New era for womens football

Women’s football in England will undergo a major overhaul next season, with every Women’s Super League (WSL) club voting for a separate body instead of the FA running the WSL and Women’s Championship (WC).

Women’s football in England will undergo a major overhaul next season, with every Women’s Super League (WSL) club voting for a separate body instead of the FA running the WSL and WC.

The FA have run the WSL since its formation in 2010, but plans for a new independent board have been in the works. With more viewers, comes more fans. That eventually leads to investment, but that hasn’t been easy with the FA in charge.The Lionesses have continuously made the country proud after winning the Euros in 2022 and narrowingly missing out on the World Cup in 2023. The last few years has seen women’s football take over the sports headlines with the major tournaments seeing an upsurge in viewers. 

As seen in this year’s FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley, the attendance beat the previous record and set a new world record for attendance in a domestic women’s competition with a crowd of 77,390 (British Audience Ratings Bureau).

Another record broken was the final between England and Germany which held 87,192 fans who attended the final, establishing a new record for a women’s international game in Europe (FIFA).

Image by Maxopt from Pixabay

Another record broken was the final between England and Germany which held 87,192 fans who attended the final, establishing a new record for a women’s international game in Europe (FIFA). A new board will potentially allow clubs to have more control over that investment, as the women’s game continues to grow. However, there’s been question marks and concerns over this major change.

The men’s game is realistically the only thing you can compare women’s football with, and as we’ve seen with external investment, the football for the average viewer has become inaccessible. Unless of course, you pay for every single broadcaster that plays football. There’s more providers than ever making it a hefty balance if you want to watch all the football in the UK. Or, you could wait till 10:30pm each weekend for Match of the Day to get a capture of the matches played.

Jack Badu, women’s football coach and development officer, says that with change there’s ‘always fear’ but conversely could be a ‘big change’.

“You’re always going to compare men’s and women’s football, there’s always going to be a way of looking at what is success, but the culture over the years in the men’s game has been absolutely shocking,  and women’s football is a breath of fresh air so there’s always fear of change but it’s a big one.

That breath of fresh air has been one that has been illustrated through records being broken with the viewership in women’s football. As seen in this year’s FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley, the attendance beat the previous record and set a new world record for attendance in a domestic women’s competition with a crowd of 77,390 (British Audience Ratings Bureau).

Another record broken was the final between England and Germany which held 87,192 fans who attended the final, establishing a new record for a women’s international game in Europe (FIFA). But the concerns still rise, will accessibility be affected for the women’s game? When there’s an influx of new viewers and watchers, it would be a backwards step, so there’s cause for concern. Jack Badu continues to say that this investment ‘needs to be put in from the grassroots’.

“If we don’t have a solid grassroots, some of those players that will play until they’re 20, then progress at that point, you’re lacking in that quality of player coming through, so investment needs to be focused there to begin with.”

DAZN have already  made an impact by making European games free to watch, but presenter of women’s football and contributor to ‘Her Game Too’ Mia Lazero, says that there

is a ‘risk’ that this could ‘alienate fans’.

“It’s vital that companies like DAZN, who originally created a paywall and then lifted it, build a relationship with their customers and fans first. If that doesn’t happen first, then it’ll be difficult to solve the viewing figure concerns for those broadcasters.”

Public opinion remains mixed, but illustrates a rise in viewership in recent years with women’s football. A survey conducted through polls and multiple choice questions received 78 responses with 46.2% of those watching Women’s football in the last five years and 44% in the last ten.

-Mia Lazaro with England legend Sue Smith

Yet, only 38% watched the Women’s World Cup final in 2019 between USA and the Netherlands compared to a whopping 96% watching the most recent final last year between England vs Spain. It shows that there’s been more people watching in recent years, so it would be risky if that new fanbase starts to lose interest due to concerns like paywalls.

But there are plausible reasons why every WSL club voted for this change. Mia says that the potential benefits ‘outweigh’ the concerns.

“One of the main manifestos that NewCo pledged would be to change the structure of the league. This is one thing that does interest me despite the many questions I have. Women’s football has fewer leagues than the men’s. If we were to add more teams into the WSL from the Championship, the talent gap between all the tiers would widen due to lack of previous investment.”

This point is parallel to what Tasmin Miah, a lifelong fan and content creator for multiple women’s clubs including Leyton Orient, believes, as she says that a change like this will allow the ‘freedom’ to clubs:

“These two leagues (WSL & WC) in football have been growing steadily and definitely require some more attention and 

development to make it what is said to be a new era and a greater level of industry, potentially allowing more freedom to all clubs in the pyramid.”

She also believes that external investments will also create a ‘positive impact’ and it’s the ‘right time’ for this big change.

“The change not only applies to the WSL and WC but it definitely has an impact on the other leagues, as well as grassroots levels and academy teams. To further allow clubs to strive, there should be a deeper focus on their qualities and changes to the environments they play in to promote that. Competition is still alive and if the investments are successful, it’ll prove it’s the right time for this to happen.”

There won’t be a judgement until we see ‘NewCo’ and CEO Nikki Doucet execute their ambitious plans. It’s a brave move for WSL & WC clubs, as with all the risks, there’s a dream that’s waiting to be made reality.