Oxford United Ladies look like being made permanently homeless by the demise of Morris Motors Athletics and Social Club.

And officials of the ladies' football club, who were awarded the prestigious FA Charter Standard in 2006, are worried that it could lead to them losing players if they are forced to move out of the city.

The sports club, in Crescent Road, Oxford, has been United Ladies' base since 2002 when they moved there and adopted Morris Motors' name.

Oxford United Ladies, whose players are pictured above, were formed from that team two years ago, and the club have seen their numbers grow to the extent where they now have enough players to support a reserve team and a youth team.

The two years have brought oustanding success - cup wins, successive titles and promotions, and last season the first team won Southern Region Women's Division 1 without losing a match!

United Ladies use the sports club's facilities, which include showers, changing rooms, clubhouse and pitches, two nights a week for training and on Sunday afternoon for matches.

It's also a base for them to eat and prepare food, which they have to do on under league rules.

It would be a disaster for them if the Morris Motors sports club closed down for good.

"It was our home for most of last season, but with the building works we're unable to use any of it," said Oxford United Ladies chairman Naomi Nixon.

"We thought that was how it would be next season and that we would need a new home for one year and then be able to return. But now it looks like we're without a home for good.

"At the moment, we have nowhere to play.

"We have received one firm offer of a ground from Chalgrove Parish Council, and it is a fantastic facility because they have an Astroturf pitch, but the grass area isn't floodlit so we wouldn't be able to train from October.

"The girls will play matches there, if we have nowhere else to go, but some come from Abingdon, Banbury, Bicester and just to get into Oxford is difficult enough. To get out to Chalgrove as well could be very difficult.

"And we still need somewhere else to train through the winter."

The cost of hiring pitches within the city could also prove tough for the ladies now that they have lost their development team funding from Oxford United, a direct result of their failure to win promotion back to the Football League.