‘Nearly all’ Plymouth Women players will be let go after finding out by email

• Plymouth chief executive calls move ‘difficult decision’

• Players included in email will not have contract renewed

Plymouth Argyle have told the vast majority of their women’s first-team players their contracts will not be renewed this summer, the Guardian has learned, just weeks after they narrowly missed out on promotion to Women’s Super League 2.

In an email sent to almost all of the senior squad, Plymouth’s chief executive, Paul Berne, explained that the “difficult decision” to let the players go reflected “the direction of the squad for next season” and went on to thank the players and offer them job references.