Ladies First
The Rise of Women's football in the UK
The Rise, Fall and Rise Again of Women's Football
The FA's ban, the Dick, Kerr Ladies and the 'Lost Lionesses'
“Understanding the history of women's football is crucial, vital. I cannot stress it enough because if we don't understand the history and what has gone before us and the struggles that women have had, we are at risk of this happening again.” – Ella Williams
Women’s football with a set of standardised rules has a long, storied history dating all the way back to the 1860s. However, the game goes back further than that, there is references to women playing the game way back in the 1500s with the poem ‘A dialogue between two shepherds’ by Sir Philip stating:
“A tyme there is for all, my mother often sayes,
When she, with skirts tuckt very hy, with girles at football playes.”
The first recorded game in the history of women’s football was in 1881 when a game between Scotland and England took place at Easter Road in Edinburgh. Many historians believe this was the Musical Hall Troupes, bringing the nationality of the players into question.
The British Ladies Football Club North Team - Mrs Graham's XI was a women's football (soccer) team formed by Helen Matthews in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1881.
The British Ladies Football Club North Team - Mrs Graham's XI was a women's football (soccer) team formed by Helen Matthews in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1881.
In 1895 there was a more ‘middle-class’ attempt to legitimise women’s football. Alfred Hewitt Smith formed the British Ladies Football Club (BLFC). Nettie Honeyball was the captain. Honeyball was, for many years thought to be a pseudonym until recently when evidence showed that wasn’t the case.
Sports Historian Andy Mitchell said: “In the 1890s, some members of the British Ladies Football Club used false names, but many did not - and in fact I don't believe Nettie Honeyball was a pseudonym.”
During World War One women had begun to do the traditional jobs the men had done prior to the war. Factories developed their own football teams during the war.
“Mass conscription to the army led to women taking up traditional men's roles and that led to the formation of women's football teams in 1917 onwards. The game quickly took off among women, and unlike some other 'male' roles it continued after the end of the war and was a popular spectator sport.” Said Mitchell.
The most famous and successful factory side of the early 1900s was the Dick, Kerr Ladies FC. The team amassed over 800 games from 1917 to 1965 and won 746. Lilly Parr, who was well renowned as the country’s best goal scorer played for Dick, Kerr Ladies. Parr’s final goal tally has been debated but it is believed that she scored more than 900 goals during her 30-year career.
Dick-Kerr-Ladies-in-USA-1922
Dick-Kerr-Ladies-in-USA-1922
Following the war women began to lose their jobs but this was not the case at the Dick, Kerr factory.
Women’s football historian Steve Bolton said: “There was a huge number of women who lost their jobs. But I think the Dick Kerr factory, I am not aware of any great job loss. And in fact, what I have found is an article where some of the men who've returned have complained that women have still got their jobs.”
By 1921 the game had seen a growth like what we are seeing today. There were around 150 women’s football clubs. Some matches drew crowds of more than 45,000 people.
The future of the women’s game was bright…
That was until December 5, 1921, when the FA announced a ban on all women’s football on FA affiliated pitches.
“The game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.” Read an FA Statement.
Due to the FA’s ban, the women’s game was restricted to playing on public parks for almost 50 years. Despite the ban women were determined to keep playing football. The game continued from the 30s through to the 60s even though small facilities were being used. The game was played primarily at rugby grounds with limited capacities.
Steve Bolton’s grandmother Lizzy Ashcroft was captain of the Dick, Kerr Ladies. He Said: “When I first started looking at women's football, it was very much, ‘oh, those nasty men in 1921, they banned my granny’, you know, ‘how very dare they’. And the more I look at it, the more I think that any reasonable person whose job was to run the male FA in those days would have made that inevitable decision.”
November 1969 saw representatives of 44 clubs attend the first meeting of the Women’s Football Association (WFA) in London.
Mitchell said: “To me, the formation of the WFA in 1969, and its subsequent efforts to create a Women's FA Cup and an international team, was the defining moment of the modern era for English football.”
The FA came under intense scrutiny in December 1969 to lift the ban on the women’s football. A month later in January 1970 the ban was lifted. Women could once again play on FA affiliated pitches.
