Women's Super League 2 side Southampton have had their budget cut significantly after a "challenging" summer, according to head coach Simon Parker. As part of the changes, the women's team will now play the majority of their matches at Eastleigh FC's Silverlake Stadium, instead of at St Mary's Stadium where they had spent the previous four seasons. With the new campaign starting a week on Sunday, Parker told BBC Radio Solent they are now operating with the smallest budget in the WSL 2, and this has had a significant impact on their strategy for 2026-27.
"The summer has been a bit challenging with a few of the things that have happened," Parker said. Sources at Southampton deny that these budget cuts are related to the spygate scandal. Saints' men were removed from the Championship play-offs last season after the club admitted to spying on rival teams and started this season on minus four points.
In 2025-26, Southampton's women were in the mix for promotion to the WSL, ultimately finishing fifth, their highest position in the football pyramid since re-forming as a club nine years ago. "It was a strong first year last season where the aim was always to try and finish in the top half and finishing fifth in a promotion push for a large part of the season was really promising," Parker added. "Off the back of last season, the plan was to re-engage with a lot of our key players but we had to pivot and go into a different direction." Earlier this summer, it was also revealed director of football Marieanne Spacey-Cale would step down, having been instrumental in the rise of the women's team at Southampton.
Over the past few years, Saints have sold a number of their best players and that trend has continued. Notable departures in recent years include Lucia Kendall who joined Aston Villa in 2025 and Kayla Rendell who signed for Manchester United in the same window. Goalkeeper Fran Stanton left the club this summer alongside captain Atlanta Primus, Aimee Palmer and Tara Bourne.
Southampton have played all of their home matches at St Mary's Stadium since winning promotion to the second tier in 2022. This change in ground will see them move from the 30,000-plus capacity arena to National League side Eastleigh's ground, which can hold just over five thousand fans. Despite the downsize in grounds, Parker is looking at the positives and new opportunities that the move will bring.
"One of the ideas is they want to try and generate a tighter atmosphere," he added. "When you play in a smaller stadium that can help with that, I do believe also that if you are playing in the main stadium truthfully, it does cost a lot of money. "I would love for us to be playing at St Mary's every single week and I love it when we're there, we still have at least three games there this season.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
