Karen Carney: Women's football in England could be a 'billion pound industry' in next 10 years

A satellite grounds assemblage for a women's home lucifer watched Chelsea bushed Manchester United successful past term's FA Cup last astatine Wembley.

Domestic women's shot could go a "billion lb industry" successful 10 years' clip says erstwhile Lionesses midfielder Karen Carney - the seat of a large reappraisal into the sport.

It besides calls for a caller regular broadcast slot for women's shot to beryllium made disposable connected television.

"It is what needs to beryllium done, to determination the athletics forward," Carney said.

The ex-Birmingham and Chelsea subordinate added: "Full-time is full-time. Go for it. Realistically the biggest contented we request to spell aft is professionalising the women's crippled and bringing standards up due to the fact that that is simply a large problem."

Describing women's shot arsenic a "start-up business", Carney said everyone progressive from sponsors, broadcasters and the Football Association "has a work to put successful the crippled and determination it to the adjacent level".

She added: "If you are starting thing you person to person an influx of wealth and I truly bash judge that successful 10 years' clip this athletics could beryllium a cardinal lb industry.

"But these standards and concern are the foundations that pb america to this point. I truly bash deliberation we volition marque it [money] back."

An independently club-owned, club-run assemblage is poised to instrumentality over the Women's Super League and the Women's Championship adjacent twelvemonth arsenic the English women's crippled looks to capitalise connected its accelerated rise, accelerated by the Lionesses' occurrence astatine Euro 2022.

A caller report by Deloitte showed Women's Super League nine revenues roseate by 60% successful the 2021-22 season, showing signs of maturation earlier adjacent England's historical Euro 2022 victory.

Combined gross for the WSL clubs was £32m, an summation of £12m connected the erstwhile play acknowledgment successful portion to a caller broadcast deal, nevertheless clubs inactive recorded an aggregate pre-tax nonaccomplishment of £14m.

Carney's findings person focused connected respective areas including assemblage scope and growth, the fiscal wellness of the game, its semipermanent fiscal sustainability and its existing structures - starring to 10 large recommendations, that include:

• World starring standards for players, fans, staff, and everyone successful the women's game.
• To reconstruct the endowment pathway needed to make aboriginal generations of Lionesses.
• Professionalisation crossed the apical 2 tiers to pull and make the champion players successful the world.
• To code the deficiency of diverseness crossed the women's crippled - successful on- and off-pitch roles.
• The game's governing bodies to enactment with broadcasters to make a caller dedicated clip slot.
• Adopting much measures to enactment fans
• Providing adjacent entree to schoolhouse sports for girls.
• More concern successful grassroots facilities and amended entree for females.

Carney's program to 'revolutionise' women's football

Carney, who has worked successful the media since her status from playing successful 2019, was asked to analyse issues affecting the crippled astatine elite and grassroots levels in September 2022. by the UK government.

The women's crippled has made immense advancement successful caller years and, astatine grassroots level, has go the astir played squad athletics for women and girls successful England, with 3 cardinal registered players and implicit 12,000 registered teams.

However, some the Covid-19 pandemic and the men's crippled fan-led review highlighted the shallow resources wrong women's elite football.

She appointed a fig of experts from crossed athletics and business, including a elder NFL executive, with the UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer calling it an accidental to "revolutionise the game" successful a affirmative and sustainable way.

In a connection the main enforcement of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Maheta Molango called the study a "brave, ambitious and elaborate program for the aboriginal of women's game".

An FA spokeswoman said they would assistance "address the challenges and opportunities successful the report" to "deliver the changes needed".

They said: "These are breathtaking times for the improvement of the women's crippled and we stock Karen's imaginativeness of creating satellite starring standards for players, fans, and everyone progressive successful women's football."

'Bin bags for curtains' - part-time players & debased wages

While the 12-club WSL is afloat nonrecreational that does not widen to English women's football's 2nd tier.

A important driblet successful broadcast fees and FA cardinal backing means that turnovers tin beryllium arsenic precocious arsenic astir £7m successful the WSL but arsenic debased arsenic £150,000 successful the Women's Championship, wherever subordinate wages tin beryllium beneath £5,000 per year.

Reading's caller relegation from the WSL saw them revert to part-time football owed to the fiscal implications.

When it was enactment to Carney that much than £10m would beryllium required to redress immoderate of that balance, she passionately defended the request to pull further income to the game.

"Do I privation players to person to spell connected the NHS [for attraction of injuries]? No. Do I privation players to person to usage bin bags for curtains? No," she said.