A less spoken about time in the history of women’s football occurred in 1971. ‘The Lost Lionesses’ were the first women’s team to represent England at an international tournament at the World Cup in Mexico. Although the team was unofficial and then disbanded upon their return to England. The team was known as “Inglaterra” which is Spanish for England. The team did not receive recognition in the media until 2019.
England players from 1971 at Copa 71 film women's football special screening at Picturehouse London 8 March 2024
England players from 1971 at Copa 71 film women's football special screening at Picturehouse London 8 March 2024
Ella Williams interviewed multiple members of the ‘Lost Lionesses.’ She said: “As someone who's played football all of my life hearing about the 1971 lionesses was a big shock to me because I thought I knew about all of the World Cups that had gone before. The first time I heard the story and even now when I watched the film ‘Copa 71’, I feel angry about the fact that this amazing event has been hidden from history.”
In 1972 the WFA England team had its first official match against Scotland. England won the game 3-2, 91 years after their first unofficial game against Scotland in 1881. Despite this England only played 25 international matches over the next six years until 1978.
The WFA continued to push for the women’s game and opened their first administrative office in 1981. Three years later the FA started to take a keener interest in the women’s game and the WFA became affiliated with the same status as County FAs. In the same year (1984) England lost out to Sweden on penalties after two legs in what would be the predecessor to the Euros.
The FA took over women’s football in 1993 with the WFA no longer having the financial capabilities to take the game any further. The FAs first season in charge of the women’s game seen three divisions of 10 teams (Premier, Division One North and Division One South), the FA also took control of the formerly named WFA Cup, National League and League Cup.
From the 1994/95 season the top division of women’s football was rebranded to the FA Women’s Premier League (FAWPL). The FAWPL continued as the top division in England until 2010.
FIFA introduced the Women’s World Cup in 1991 and by the end of the 1990s the game had grown globally to the point where the 1999 World Cup in USA had seen sold out crowds and an attendance of90,000 in the final.
The first 20 centres for excellence were opened up and down the country in 1998, within the same year, England appointed their first full time head coach Hope Powell.
HOPE POWELL FA WOMANS COACH TRAINING THE TEAM AT WEST BROM. 24/10/2007. PICTURE DAVID ASHDOWN
HOPE POWELL FA WOMANS COACH TRAINING THE TEAM AT WEST BROM. 24/10/2007. PICTURE DAVID ASHDOWN
The early 2000s had seen the game continue to grow in England and had become the top sport to be played by women and girls. The game was boosted even further by 2005 when England were selected as the host nation for the EUROs. Records for attendances and TV figures were broken with a then European record of 29,092 at the City of Manchester Stadium. England were getting stronger on an international stage.
In 2011 the women’s game was reformed which saw the inception of the Women’s Super League (WSL). The WSL was initially an eight-team summer tournament before moving to the current format of a two division fully professional game in 2017.
The London Olympics in 2012 also saw a huge boost in the women’s game with Team GB reaching the quarter finals of the competition, more significantly a 1-0 win over Brazil in the group stage saw more than 70,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.
Two years later and England had set another attendance record at their first game at the New Wembley Stadium with more than 45,000 fans in attendance. By 2015 the Lionesses were a force on the world stage, they reached the semi-finals of the next three major tournaments between 2015 and 2019. Their semi-final defeat to USA in the 2019 World Cup attracted an audience of 11.7million on BBC.
In 2017 the FA announced their ‘Gameplan for Growth’. The three goals were to double the participation, double the fanbase and have consistent success on the world stage. All three goals were hit with more than 2.9m girls and women form the age of five and above now playing the game in England.
The history of women’s football in England felt like it was building to 31 July 2022 when England Lionesses won their first major tournament in front of 87,192 fans. Media coverage and participation in the game has never been higher following the Lionesses triumph with grassroots participation, media coverage and attendances now rising at an international and domestic level year on year.
Tuning In
Viewing figures, TV deals and female pundits
Wembley Stadium July 31, 2022. More than 87,000 people had gathered to watch the Lionesses attempt to win their first major tournament in the final of Euros.
As many as 17 million people around the UK were also watching this historic match on TV. The Nation collectively held its breath as Chloe Kelly prodded the ball in from close range to give the Lionesses the lead late into extra time.
