Women’s Super League (WSL) players are earning around 50 times less money compared to their male counterparts in the Premier League, according to a recent study.
The investigation by The Telegraph involved a consultation with players, agents and coaches from across all 12 WSL clubs. The results showed salaries for players can range from as little as £19,000 to as much as £250,000 per year.
Birmingham City were one of the sides found to spending the least on player wages. Their total came to just shy of £19,000 therefore falling below the national average wage.
Co-founder and host of podcast All for United WFC Jon Foster said: “It’s really disappointing to see a local club like Birmingham investing so little into its female team.
“I’m aware the club isn’t in a great place at the moment, but to think that some players may be better off not playing professional football is really negative towards the game.”
The study did find that many staff and players want wages to increase in line with the growth of women’s football in recent years, especially with the WSL’s recent broadcasting deal with Sky and the BBC.
Foster added: “This is a worrying situation at the moment, the investment of Sky and the BBC has benefitted the top sides such as Manchester City, United, Chelsea and Arsenal. However, the governing bodies need to act before lower ranked women’s teams will be sacrificed unfairly.
“I believe the higher earning clubs could help out in some way, not in terms of financially as they need their money themselves but I feel players could do more to encourage fans into stadiums to help generate more money for all clubs.”
The data for every club wasn’t revealed in the findings. However, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea were found to be spending the most on wages per year, with an average of around £60,000.
But, comparing these figures to the top women’s division in France, UK women’s football is below par. On average some of Lyon’s players in France on average earn around £411,000 per year which explains why some of England’s top talents such as Lucy Bronze, Nikita Parris and Alex Greenwood played for the French side.
Foster said: “We have recently in England seen fans from all different women’s clubs united in raising awareness for more equality, I don’t ever expect the pay to be the same as the men’s teams, but females in sport deserve more respect and should be earning more.”
In the men’s game most football stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne and Harry Kane will earn more money per week than some professional women’s players earn in a year.
Overall, there is still a long way to go on the road to equality according to The Telegraph.
Foster added: “Clubs should do more, especially for teams like Birmingham. They need people around them to educate the people in charge on how to deliver the finance that these women deserve as they are in the top tier of women’s football.”
