Equal pay in football is one thing, but fair prize money is much harder to achieve

Staff Writer

After the stunning success of the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, continued calls for equal pay rang loudly across the globe.

The tournament took the women’s game into the stratosphere. Broadcast wise, the numbers were astonishing, stadium attendance was superb and the football played impressive. The growth in women’s football at the elite level has a momentum unparalleled by any other global sport and the process of guiding the game through that growth is an important one that must be overseen astutely.

Australia’s national women’s team, the Matildas, will play a key role in the short term future of football, as one of the top ten nations in the female game. With a significant portion of the national squad now plying their trade in the FA Women’s Super League in the UK, their personal development as footballers appears limitless.

The Super League has attracted the best of the best from around the world and appears likely to become similar to the EPL in terms of the quality of play and the financial remuneration available to players.

It is that financial remuneration that has been a hot topic in recent days, with news surfacing the England’s FA have been paying the exact same amount in match fees and bonuses to its men’s and women’s teams since January 2020. The Brazilian Football Confederation has confirmed that a similar parity has been occurring since March and the ground breaking collective bargaining agreement announced in November 2019, saw Australia’s elite female players earn true equity in pay and conditions.

That agreement saw Matilda salaries increase to around A$100,000, in line with their male counterparts, whilst also increasing their share of revenue generated from national team play.

No doubt, more and more countries around the globe will follow suit in the short to medium term and by the time the world gathers in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 for the next edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, it is highly likely that true pay equality will be universally in existence for all the squads competing.

Sadly for the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) the road to financial parity has been a less than simple and uncontroversial one. A March 2019 court proceeding seeking US$100 million was tossed from the court room by a federal judge, citing the team’s original decision to reject the payment structure adopted by the men’s team and their subsequent dissatisfaction with that choice.

Taking legal action retroactively once the error of their way became clear was frowned upon by the judge, yet claims that the medical treatment and travel support offered to the squad were inadequate, will indeed see the USWNT have their day in court in the near future.

No doubt the USWNT’s situation will be resolved in due course and wages and conditions set in line with those provided for the men’s team, however the best female players in the world will still be well behind males when it comes to the potential financial windfall they can take from the game they love.

At the 2019 Women’s World Cup, the USWNT received $4 million for its victory. Each participating team was given $750,000 for playing in the group stage, with bonus funds due the further a nation progressed through the tournament. Overall, FIFA allocated $30 million to the event, a smallish figure when compared to the $400 million paid to the teams participating at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

National federations receive the funds and dole out the money as they see fit and this is where the next discussion around the reimbursement of female players will lie. Whilst the Matildas are pleased with their negotiated 30 per cent share of prize money, such an agreement does not exist for most women’s national teams.

Some might argue that if FIFA’s total investment in the Women’s World Cup was around seven per cent of the $400 million spent on the men’s tournament, then the share of prize money allocated to female participants should be at around the same rate.

However, FIFA makes little distinction between the two tournaments, claiming revenue cannot be split among all FIFA events, as broadcast and corporate arrangements are agreed to as a complete package. Thus, a discussion around the value of the women who play the game at the highest level and the share of the purse they should earn will be the next step in the path to true pay equality.

Australia has pioneered that path and will look to lead the rest of the world when it comes to ensuring that the current and future generation of Matildas is compensated fairly; not only via salaries and match payments, but also through the allocation of prize money awarded for the entertainment they provide and any success they have on the pitch.

 

 

 

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The A-Leagues Final Series important status also a secret hinderance

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The Isuzu A-League finals series is a huge event in the footballing calendar, though its contribution to stagnant attendance numbers in the league is something to be said.

If the 2025/26 finals series follows similar patterns to those before it, it will gather huge traction and strong ticket sales.

It is the largest event for the domestic league, bringing in massive amounts of viewership through media and gate receipts.

Finals series from years past have shown this, with the 2024/25 final, a Melbourne derby, being sold out within 48 hours and gathering significant viewership online.

The idea of a finals series lies within the Australian sporting ethos; the other sporting codes have had this tradition for most of their existence, especially in recent history.

Football, though, is different from the rest of the sporting codes in Australia, unique even. This has historically contributed to its inability to integrate into the same supported status as other codes.

Many in the Australian footballing community, supporter groups, players, coaches, and even the new Director of Football Australia, have voiced concerns over fan numbers in the league competition.

It wouldn’t be absurd to say that maybe, though profitable now, the finals series is actually taking away from the league itself.

Consider the media image: the league winner is called the “minor premiership,” and ticket sales and viewership figures reveal a huge disparity between the two parts of the A-League.

It must be said that an alternative that could work in unison with the league and possibly increase viewership of the league itself would be a great advantage.

It would allow the league to gain more jeopardy and drama, which could build greater interest in attending league games.

One alternative is already here.

No other sporting code in Australia has both a league competition and a cup competition. Football in Australia does.

The Hahn’s Australia Cup is our equivalent to the FA Cup in England or the Copa del Rey in Spain.

These are competitions that offer a finals option in a different competition entirely. They generate huge traction while never diminishing the importance of the league and, therefore, its popularity.

