The Free State boasts only two women’s clubs – Bloemfontein Celtic and Tsunami Queens FC from Qwaqwa – in the senior professional division.
Ixias FC from Welkom failed to gain promotion at the national play-offs hosted in Durban from 9 to 13 February.
The team lost by 1 – 2 to host Lindelani Ladies, thereby missing out on the opportunity to compete in the semifinal.
Lindelani went on to secure third place – and prize money of R60 000 – at the national promotion play-offs.
Ixias is a team attached to the Welkom campus of the Central University of Technology, Free State.
After beating the Kovsie women’s team at the provincial final played in October last year, Ixias qualified for the national final.
This side was among the nine provincial winners to compete nationally for two available slots in the country’s professional league.
The Western Cape-based Vasco da Gama beat City Lads FC from the Eastern Cape by 4 – 3 in the final.
Vasco scooped the overall prize of R200 000, while Lads pocketed R100 000 as the runner-up.
Both teams were promoted to the Safa National Women’s League, the country’s first-ever professional league for women.
Their promotion increases the number of teams campaigning in the professional league to 16.
