In 2022, and ahead of the European Championships that England memorably went on to win, I wrote an article about the challenges of growing the popularity of women’s football. Within the article I put forward several developments that by 2028 would be indicative of good growth within England. These indicators were:

• An expanded Women’s Super League (WSL) of up to 16 clubs.
• Better salaries and contractual rights that reflect the status of women players as full-time professional athletes.
• Teams operating financially at a sustainable level.
• The WSL being owned by a commercial rights holder independent of The FA.
• A competitively balanced and open pyramid that offered genuine opportunities for clubs to progress to the next level whilst maintaining relegation.
• WSL teams performing consistently in the UEFA Champions League.
• Commercial sponsorships that are different to the men’s teams at the same club.
• Greater diversity in the profile of professional players.

As the 2025 edition of the Euros approaches it is perhaps timely to reflect on the extent to which progress has been made in these areas.

1 An expanded WSL.

On 20 June 2025, The FA approved the expansion of the WSL from 12 to 14 teams from the 2026–27 season. This will also be achieved by maintaining relegation from the WSL and provides an opportunity for up to three WSL2 (formerly the Championship) teams to be promoted. This expansion will increase the number of matches for each team from 22 to 26 per season, and given concerns over an already crowded fixture schedule any further expansion towards 16 and even 18 teams will need to be carefully assessed, including the impact on player welfare.

2 Better salaries and contractual rights for players and staff.

While success in the 2022 Euros undoubtedly benefitted the earning potential of the players who became household names, the average salaries of professional players in the WSL and WSL2 is still significantly less than the average salaries of male players across all five professional football leagues in England (this includes the National Conference). While the average for male players may be skewed by the level of salaries in the Premier League there is no doubt that being a professional footballer in the women’s game is far from being as financially rewarding as it is for men. Perhaps more progress has been made in securing better rights for women, and one aspect of gaining promotion to the WSL and WSL2 is to ensure that each club has appropriate contractual rights in place for players and staff.

3 Clubs and teams operating financially at a sustainable level.

The Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance provides a useful insight into the income and costs associated with the WSL clubs. Since 2022 revenues have risen each season across broadcasting, matchday and commercial activities. However, revenues for the top four women’s teams (Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United) are estimated to account for two-thirds of all WSL revenue. Such a disparity does not so much raise questions about the financial sustainability of the WSL but the competitive balance of the league. Furthermore, the Deloitte review also noted the financial challenge of supporting the aspiration of two professional leagues as well as the difficulty of properly assessing the income and costs of women’s teams when the respective figures are often incorporated into the reporting of the wider club. Growing the game from a financial perspective is still as much as a challenge as it was in 2022.

4 The WSL being owned by a commercial rights holder independent of The FA.

In August 2024 The FA announced that a newly created private company, Women’s Professional League Limited (WPPL), would be taking on the responsibility of managing and developing the WSL and Championship. The FA heralded this development as a new dawn for the women’s game and the challenge for Nikki Doucet, appointed CEO of the company, is to create transformative and sustained growth. For The FA, the creation of the company, whose name changed to Women’s Super League Football (WSL Football) in May 2025, enables them to focus even further on other aspects of the women’s game such as supporting the Lionesses and other age-group England teams. One controversial decision already made by WSL Football is the rebranding of the Championship to WSL2.

5 A competitively balanced and open pyramid that offered genuine opportunities for clubs to progress to the next level while maintaining relegation.

This is arguably very much a work in progress. With ambitious and well-funded teams operating both in WSL2 and the regional national leagues below this, the challenge to get promoted when often there is only one promotion place available is intense. The challenge for the women’s game is similar to the challenges in the men’s National League System (NLS) that operates below the Premier League and Football League for semi-professional teams. For many seasons there have been ongoing debates about how best to structure and organise the NLS both in terms of promotion and relegation places and the regulations required to compete at each level. As with the NLS creating an open and balanced pyramid league system in the women’s game, this will be a constantly evolving and developing process.

6 WSL teams performing consistently in the UEFA Champions League.

For the past three seasons Chelsea have made the semi-final stage of the UEFA Champions League and Arsenal have made the same stage twice. Arsenal’s amazing victory over Barcelona in the recent 2025 final was a magnificent achievement and the first time an English team has won the title since Arsenal achieved the feat in 2007. From the start of next season UEFA are introducing a women’s Europa Cup competition which provides further opportunities for more WSL clubs to compete in Europe. This will be an interesting test to assess the strength and depth of the WSL compared to equivalent leagues in Europe. The expectation at the outset is that WSL teams should do well in the Europa Cup.

7 Commercial sponsorships that are different to the men’s teams at the same club.

There are an increasing number of sponsorship agreements and commercial partnerships specific to the women’s teams at clubs. For example, Chelsea and Crystal Palace have different front of shirt sponsorship to their men’s teams. Commercial sponsorships and visible branding is an area that offers a significant amount of future potential and the means by which male and female teams from the same club can be differentiated and enabled to develop their own commercial identity.

8 Greater diversity in the profile of professional players.

Heading into this summer’s Euros the England squad features four black players in Khiara Keating, Jess Carter, Michelle Agyemang and Lauren James. This is a small improvement over the 2022 squad that featured three black players. This highlights how much there is still to do in making the women’s game more diverse in terms of ethnicity and cultural background. This process takes time and stems from encouraging girls from under-represented groups getting involved in the game at a young age and then having the accessible and progressive pathways that allow their talent and potential to develop. One note of caution here, the women’s and girls game would do well not to copy and replicate the academy system in boys’ football. What’s needed is a different approach and some creative and innovative thinking that learns from the failings of the boys’ system.

There has undoubtedly been much progress in the women’s game since 2022. Some change has happened quickly, while other changes are still taking time. Without question though a successful defence of the European Championship this summer will be a great help and contribute to even more progress and development. Come 27 July, let’s hope England are lining up to take part in the final.