Bristol City Women chief Romaney Pinnock shares stance on potential WSL relegation change | Bristol Live

Bristol City Women currently compete in the second tier of English football, the Women's Championship

Bristol City's head of women's football Romaney Pinnock has shared her stance on proposed changes to promotion and relegation in the Women's Super League, admitting she wouldn't be opposed to pausing relegation to help expand the top tier.

The current system in the women's football pyramid in England sees one club promoted to and relegated from the WSL each season, with just 12 teams in the top flight and 11 in the second tier. The side that finishes bottom of the WSL is relegated to the Championship and the second division's champions are promoted.

In a bid to expand the WSL, the league is understood to be considering abolishing relegation temporarily, but still allowing one club to be promoted during that time to slowly grow the division.

While Pinnock was keen to insist that she was opposed to a permanent scrapping of relegation and emphasised that a pause wasn't the only possible solution, she did admit she would be open to voting for a temporary break on teams dropping out of the top flight.

"Multiple competition structures are being put forward and discussed," Pinnock told supporters at last week's fans forum. "I think two weeks ago we had our last shareholders meeting and it was just a general discussion between WSL and Championship teams. We'll have another one at the end of this month and then on April 30, we'll come together to vote.

"There is no one option on the table, there are multiple so I can't say what we're voting for yet because it depends on what's on the shortlist essentially. The discussion around no relegation that has been pushed around, it has a time limit. It would only be no relegation for the years it takes to increase the WSL size and then it would go back to the usual promotion, and relegation system. For example, you may have several seasons where there is no relegation from the WSL and two go up every year, it's those sorts of variations that are being put on the table, as well as how the competition itself is structured.

"I can't say what I would vote for but I am pro-expansion of the leagues. If the only option there is that we have to do a couple of seasons of no relegation, I'd be leaning towards that. But I'll also caveat that, I'm not English and I know that the English take very personally the competitiveness of promotion and relegation.

"I can't say I enjoy the American model, I can't see an endgame of an eternity of no relegation but I am not against a period where we might not have it in order to expand the league. That's not to say that's the only option, it might be a case of one down, two up so we've got to see what gets put on the table."

Having been relegated from the WSL under the management of Lauren Smith last season, the Robins were hoping to make an immediate return to the top flight this season. Despite a positive start under new manager Steve Kirby, mixed results in recent weeks have seen City slip to fifth in the Championship and 10 points adrift of table-toppers Birmingham City with just five games left of the season.

On paper, promotion is not completely unattainable, but it will be a tall order for Kirby's side. Having been held to a 1-1 draw by Charlton Athletic at Ashton Gate on Sunday afternoon, the Reds head coach has challenged his players to finish the season as strongly as possible.