Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (): The Government has made
significant progress in recent years to advance and support
women’s sport. The Lionesses’ success at the Women’s Euros helped
make 2022 a landmark year for women’s sport, with the country’s
first major football trophy since 1966. Our efforts are focussed
on specific critical areas, most notably girls' access to equal
provision of sports in school. The Government is determined to
build on the momentum and passion stirred by the Lionesses’
victory, and is committed to supporting women’s football and
women’s sport to flourish.
The Fan Led Review of Football
Governance(opens in a new tab), conducted in 2021,
recommended that “given the many, but interconnected, issues
affecting a meaningful future for women’s football needing to be
addressed and resolved successfully, the future of women’s
football should receive its own dedicated review”.
In response, the Government launched the independent Review of
the Future of Women’s Football in September 2022 to examine the
strategic priorities for the development of the game. The Review
has been chaired by former England and Great Britain professional
footballer, Karen Carney MBE.
Today the Government has published the final report which sets
out the recommendations of the Review. The report reflects
hundreds of hours of evidence and engagement and the passion of
those who contributed in their desire to make women’s football a
sport that enhances the lives of women and girls in England. It
examines in detail the opportunities and challenges for the
women’s game across the elite game and the wider pyramid. It
considers girls' experiences of participating in, and watching,
football, and the key issues from grassroots clubs through to the
professional game. The Review makes ten strategic
recommendations:
- The new entity tasked with running elite women’s football
should not settle for anything less than world leading standards
for players, fans, staff, and everybody involved in the women’s
game.
- The FA needs to fix the talent pathway in order to create
generation after generation of world beating Lionesses.
- Both the Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship should
become fully professional environments designed to attract,
develop and sustain the best playing talent in the world.
- The FA should urgently address the lack of diversity across
the women’s game - in both on and off pitch roles.
- The FA, Premier League, EFL and broadcasters should work
together to carve out a new dedicated broadcast slot for women’s
football.
- Clubs must better value and support their fans - the FA
should raise minimum standards to enforce this.
- Government must deliver on recent commitments around equal
access to school sports for girls.
- Everyone involved in funding grassroots facilities must come
together to increase investment in order to accommodate
meaningful access for women and girls.
- The FA, Premier League and Football Foundation should work
together to make sure that women and girls are benefitting from
funding flowing into facilities across the pyramid.
- The FA should leverage the handover of administration of the
top two tiers of women’s football to even more acutely focus on
grassroots clubs and the Women’s National League.
I would like to thank those who contributed to the Review,
whether through the call for evidence or engagement sessions. I
also want to take this opportunity to thank Karen, the Chair and
her panel of experts for their hard work and dedication.
Women’s football can be a sport that genuinely enhances the lives
of women and girls in England, and has the ability to offer a
unique and accessible environment for all types of fans. I agree
that it has the opportunity to become a world leading sport that
can pave the way for women’s sport across the world. Football
will need to carefully consider the recommendations made in this
report.
The Government welcomes the work of the Review and will now
consider the detailed recommendations before providing a full
response in the autumn.
