Culture minister should promote the growth of women’s sports

• The FA, NewCo and others were brought together by Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer to give momentum to implementing the recommendations in Karen Carney MBE’s Review of Women’s Football
• The news comes as the sports minister convenes academics and industry stakeholders to explore further options to advance women’s sport
• The meetings build on the Government’s existing commitment to supporting the growth of women’s and girls’ sport, including the £30 million Lionesses Futures Fund

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer will today convene the first Women’s Football Review Implementation Group, bringing together leaders to implement the recommendations in Karen Carney MBE’s draft for women’s domestic football.

Representatives from NewCo – the new independent body responsible for governing the women’s professional game – the FA, the Football Foundation, Sport England, the Sports Ground Safety Authority, the Professional Football Association, the English Football League, the Department for Education and the Premier League will face the challenge of keeping the Culture Secretary updated on progress to date.

The group will be responsible for implementing world-leading standards for players, fans and staff; improving the talent pathway; and, among other things, the creation of a dedicated broadcast slot for women’s football.

In December 2023, the Government fully supported the recommendations made in Carney’s review to deliver bold and sustainable growth in the women’s game. This comes following the publication of the government’s new sports strategy, which aims to get 3.5 million more people active by 2030, including 1.25 million women.

Culture Minister Lucy Frazer said:

We remain committed to our plan to increase growth and participation in women’s sport to achieve our ambitious goal of getting 1.25 million more women active by 2030.

Last year the Government fully supported the recommendations in Karen Carney’s Review of Women’s Football.

We are now implementing the recommendations made to the Government, including bringing together those responsible for delivering change to ensure progress is implemented quickly.

A key recommendation of the review was that the government should increase investment in giving women and girls meaningful access to sport alongside local authorities, the FA and the Premier League.

Progress has already been made with the Government’s commitment to invest £30 million through the Lionesses Futures Fund to deliver 30 new state-of-the-art 3G pitches at sites supporting women’s and girls’ teams across England. The government is also taking action to improve equal access through unprecedented investment in basic facilities. Over 2,200 projects have already been implemented across the UK.

Carney will bring her experience and industry knowledge to the meeting to hear what has been achieved so far in improving the talent pathway and addressing the lack of diversity in the women’s game.

Karen Carney MBE said:

It’s great to see how far we’ve come and the Government’s commitment to women’s football, but we mustn’t become complacent. I hope that the Implementation Group will ensure that we move forward more quickly and work to put the review’s recommendations into practice.

I’m encouraged to see that a wide range of stakeholders are involved. Through collaboration, investment and hard work, I firmly believe that we can make the sport a global leader in every aspect, from playing standards to fan access to career opportunities for women. The growth of women’s sports represents a broader movement toward equality and I’m proud to be a part of it.

Three other independent personalities have also joined the group to provide knowledge and advice: Kelly Simmons, sports consultant and board advisor; Jane Purdon, director and adviser for football and rugby; and Deborah Dilworth, head of women’s football at the FSA.

In her review, Carney stressed the importance of raising minimum standards, particularly in relation to salaries, training opportunities and mental and physical wellbeing. During the meeting, NewCo and the FA are expected to outline the first steps they are taking to create a fully professional environment.

As well as supporting progress in women’s football, the Government is also committed to raising standards across women’s sport. Sports Minister Stuart Andrew chaired the first meeting of the Board of Women’s Sport today, bringing together industry leaders and academics.

The Board will bring together relevant leaders from across women’s sport to share insights and explore future opportunities to help women’s sport achieve further sustainable growth, with a particular focus on the elite and professional levels.

Sports Minister Stuart Andrew said:

It’s been great to see women’s and girls’ sport take off in recent years, but we know more needs to be done.

We listened to the recommendations in Karen’s review and brought together key stakeholders from across women’s sport to share best practice on issues facing female athletes.

We want to create a shared vision for all women’s and girls’ sports and help them grow from strength to strength.

Participants at the first meeting include representatives from Sport England, UK Sport and the UK Sports Institute, as well as experts from FIFA, the Concussion Research Forum and The Well HQ. Karen Carney MBE and Barbara Slater, director of BBC Sport, will also join as independent members. The establishment of the board also comes as a recommendation of the Review of Women’s Football.

The discussion is expected to focus on the physical well-being of female athletes, including topics such as anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries and concussions, as well as the impact of women’s health life stages on a female athlete.

Future meetings will focus on topics such as sustainable investment in women’s sport and physical and mental health and support to create new opportunities and enable women’s sport to reach its full potential.

This comes as the women’s football review highlighted the lack of sharing of best practice across sports on issues impacting elite female athletes. It has been estimated that only 6% of sports and science research involves exclusively women, demonstrating the significant need for research based exclusively on women.

Notes for editors

• One of the recommendations in the review of women’s football was that the government should honor its recent commitments on equal access for girls to school sport. Last week the Department for Education published brand new guidance for schools to strengthen equal access to school sport and sport.
• The new guide aims to inspire schools to offer inclusive, high-quality sport to all students and shows how schools can remove barriers to participation in physical education, for example by building relationships with local and national sports associations.
• Membership of the Women’s Football Review Implementation Group: Mark Bullingham, CEO, The Football Association (FA); Baroness Sue Campbell, Director of Women’s Football, The Football Association (FA); Nikki Doucet, CEO, NewCo; Clare Sumner, Chief Policy and Corporate Affairs Officer, Premier League; Maheta Molango, CEO, Professional Footballers Association (PFA); Rick Parry, chairman of the English Football League (EFL); Ken Scott, Interim CEO, Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA); Patrick Brosnan, Strategic Director, Sport England; Robert Sullivan, CEO, Football Foundation; Matthew Hopkinson, DD, Department of Education; Deborah Dilworth, Head of Women’s Football, Football Supporters Association (FSA), Member of the Women’s Football Review Expert Panel; Karen Carney MBE, ex-professional, Chair of the Review, sports expert; Kelly Simmons OBE, sports consultant and board advisor; Jane Purdon, Director and Advisor for Football and Rugby.
• Women’s Sport Board Membership: Hazel McCluskey, Strategic Lead Business Transformation, Sport England; Stuart Pickering, Head of Performance Partnerships, UK Sport; Matt Archibald, National Director, UK Sports Institute; Dr. Pippa Bennett, Director of Clinical Governance, UK Sports Institute; Dr. Jaideep Gupte, Director of Research, Strategy and Innovation (Arts and Humanities Research Council), UK Research & Innovation; Fiona Semple, Athlete Support Manager, British Elite Athletes Association; Liz Bloor, PPF Women’s Sports Committee Chair, Professional Players Federation; Jo Maher, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Sport, Loughborough University; Karen Carney MBE, former professional footballer and chair of the Review of Women’s Football; Barbara Slater, Director of Sport, BBC; Tammy Parlor, CEO, Women’s Sport Trust; Fran Connolly, CEO, England Netball; Alex Teasdale, Women’s Match Manager, England Rugby; Kay Cossington, Women’s Technical Director, Football Association; Tommy Yule, Head of Performance, UK Athletics; Jon Dutton, CEO, British Cycling; Dr. Rob Buckle, Chairman of the Concussion Research Forum; Baz Moffat, CEO, The Well HQ; Nadine Kessler, Managing Director of Women’s Football, UEFA; Belinda Wilson, Senior Technical Development Manager Women’s Football, FIFA; Georgie Bruinvels, PhD research scientist and female athlete leader, Orreco; Marian Holliday, Deputy Director for Women’s Health, Department of Health and Human Services.