"I don't privation immoderate of this concern immoderate more. There was a batch of grounds successful the reappraisal of the selling strategy successful spot not being capable to assistance the revenues grow.

"It is what is needed. It is not a antagonistic to put successful women's sport, we person to alteration the mindset. I recognize determination is simply a world to it."

On proposals to supply 1 root of backing from levelling FA Cup prize wealth crossed the men's and women's game, she added: "I'd anticipation determination would not beryllium a backlash.

"There are truthful galore issues and women's athletics has struggled for truthful agelong I'd anticipation there'd beryllium an knowing but with thing there'll ever beryllium idiosyncratic who volition situation it.

"I could person said equalise prize wealth close present but that would person taken down the pyramid of men's football. We should perfectly beryllium going for adjacent prize wealth [in the future] from the FA Cup and the FA should beryllium putting a timescale connected that."

'Five weeks retired tin crook into 5 months' - wounded improvements

A long-standing contented that Carney is keen to spot addressed urgently is the comparative deficiency of aesculapian enactment offered to pistillate players successful examination to their antheral counterparts.

A Fifa report successful 2021 showed that a 4th of top-division women's clubs astir the satellite bash not employment a physio oregon squad doc and portion determination person been improvements Carney says determination are inactive issues astir the prime and continuity of attraction provided.

"There was a subordinate who should person been retired for 5 weeks and was retired 5 months," Carney said.

"We've seen players beauteous overmuch accidental we are going to person to spell into aboriginal status due to the fact that of the aesculapian situation. It is simply a systemic contented astir women's wellness not conscionable successful athletics but outside, it has to beryllium better.

"Don't hide successful the Championship determination are players moving 3 of 4 jobs. They are ne'er going to beryllium capable to vie and it is not due to the fact that they don't person the ability, it is the resources.

"Are they hydrated? Are they getting the close nutrients to perform? Are they fatigued? That is wherefore we privation minimum standards to travel successful to support that competitory nature.

"We privation each our players to beryllium fit, disposable and playing due to the fact that past the merchandise is astatine its champion due to the fact that that's what the fans, broadcasters and players want."

A accidental to instrumentality centre signifier - kick-off times

Football's governing bodies person talked of exploring whether WSL fixtures tin beryllium televised connected Saturday afternoons to assistance grow the audience.

Last term, WSL matches consistently kicked disconnected astatine 11.30am connected Saturdays and 6.45pm connected Sundays to debar scheduling clashes with men's games.

No matches are presently shown during the '3pm blackout' slot successful bid to promote attendance astatine games.

However, Carney believes determination is nary simplistic solution: "It's precise wide we request to find a slot circumstantial for women's football.

"Men's shot is truly easy signposted, it is truly hard for women's shot to person a slot and basal out.

"We person to look astatine it, it is simply a truly saturated marketplace and this is what we are up against."

'We request to support pushing' - improving diversity

Carney's 'raising the bar' reappraisal besides identifies the request to make a workforce strategy for the women's crippled and the request to make greater diverseness connected and disconnected the pitch.

Former Brighton defender Fern Whelan, who is present an equalities enforcement astatine the PFA, echoed those comments successful effect to the report.

"We tin each spot that determination is simply a deficiency of practice crossed the women's game," Whelan said.

"That isn't by design, oregon thing the crippled needs to beryllium antiaircraft about. It's thing wherever we've acknowledged determination is an contented and begun to instrumentality action, but we request to support pushing.

"It's affirmative that the reappraisal has highlighted the deficiency of diverseness crossed the women's crippled arsenic thing that needs to beryllium urgently addressed.

"Are we doing capable to promote girls and young women from divers backgrounds into the game? Are we making the nonrecreational pathway accessible enough? It's often astir practicalities arsenic good arsenic culture."

'A highly important moment' - investigation

BBC Sport newsman Emma Sanders

This is simply a highly important infinitesimal successful English women's football.

The study has beardown backing from the PFA and FifPro, who person worked intimately with the reappraisal committee to guarantee players from each backgrounds person been capable to stock their experiences successful confidence.

There is simply a scope of issues which volition request semipermanent imaginativeness and patience to accommodate to, but determination are besides wide short-term recommendations.

Among the astir important are improved aesculapian support, calls for afloat funded national representation, amended prize wealth and a dedicated WSL broadcast spot - each of which tin beryllium addressed immediately.

There are nary ineligible enforcements fixed its an autarkic report, but the elemental information truthful galore person travel unneurotic to supply a elaborate reappraisal suggests it volition beryllium hard for the likes of the FA - and the WSL takeover institution - to ignore.