It was such a joyous occasion that was missing one man, Lance Hardy.
Hardy was a sports journalist, author and BBC reporter who had been an advocate for women’s football long before anyone else. He passed away in 2021.
Match of the Day commentator Guy Mowbray said: “Lance Hardy really pushed for it [women’s football] to be on television and it's through television and exposure that it's got the ground that it's got, and people have bought into it”.
Before he died, Hardy had begun co-authoring former Sunderland Chairman Bob Murray’s autobiography entitled ‘I’d do it all again’. Murray said: “Lance was an advocate when nobody else was. You know he was way before his time.”
Broadcasters like Gabby Logan, Jo Currie, and Steve Wilson have all declared the significant role that Hardy played in women’s football being displayed on our television screens in the early 2000’s.
Despite the Euros final of two years ago been seen as the turning point in women’s football in the UK. It was over 20 years prior when BBC producer Hardy introduced regular women’s football to our TV screens.
Back in 2012, Mowbray was on commentary at the London Olympics where 70,000 people gathered to watch Great Britain play Brazil in the final. He said: “It was, it really was [a catalyst]. I did a game at the 2012 Olympics at Old Trafford earlier on in the competition, USA against Canada. I've got to tell you; it was one of the best games of football I've ever seen. It was 4-3, the place was full, it was rocking. There was no England involved in that. That was an amazing game of football.”
Sky Sports broadcaster Hannah Wilkes said: “You look at women's football which has been growing and growing and growing for years. Obviously, the Lionesses winning the Euros was absolutely ginormous in that and it was timed so beautifully that it happened and then Sky had the WSL rights as well as it meant Sky could just throw everything at it.”
Sky Sports bus outside The National Football Museum on day of England v Austria UEFA Womens Euro 6 July 2022 Old Trafford Manchester
Sky Sports bus outside The National Football Museum on day of England v Austria UEFA Womens Euro 6 July 2022 Old Trafford Manchester
Sky Sports and BBC’s Women’s Super League TV deals commenced two months after England’s European Championship success.
A year on from being crowned European champions the Lionesses would try to go one further in Australia and compete for World Cup glory however, Sarina Wiegman’s team sadly fell at the final hurdle losing 1-0 to Spain.
Even in defeat, the Lionesses had inspired once again with a peak UK audience of 14.8 million across BBC and ITV and an average viewership throughout of 13.3 million.
The WSL also continues to grow with BBC announcing in November 2023 that their broadcast of Chelsea v Liverpool was the most watched WSL match ever with an average audience of 796K and a peak audience of 955K.
Sky Sports and BBC has now been the home for WSL for the past three seasons and that is set to continue for at least another year with both broadcasters extending their current deals for another season. Sky will have rights to 44 matches throughout the 2024/2025 season whilst BBC will show 22 matches, as well as a selection of matches being available on the FA Player.
Sky Sports broadcaster Ellen Ellard said: “Broadcasting has been absolutely key in making sure the whole of the UK and the whole of England can access the highest standard of women's football where you get to see top class internationals play week in week out.
“There are only 12 WSL teams. So, it's not a guarantee that you're going to live near to a WSL team. So having it accessible and well covered by broadcasters is key if you live in Cornwall and your nearest team's Bristol City. That's still a long way to get to.”
Bristol City have now been relegated from the WSL. Crystal Palace were promoted from the Women’s Championship. All 12 sides are set for next season’s WSL season.
Wilkes said: "To appeal to a wider audience and to get new fans in, you have to have it where people can see it and that is on our television, well not even TVs now as well, it's just screens. You've got to have it on screens. We know the power of TV and broadcast and social media, and you have to utilize that to grow anything these days and it's been huge in terms of the growth of women's football in particular.”
During the Lionesses most recent international break (April 2024), their European qualifier against Ireland had an average viewership of 1.4 million on ITV1. The game fell on the same night Manchester City and Arsenal’s men’s sides were in Champions League action, City and Arsenal’s semi-finals had a combined average viewership of 1.3m.
Broadcasting has played a huge role in the growth of women’s football evidenced by the rise in viewership numbers over the years with 2023’s viewership number of 20.6m beating 2022’s number of 18.9m. The rise of broadcasting in the women’s game has been monumental over the past 10 years with 17.4m people tuning in last year compared to 2013.
