The Football Association (FA) took full control of women’s football in 1993, having distantly supported the Women’s Football Association (WFA) since 1969. In 2002 football overtook netball as the most popular participation sport for women in England, and there are now over 150,000 FA-affiliated players. In the last 5 years the FA has invested £1.2 million; the National Lottery has granted £8 million and the Football Foundation £2.25 million for a total spend on women’s football of over £11 million.
Licensing by the national association is the model for the newly launched Women’s Super League (WSL) of eight teams. With around £3 million spent on the project so far, the FA is also the major stakeholder. This is the culmination of 14 years of work, as in 1997 the FA approved its first Women’s Football Talent Development Plan. This provided new funding to establish a network of 50 FA Girls’ Centres of Excellence across England licensed by the national association. Having used a series of 5-year development plans to lobby for more funding from the governing body, women’s football has helped the Corporate Social Responsibility programme of the FA, in addition to its equity and diversity agenda, by targeting areas of government concern to draw in external income streams.
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