Page 3 - Women's Soccer Scene Issue no.20 2021-22

New agreement between FA and players

The Football Association (The FA) and Professional Footballers Association (PFA) have made a
landmark agreement that will see players in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League and FA
Women’s Championship receive enhancements to maternity, injury and illness and termination of
contract for long-term injury.
The new agreement will come into effect from the 2022/23 season following consultation
with clubs in England’s top two divisions of the women’s game, with the FA Women’s Super League
and FA Women’s Championship board ratifying the agreement.
The new maternity policy will form part of a club’s licensing agreement, and must be offered
to players to ensure license criteria is met. The other uplifts will form part of a revised Standard
Contract for Women’s Football.
Under the new policy, a player going on maternity leave will be paid 100% of her weekly
wage, as well as any other renumeration and benefits for the first 14 weeks, before reverting to
applicable statuary rate.
This is a considerable uplift on the current minimum of statutory, and would previously
have only applied to players who had been employed by their club from a minimum of 26 weeks.
The new policy will have no qualifying period.
As well as maternity cover, the new agreement will also see players receive long-term
sickness pay that mirrors the men’s game in all new contracts.
Players will now receive their basic wage for the first 18 months if an injury occurs, then one
half of their wage for the length of the injury thereafter. Previously, players received six months’ pay.
There will also be more protection for players relating to termination of contract as a result
of injury. If a player has been incapacitated for injury or illness for a period of 18 months in a
consecutive period of 20 months, a club can be entitled to serve notice, with the length of any notice
being 12 months. Prior to this, the notice period was three months.
Kelly Simmons, The FA’s Director of the Women’s Professional Game, said: “I am delighted
that we have been able to put this agreement in place and it is another significant step forward for
the women’s game.
“Player welfare and wellbeing has always been our number one priority and this new policy
ensures players are better supported, whether that’s going on maternity leave or as a result of a
long-term injury.
“This objective was written into our Women’s Pro Game Strategy that we released last year,
so I am pleased we have been able to achieve this.”
FA Cup prize money

The Football Association has issued the following statement regarding prize money for clubs in the
Vitality Women’s FA Cup:
“The FA has had a clear plan for women’s football that has seen it become one of the biggest
successes across sport in our country. The growth at all levels has been game changing and we’re
incredibly proud of the progress that we have led.
“To drive this growth we invested over £50 million into our initial ‘Gameplan for Growth’
strategy; which doubled female participation, delivered professional and semi-professional
women’s football and a successful England team. We built on this with even more investment in
our ‘Inspiring Positive Change’ strategy that launched last year, with a long-term plan to work
with Barclays FA Women's Super League and FA Women’s Championship clubs to accelerate
growth of audiences and revenues. This will help make women’s football in England more
commercially viable in the future and allow further re-investment.
“The Vitality Women’s FA Cup’s significant development over the last few years is just one
example of this growth. Whilst the competition doesn’t yet drive commercial revenue to fund prize
money growth, The FA Board has agreed a significant increase in prize money to support the
competition’s continued development. More details are to be announced in due course and the
additional prize money will come into effect from the 2022/23 season.”
Issue no. 20 - 3 February 2022 womenssoccerscene@mail.com