This new era of women’s football has continued to break the trend off the pitch too with more female pundits and commentators becoming involved in the game.
Guy Mowbray said: “Lucy Ward was my co-commentator for a lot of it (2007 World Cup), Sue (Smith), and Rachel Brown-Finnis is another one. If women have played the game at a decent level, at a high level, there's no reason why they can't be really, really good pundits and Sue's a prime example of that. Lucy Ward – by the way, one of the best co-commentators I've ever worked with. Her reading of a game is exceptional.”
Ellard believes female pundits and broadcasters are under more pressure.
“100%, particularly at the minute. You know, obviously we all strive not to make mistakes, but if a woman makes a mistake, that gets picked up on much quicker and to a bigger extent than any mistake a male pundit or male presenter, commentator, reporter would make.”
Fame: A Welcome Change
Role models & social media
A young fan displays her fandom for one of the Lionesses leading role models Lucy Bronze with a poster at an England v Portugal international friendly in 2023.
Bronze and her Lionesses teammates have become role models to young girls across the country due to their recent success.
The England full back was a product of Sunderland’s centre of excellence along with fellow Lionesses Jill Scott, Steph Houghton and Lucy Staniforth.
In 2019 as many as seven Sunderland graduates represented England at the World Cup with Demi Stokes, Beth Mead and Carly Telford joining Bronze, Scott, Staniforth and Houghton.
Rebel Women poster of Lucy Bronze by artist Kathryn Robertson (Credit: Angela Smith)
Rebel Women poster of Lucy Bronze by artist Kathryn Robertson (Credit: Angela Smith)
University of Sunderland’s Team Sunderland student engagement officer Tor Curtis spoke about Bronze being her “role model”.
“She was a full back, that's where I play as well.” Curtis said.
Curtis previously captained Sunderland women’s university team.
“Obviously, she's from the area, when I played for Sunderland, they used to get her (Bronze) or Jill Scott to come in and do little talks with us just to motivate us to be better. So, I've always looked up to her, really.”
The rise of the women's game has seen more pressure on players.
One player who doesn’t feel pressure of the game is Sunderland AFC’s young player of the season Mary McAteer. She said: “Potentially [added pressure], I feel like it doesn't really change much, I think if anything it gives us an opportunity to express ourselves even more and put ourselves out there as players and as people.
“I think what we're trying to do as individuals and as a team is to encourage more girls to play. At the end of the day, that's what women's football is here to do. We want to encourage girls and we want to show them what they can do as well, because that wasn't always the case in the past.”
Role models on the pitch, the players also have eyes on them off the pitch. Knowing how to deal with the media is another burden that comes with being a role model.
Sunderland AFC women engagement officer Kieran Regan said: “It's something that we're always trying to work on [media training]. So, I wouldn't say at the minute but we're always mixing up who's doing the interviews. They're all involved in the videos, things like that. They're all involved in that all the time. So, they just naturally get better at it. I think that's the only way you can really, like, you can have as much training as you want over two hours or whatever, but I think it's just the constant exposure to the cameras, being around interviews, training photos, things like that. I think it's just part and parcel of being a professional footballer now as well.”
Whilst having role models on the pitch is a huge part of the game, people want to follow their heroes on social media to see what they are doing when they aren’t on the pitch.
Professor Angela Smith from the University of Sunderland said: “I think that there are the positives of raising people's profile [social media], no longer do you have to go through an agent to see what someone is doing. So, you've got female footballers on social media sharing things and being very visible but on the other hand you have the abuse and the misogyny that is still in online that they are subjected to.”
Aston Villa midfielder Alisha Lehmann is the most followed female footballer in the world with 16.7m followers on Instagram.
London, England. 18 February, 2024. Alisha Lehmann of Aston Villa in action during the Women's Super League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa at Brisbane Road.
London, England. 18 February, 2024. Alisha Lehmann of Aston Villa in action during the Women's Super League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa at Brisbane Road.
Villa women’s communications officer Luke McNulty admits the club received a “surge of followers” following the signing of Lehmann.
Villa’s Instagram page had 28,929 followers when Lehmann signed in 2021, but within three months of the Swiss International joining Villa their followers had risen to 71,188. The club’s Instagram following now stands at 427,000.
