Watford Ladies’ longer term Women’s Super League (WSL) future is unclear despite the Lady Hornets finally appointing a new head coach this week.

Keith Boanas will take charge of his first game on Sunday when the Golden Girls travel to Aston Villa for their opening match in the Spring Series – the one-off half-year season that has been created to enable the women’s game to return to a winter fixture cycle from this autumn.

Watford will play the other teams in their WSL2 division once in the Spring Series but beyond these nine games their future involvement in the top tier of the women’s game in this country has still to be confirmed.

The club are still discussing future participation in FA competitions directly with the governing body and have until March 31 to decide whether to apply for one of the 20 new WSL licenses which come into force for the 2018/19 campaign.

These licenses which, for the first time, will not be not fixed-term and the league claim they have been introduced to maintain its quality and support the development of clubs.

Despite the ladies team being taken under the umbrella of Watford FC last year, it did not lead to an upturn in fortunes on the pitch.

They finished bottom of WSL2 for a second season running, head coach Katie Rowson resigned in August after been appointed as part of a managerial overhaul of the club at the start of the season and there was no let-up in the high turnover of players.

The problems have continued into this year as Watford conceded last weekend’s Women’s FA Cup third round tie at Doncaster Rovers Belles “in order to ensure necessary preparations were fully in place ahead of the start of the league fixture programme”.

We understand Watford had an insufficient number of players to fulfil the tie following several departures in recent weeks after players were told they were free to look for other clubs.

Watford have stated more than 30 players were at training on Tuesday and have no concerns over available numbers for the Spring Series.

Following the decision to pull out of the cup, concerns have been raised regarding Watford FC’s commitment and support to the ladies team.

A club spokesman said: “Watford FC’s backing for Watford FC Ladies is significant, both in financial terms and through administrative and back-office support.

“The club is committed to always fielding a competitive team, with the hope for the future that most of the places in the squad can be filled by the most talented local female players.

“And in Keith Boanas it is delighted to have recruited one of the most experienced and respected coaches in the women’s game.”

Before taking on the Tooting & Mitcham United head coach role, the 57-year-old, who was confirmed in his new post at Vicarage Road on Tuesday, was the County coach of the Surrey FA.

During his tenure as Charlton Ladies head coach, Boanas’ side won the FA Women’s Cup at the third time of asking against Everton but his job later disappeared when the women’s team was scrapped following the Addicks’ relegation from the Premier League.

He has also been assistant director of the David Beckham Academy in Greenwich, taken charge of Millwall Lionesses and most recently spent eight years in Estonia as national team manager and technical director.