Watford Women will play their football in the FA Women's Championship from next season following a successful application for upward movement to the Football Association.

Following the curtailment of the 2020/21 season in March, The FA invited teams to apply in their process of upward movement.

The Golden Girls have this week been informed that their application was successful and they will now feature in the second tier of women's football in England, starting with the 2021/22 campaign.

Head coach Clinton Lancaster told the Watford FC website he was "over the moon" with the decision and that it had been a long time coming.

“The initial feeling is ecstatic, I’m just over the moon and delighted,” said Lancaster. “It’s been a long time coming and the players and staff have had to be patient. We’re absolutely thrilled to have our application accepted, especially after everyone’s hard work over the last few years.”

Captain Helen Ward added: “A lot of hard work has gone into this. Not only is it the players on the field trying to achieve promotion, but it’s off the pitch. We’ve put ourselves forward in a really good way to achieve this, so it’s a really nice feeling to know that everybody’s hard work has paid off.”

Watford have been promoted alongside fellow applicants Sunderland.