Another example of a role model is Leah Williamson. The Arsenal and England captain regularly uses her platform for social justice. Williamson and her England teammates wrote an open letter to Conservative candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak following their Euro 2022 success, the letter requested more support for girls who want to play football in schools.
Sky Sports broadcaster Ellen Ellard said: “You've got to say Leah Williamson's done a huge amount of pushing for a lot more and a lot more growth within the women's game.
Leah Williamson captain England v Norway UEFA Womens Euro Brighton Community Stadium (Amex Stadium) 11 July 2022
Leah Williamson captain England v Norway UEFA Womens Euro Brighton Community Stadium (Amex Stadium) 11 July 2022
“I think if you mention [Williamson] from our side, you've got to talk about Lotte Wubben-Moy. With what she's done with regards to campaigning for the Government as well. You know, the letter that they wrote off the back of the Euros with regards, to particularly young girls but children across the UK having more access to PE facilities, football being offered to more girls as well in schools. That idea came from Lotte, that was something that Lotte wanted to do, and all of the team got behind her.”
As the sport continues to grow as does the stature of the role models within it, like any other sport young girls playing the game need someone to look up to and aspire to be.
Prof. Smith, who co-manages the ‘Rebel Women’ project at the University of Sunderland said: “I think it really does help because there are a lot of statistics that show that girls tend to drop out of sport at the end of primary school. One of the reasons is that they don't see it as being relevant to what they want to do in the future.
“So, if you have a role model such as Jessica Ennis-Hill was in the 2012 Olympics as one of the stars and the great role models, then you can see that there is somebody who has done a lot with their sport and they are very happy and successful in it.
“So, seeing it is part of being and I think that does help.”
Ellard said: “I think if you see it, you can be it. If it's there, that's there. And I think, to show young women that the opportunities are there.
She continued: “I think it's important not just for young girls to have that role model, but for the whole of society to see women in those roles.”
Fight For The Right
Opportunity, ACL injuries, Discrimination and facilities
Dating all the way back to the early 1900s women have had to endure a tough time to play football.
In 1921 the FA banned women’s football stating “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged”.
As recent as the early 2000s young girls like Durham women captain Sarah Wilson had to play on boy’s teams due to the lack of girl’s football teams.
“When I was younger there wasn’t actually that many women’s teams in the local area.” Said Wilson.
She has now amassed over 200 games for Durham but like many others there wasn’t “opportunity” for her at a young age.
Wilson’s Durham teammate Becky Salicki said: “There wasn’t really much opportunity for me to play.”
Sunderland women midfielder Natasha Fenton also had tough experience of being a young girl wanting to play football. She said: “When you're playing in the boys’ team, it’s the opposition that's usually the issue in terms of parents shouting abuse or ‘get the girl’, all that kind of stuff that's reported in the media, everyone's experienced it if you would speak to them.”
Natasha Fenton playing for Sunderland (Credit: Kasey Taylor)
Natasha Fenton playing for Sunderland (Credit: Kasey Taylor)
Beth Shaw played football in Stockton from a young age and like many professional women’s footballers had to play on a boy’s team where she found it “hard to be accepted” by the boys due to their “jealousy”.
Shaw and her twin sister were signed to Middlesbrough’s Academy by the age of nine and played for Middlesbrough’s under-11 side. She was also invited to her first England camp at the age of 13. Shaw was involved in the Middlesbrough and England set-ups until the age of 16 until she couldn’t see a future in the game and left to focus on her studies.
Shaw said: “I can’t solely say that if more opportunities or funding was available, I would still be playing. However, I think it would have given me more motivation and hope if the women’s game had more support and clear pathways and opportunities for girls to take in the position, I was in.”
Due to the growth of the women’s game and the demand of young girls who want to play football things are moving in a different direction.
Sky Sports broadcaster Ellen Ellard said: “I mean we tried to push for it [opportunity to play] when I was at school, and I've got to hand it to the school I was at. They've been brilliant now; I follow them on Instagram, and they have a girl’s football team. I think pretty much each year has a girl’s football team and so when I left in 2018, they didn't have that and now it's great, I know I love seeing the updates of the results when the girls have gone out to play against the rival schools. So that would have been something I'd have been all over if there was an opportunity.”
