decision to come to Tyneside was driven by the club’s ambition and values.

“There was real consensus,” she says.