Inside a summer of change at Norwich City Women

From the penalty save that secured Norwich City Women's long-awaited promotion to tier three, the wheels of change have moved at pace.

The Canaries learned their fixture list for the 2025/26 campaign on Wednesday and will kickstart against Huddersfield Town at The Nest on Sunday, August 16. They will do so with a new head coach in Perry Northeast and plenty of new additions.

General manager Flo Allen has been the one tasked with enacting some of the most far‑reaching changes the programme has seen since it was incorporated into the main club back in 2022.

Promotion has not just nudged Norwich into tier three, it has forced a recalibration of who leads the team, who plays for it and what the club wants this side to be in the years ahead.

"Almost 48 hours post the team clinching promotion, we had to have some really tricky conversations with some excellent people in Andy and Ethan," Allen said. "I want to just pay some respects to them as well for the fantastic work they put into the programme. Without their work, we wouldn't be in this position, moving into the league we are this season.

"We made the changes with what’s next in mind and what we need to not only sustain at tier three, but to be really competitive, drive team development, and individual player improvement.

"Ultimately, we’re a really ambitious club and we want to really push forward on the football and coaching side, which led us to go through a really methodical process with bringing in Perry.

"How we operate as a football club was extremely methodical and process-oriented with how we went through that process. Perry presented to us in terms of his methodology, layered against previous performances. He was head and shoulders above everybody. Everything aligned between Perry, myself, Ben and the football club."

Flo Allen, Norwich City's women's team manager, has spoken about the changes made at the club this summer. (Image: Denise Bradley/Newsquest)

The appointment of Perry Northeast was not just about replacing a head coach, but about appointing someone who could front a broader evolution of Norwich City Women towards a shift in style, standards and the calibre of player the club can attract and retain.

That professionalisation of the women's team is an ongoing process, and promotion marked a natural moment to accelerate that mission.

“This is a landmark moment for the club competing in tier for the very first time and it’s ultimately us evolving to meet those demands and what’s required of us on and off the pitch,” she said. “With that comes some really, really tricky decisions, but we always really try and make sure that they’re methodical and really thought well out in advance.

"We want to build something that our community and fans are really proud of because we’re able to retain top talent, be it Holly Kennard, a lightning fast winger, or being able to recruit top talent like Poppy Irvine this summer from a Super League club."

It wasn't just in the dugout where Allen instigated change, but also throughout the squad with seven players released following that play-off final win back in May.

Tash Snelling was the headline departure for Norwich City Women earlier this summer. (Image: Courtney Pedlar/Norwich City Women FC)

The headline was undoubtedly long-serving striker Tash Snelling, whose 14 years of service, including more than 250 appearances and over 110 goals, came to an end. She reacted with a lengthy statement on social media describing the decision as 'heartbreaking'.

City's former number nine was most upset about the lack of a goodbye to supporters. Allen has responded and knows there will be a need to replace the lost experience within their squad this summer.

"Ultimately, that was one of the most difficult decisions because we felt like we needed a number nine that suited a different playing style," Allen said.

"Again a very tricky decision to communicate, done with the best intentions. We would have loved to have given Tash a proper send-off, but timing is sometimes everything. I really hope that at some point we can welcome Tash back and give her that at some point in the future.

"There are some fantastic players that departed the club and that's going to be a big experience void that we've got to fill."

Those tough, and often unpopular, decisions came after a thorough review of where City found themselves on and off the pitch and, crucially, where they needed to get to in order to thrive, not just survive, in tier three.

Perry Northeast is the person tasked with leading the Canaries into a higher division. (Image: Norwich City FC)

"We spent a couple of months really reviewing, critically reviewing style, but not only style at that current point in time, overlaying it with what's required at the next step," she said.

"When we really went through and looked at what it takes to not only just survive at tier 3 but what it takes to compete, to thrive, to push on in the future, we needed a really clear, demonstrable playing style.

"Breaking down oppositions because at the next level that we're now at, oppositions are really hard to break down. We just felt like we needed to make that change and do it at the best possible time to bring in Perry ultimately to implement that with us."

The hard work is only just beginning, and as City step into a more demanding tier three, every move made this summer will be judged on whether it can withstand the pressure to deliver.