Despite now being afforded more opportunities and better facilities there is still a long way for the women’s game to go. One pressing issue is ACL injuries.
Women are six times more likely to suffer ACL injuries compared to their male counterparts and 25% less likely to make a full return, the reason for this is unknown due to the lack of research.
Injury concern for Beth Mead of Arsenal during Arsenal Women vs Chelsea Women, FA Women's Super League Football at Meadow Park on 13th January 2019
Injury concern for Beth Mead of Arsenal during Arsenal Women vs Chelsea Women, FA Women's Super League Football at Meadow Park on 13th January 2019
“It's not something we ever really discuss [ACL injuries] but the research needs to be done because it's so prevalent in the women's game and it's going to continue unless something is done about it.” Said Wilson.
Salicki, 31 said: “I did my ACL back when I was 21 and it's quite scary to see how much it continues to kind of happen. When I did mine, I couldn't sleep for weeks and was trying to understand why I did it and how I did it because I did mine by basically kicking a ball away and my standing leg went.”
Despite the lack of research currently available the FA are working to improve the issue. Durham women club doctor Dougal Southward said: “There is a lot of work going on at the moment and the FA are keeping a close eye on that. There are some initiatives such as the training warm up programme and other S&C initiatives. As the causes of ACL injuries are still debated and are myriad it is not clear what specifically to do without the additional research.”
One side of the women’s game that has improved over the past few years is the facilities of the women’s game, this had led to an all-time high in attendances in the sport.
Eleven of the 12 WSL teams have used their male counterpart’s stadium during the 23/24 season, with West Ham being the only side not to, whilst both Bristol City and Leicester City use their clubs’ stadiums as a permanent home.
Arsenal women have used the Emirates Stadium on six occasions in the WSL this season, breaking the attendance record on three occasions whilst Emma Hayes’ Chelsea side have played at Stamford Bridge four times this season averaging an attendance of 20,255 over those four games and recently sold out ‘the Bridge’ in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.
Overall WSL attendances are up 43% this season with a figure of 7,478 compared to last season’s average 5,222.
Former Sunderland AFC defender Gary Bennett, who coaches the University of Sunderland women’s football team said: “Giving them that opportunity, that's part and parcel of development. I think if you go back maybe 20 years ago or even longer than that, girls to be playing football, you were classed as a so-called tomboy, but now it’s something which is encouraged.
“I think there's a pathway now, I think there's a career now in football, a lot of the women now are professionals, especially playing in the WSL, so I think there we can see that the development's going well.”
Despite women now being afforded more opportunities within football, sexism and discrimination is on the rise with 82% of women experiencing discrimination in football in 2023.
Bennett said: “It's down to education. You know we're talking about women playing football now and you know there's a lot more what goes alongside it in regards of we're talking about maybe wages, we're talking about teams going professional, a few years ago we weren't doing that but again we talk about sexism which is going on, equality and again that's down to educating people especially when they're going to the ground.”
Looking Ahead
The FA, NewCo and the next steps of women’s football
The FA has controlled all levels of the women’s game in England since forming the Women’s Super League in 2011 but many believe the game has outgrown the FA.
Kieran Theivam has worked in women’s football for more than 15 years. He said: “It had to happen. I don’t think the FA gets the credit it deserves when it comes to how it has grown the professional game, but it has a ceiling and it’s been reached.”
Jen O’Neill has worked in the women’s game for over two decades. She was the editor of She Kicks magazine for 25 years as well as covering various women’s football tournaments as a commentator and journalist.
She said: “The FA has invested vast amounts of capital into the top two tiers since 2011. Their vision and belief in the product, plus the investment, was both unprecedented – show me a national football federation that has taken a league as far as the WSL has travelled, from where it started – and a catalyst to the astonishing growth of the women’s game we see today. The FA is responsible for ensuring the health of the grassroots game, supporting development of talent and ‘Football for All’.”
It was announced in 2023 that at the end of the current season the top two divisions of women’s football in England would be taken over by NewCo.
NewCo, which will soon have a better, catchier name is an independent entity that has been established specifically to govern the 24 teams in the top two divisions of women's football in England and to commercialise both competitions, similar to the role of the Premier League.
