THE WOMEN’S GAME
Why is this singled out in the Review?
Women’s football in England is one of the faster growing sports anywhere. Participation - whether as a player or supporter - is rising rapidly.
The game is thought to be at something of a crossroads - the decisions taken in the next few years will have a very big bearing on the way that the game develops.
Decisions about what?
Ms. Crouch singles out a number of issues :
• whether women’s teams should be automatically affiliated with the men’s at their club
• how the game is financed in the longer term, including how sponsors are identified
• how the game’s infrastructure is developed to allow it to cope with continued growth
• how the league is structured
• how the women’s game mitigates the concentration of wealth in just a small number of clubs
• building up levels of prize money that encourage competition, rather than inhibiting it
How should all this be managed ?
Ms. Crouch believes that the issues are serious enough to warrant the women’s game having a review of its own. Decisions need to be taken about how that review is carried out, who by, what its terms of references are to be and how soon it can report back.