Government briefed on plans to grow women’s football in England
The FA and NewCo updated the government earlier in the week with their plans on how to grow women’s football in England.
It marks the first meeting of the women’s football review implementation group following a major review of women’s football by former footballer Karen Carney.
In December, the government said it would back all 10 of Carney’s recommendations.
Lucy Frazer, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said they are “delivering” on those recommendations.
Representatives from NewCo, the new independent body responsible for the management of the women’s professional game, the Football Association (FA), Football Foundation, Sport England, the Sports Ground Safety Authority, Professional Football Association, the English Football League, the Department for Education and the Premier League are said to have updated Frazer on the progress made so far.
Carney’s 126-page report called for:
- world-leading standards for players, fans, staff, and everyone in the women’s game
- restoration of the talent pathway needed to create future generations of Lionesses
- professionalisation across the top two tiers to attract and develop the best players in the world
- the lack of diversity to be addressed across the women’s game, in on-pitch and off-pitch roles
- the game’s governing bodies to work with broadcasters to create a new dedicated time slot
- adopting more measures to support fans
- provision of equal access to school sports for girls
- more investment in grassroots facilities and better access for females.
The government has pledged to invest £30m to deliver 30 new 3G pitches at sites supporting women’s and girl’s teams across England via the Lionesses Future Fund.
“It’s great to see how far we’ve come and the commitment made by the government to women’s football, but we cannot become complacent,” said Carney, who won 144 caps for England.
“It is my hope that the implementation group will ensure that we can progress further at a faster pace, working to get the review’s recommendations in play.
“The growth of women’s sport represents a wider movement towards equity and I am proud to be part of it.”