Bristol, UK. 08th Mar, 2021. Barclays WSL Corner Flag at Ashton Gate. Barclays Women's Super league match, Bristol city women v Reading women at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol, Avon on Monday 8th March 2021.
Bristol, UK. 08th Mar, 2021. Barclays WSL Corner Flag at Ashton Gate. Barclays Women's Super league match, Bristol city women v Reading women at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol, Avon on Monday 8th March 2021.
Despite many stating the FA has hit it’s celling in regard to how far it can take the women’s game and the need for an independent regulator to be put in place, there is concerns about the future of the game under NewCo.
Theivam, who was a Women’s football journalist from 2010-2019 before taking up a role as communications manager of women’s football at the FA said: “It needed an independent company to take it forward and it will allow for dedicated resource and finance to really grow the leagues.
“The one concern I have is it will likely mirror the men’s game, which not everyone wants. But time will tell. One thing I do know is that those working for NewCo will work around the clock to make it successful.”
O’Neill said: “Logically offering ownership to the clubs that are competing and taking it to greater heights (i.e., increasing wages and attracting global talent, bigger crowds in larger stadia, sponsorships etc), removes the limits and ceiling that may have existed by being overseen by such an organisation into the future.
“It’s a shame though, because we have to trust that the new custodians of the elite women’s game care about the sport’s integrity and past.
“There are plenty of football supporters who have lost faith and interest in the top echelons of the men’s game, it would be very disappointing to see the women’s game deliberately follow suit.”
Former Women in Football Director Jane Purdon said: “The difference between the 2021 Euros final at Wembley (men’s) and the 2022 Euros final at Wembley (women’s). The second one was a joyful, safe experience. The first wasn’t! Why is that? What can men’s football learn from women’s football in this regard?”
Despite concerns that the women’s game could follow suit of the model ran by the Premier League, those who have worked within the game have no doubt about the potential of the future of women’s football.
O’Neill said: “If ‘growth’ is more players, increased attendances and improving standards and quality of play, then absolutely. Those are the markers and metrics that matter to me. Better opportunities for all ages (especially in schools), improved access to facilities and kit, the continued acceptance and normalisation of women’s sport by all sections of society (which puts an onus on positive media coverage and visibility) – get these right and surely growth takes care of itself. That’s not just locally but across the wider women’s game.”
The average revenue of the top 15 women’s football clubs in Europe grew by 61% to £3.7million over the last year, according to analysis by Deloitte. Of those clubs, eight were WSL teams with Manchester United leading the English teams with a revenue of £6.8m, only second to Barcelona.
London, UK. 14th May, 2023. Manchester United Women line up before kick off during the The Women's FA Cup match at Wembley Stadium, London. Picture credit: Gary Oakley/Sportimage Credit: Sportimage Ltd/Alamy Live News
London, UK. 14th May, 2023. Manchester United Women line up before kick off during the The Women's FA Cup match at Wembley Stadium, London. Picture credit: Gary Oakley/Sportimage Credit: Sportimage Ltd/Alamy Live News
Theivam said: “There’s so much room for growth. Commercial interest is at an all-time high and there is a new broadcast deal on the horizon which will no doubt eclipse the current one.
“Interest has never been bigger and young girls and boys now have role models they can look up to. Projects such as Let Girls Play will also ignite interest and hopefully inspire the next generation of players.”
Purdon also made a “bold prediction” in the 1990s. She said: “I knew from the first time I went to watch the England women’s team in 1990 that I was watching quality football, and it was only a matter of time before the rest of the country realised this too.”
The future of the game doesn’t only look promising at the very top but all the way down to grassroots thanks to the raising the bar report headed by Karen Carney MBE.
The 2023 report focuses on four key aspects of improving women’s football. The four categories are generating an environment that maximises invest opportunities, reframing minimum standards for the professional environment, raising the bar of fan experience, and driving momentum and accountability in the grassroots game.
WSL Hall of Famer O’Neill said: “The ideal way forward is for the current governing bodies, at international and domestic levels, to continue to improve their diversity, understanding and equalise support, importance, and investment into both the men’s and women’s game. We can but dream.”
Images via Alamy unless stated otherwise.
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