This morning, major changes for the relaunch of the Netball Super League in 2025 were announced. All current and any potential new clubs had to go through a long, tender process to become successfully selected to participate in the new era of the Netball Super League. Eight clubs were selected, six familiar names and two new clubs joining the elite netball competition:
Birmingham Panthers
LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons
Leeds Rhinos Netball
London Mavericks
London Pulse
Loughborough Lightning
Manchester Thunder
Nottingham Forest Netball
Unfortunately this means beloved clubs, Surrey Storm, Team Bath, Severn Stars and Strathclyde Sirens will not be returning next year. The exact reasons why have not been 100% revealed to fans but these four clubs have hinted sourcing larger arenas, finding new sponsors and retaining a franchise are clues as to why these teams are to longer compete in the Netball Super League.
Why The Changes?
Claire Nelson, NSL Managing Director has explained these new changes will make the league more professional and successful, with bigger arenas, new investors, more matches assessable to watch, and overall increasing the fan base of netball in the UK. This all sounds exciting as netball is to gain a new, evitalized image in the world of sport, but what about the lack of representation for netball in the South West of England and Scotland? England Netball have set out this new route for the Super League to make netball assessable to all but will it actually push the young women from these excluded regions to other sports?
Disappointment For Fans
Team Bath’s Head Coach, Asha Francis, voiced her disappointment over the NSL’s decision to reject their submission for the 2025 Super League. She expressed concern for her players and the impact this decision could have on their netball careers, particularly since many of them chose their university degrees based on their netball pathway. Francis also lamented the absence of role models in the South West, highlighting the lack of local weekly netball matches for young girls to aspire to and watch, and worries that this might push them towards participating in other sports. However, England Netball does not view this as a major concern, as they continue to collaborate closely with Team Bath and Netball South West to explore future options. There are plans to build new arenas in Bristol that could potentially serve as Team Bath’s new home, but questions remain about how long this will take and whether Team Bath will still be around.
A New Era For Netball
As fans, we should appreciate the hard work that England Netball and the NSL have put into building a brand that will accelerate the growth of the game in this country. We have often voiced our frustration with the lack of coverage, especially for international games. This rebrand of the Super League promises to attract more investors, improve arena experiences, increase salaries for players and coaches, and boost media coverage, which will, in turn, expand the fan base and elevate netball’s status in the sporting industry. Female sport is on the rise and showing no signs of slowing down, so to improve netball’s chances of becoming a household name, changes to how the Super League operates were necessary and unfortunately it meant saying goodbye to some of our favourite clubs. We hope that England Netball has a plan in place to support the teams affected by these changes, allowing them to continue participating in sport they love.
Want to get back into netball? You can find your nearest league by typing in your city or postcode in our ‘find your nearest league’ search bar at the top of our website.