These cup competitions cannot be discussed without acknowledging some obvious differences.

They don’t face the same popularity issues that football does in Australia. It’s obvious the Hahn’s Australia Cup doesn’t yet gain the traction that the finals series does.

However, for a healthy footballing environment with increasing fan numbers, it should.

The idea of elevating the Hahn’s Australia Cup and scaling back the finals series is a complex question, one that is treated like a “no-go zone” by many in the Australian footballing community, and that is understandable.

Though big changes like this might, in the end, be credible options for the future of the sport in this country.

Larger plans must be set in motion, strategies that can be worked towards and refined along the way. It is the process by which all large organisations, business models and even national governments build their strategies.

Such a shift will be scrutinised and pushed back against.

Though with further fine-tuning and smart investment in development, not to mention the introduction of promotion and relegation and the possibility of changing the footballing calendar.

It could replicate the success that these two-competition models already enjoy in other leagues.

The added importance that the premiership would gain, the reality that every game matters, could alongside other strategies entice fans to more games, increase viewership and ticket sales, and create more dedicated fan bases. It works in other nations, very well in fact.

The possibility of two teams lifting a trophy, rather than one single event defining it all, sounds like a strategy that could deliver more engagement over longer periods of time.

Maybe Australian football doesn’t need to answer this question just yet. It is complex, difficult and it would require a great deal of work, including significant investment into the game, which is another issue entirely.

Yet as low attendance numbers persist in the A-League, even alongside increased media viewership, something needs to change for football in Australia.

The rise in popularity of this game and its dedicated community deserves bold ideas and forward thinking.

Ideas like this could eventually begin to change the landscape of the beautiful game in Australia for the better.

Football NSW Targets Female Coaching Gap with Twin Programs

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Image Credit: Football NSW

Football NSW has announced two new initiatives targeting the development of female coaches and coach education tutors, backed by federal and state government funding, as the governing body moves to address the longstanding structural absence of women across all levels of coaching in the sport.

The Future Female Coaches Mentoring Program, funded through the NSW Office of Sport’s Empower Her program, will select six female coaches holding a minimum AFC B Diploma for a structured mentoring program beginning mid-year. Participants will be paired with experienced mentors and receive three in-person visits including real-time observation and feedback, alongside regular online development sessions throughout the season.

Separately, Football NSW has opened expressions of interest for its 2026/27 Female Coach Education Tutor (CET) Program, supported by the Australian Federal Government’s Play Our Way investment, targeting C Diploma holders who want to move into coach education delivery.

Together, the programs address two distinct but connected gaps in the women’s football coaching pipeline- the progression from active coach to elite-level practitioner, and the transition from practitioner to the tutors who shape how coaching is taught.

The Pipeline Problem

The structural underrepresentation of women in football coaching isn’t a new observation. It is a documented and persistent feature of the game at every level, from community clubs to national team environments. Female coaches remain a minority in pathway competitions, and female coach education tutors are even more so.

One current tutor in the program described the environment she encountered when she came through the system. “My experience coming through as a coach, there was no females on the courses as participants and there was no females running the courses either,” she said. “That kind of inspires me to be someone that can hopefully make other females feel comfortable and confident to want to become coaches.”

“It is really important to have female role models because it shows that there is an opportunity or pathway for females,” said one program participant. “Traditionally it has been a male-dominated area and to know that yes, you can do it as a passion or a side thing, or you can actually make a career of it if you want.”

Removing barriers at the point of entry

The mentoring program’s design reflects an understanding that formal accreditation alone is insufficient to retain and develop female coaches in high-performance environments. Access to experienced mentors, observation in live coaching contexts and ongoing reflective practice address the informal development gaps that credentials cannot fill.

“Learning happens through coaching in real environments, and we recognise our role in providing both stretch and support to high-potential coaches,” said Edward Ferguson, Football NSW Head of Football Development. “This program offers tailored mentoring that complements formal coach education and enhances effectiveness in practice.”

Hayley Todd, Football NSW Head of Womens and Schools Football, framed the initiative in terms of long-term system building rather than individual development. “Creating sustainable pathways for female coaches is a key priority,” she said. “This program supports their development while also providing valuable insight into what is required to progress from state competitions into national and international environments.”

The barriers the programs are designed to remove are clear. The cost of accreditation, lack of access to mentoring networks, the absence of welcoming environments in coaching courses and the scarcity of female role models at senior levels all compound one another in ways that make progression difficult regardless of ability or commitment.

“You want to try and remove as many barriers as possible,” said one tutor involved in the program. “If you can start to remove those barriers, you actually get to engage with the females more consistently and build their confidence and competence in that space.”

A system investing in itself

The timing of both announcements sits within a broader national moment for women’s football. The AFC Women’s Asian Cup, currently underway in Australia, has delivered record crowds and sustained visibility for the female game at the elite level. The programs announced this week operate at the other end of the pipeline – building the coaching infrastructure that will determine whether the players inspired by that visibility have qualified, experienced and representative coaches to develop them.

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