Spotlight on women footballers' rights as top two tiers join PFA

In June the Women’s Super League (WSL) announced it will expand from 12 to 14 teams from the 2026-27 season. In parallel, it has been announced that all players in the Women’s Championship will become eligible to join the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. These developments mark a significant step towards making the top two divisions of women’s football in England professional for the first time.

The developments follow reports in May that the WSL and PFA were in talks to sign a funding deal to enable all players in the top two tiers to join the union. Despite avoiding relegation last season, one club has announced its intention to withdraw from the WSL next season, citing challenges in meeting the division’s new minimum licence requirements with regard to staffing, facilities and player welfare.

Under the existing arrangements, some players – particularly those without full-time employment contracts – were not eligible for union support and potentially lacked access to healthcare, medical insurance, and pay in line with the national minimum wage.

Financial inequalities, from lower pay to limited investment and fewer sponsorship deals, have long been a challenge to women’s football. In June 2024, Reading’s women’s team was also forced to drop down a league to the fifth tier due to financial pressures.

However, it is hoped that these latest moves to professionalise the women’s game will be transformative for players seeking improved working conditions, contracts and treatment by their clubs.

While unfair dismissal claims are relatively rare in the men’s game, employment law specialist Joe McMorrow of Pinsent Masons said the changes would enhance female players’ understanding of their employment rights and could potentially give rise to other types of claims before the Employment Tribunal.

“The financial figures involved in men’s game are such that professional players don’t want to rock the boat, especially when there is a cap on the amount of an unfair dismissal claim – currently £118,223,” he said. “However, things are different in the women’s game. Financial amounts are much less, especially in tier 2. The same commercial parameters don’t apply. There is also an increased likelihood of other types of claims – such as claims under the Equality Act, including pregnancy, maternity and sex discrimination, where arbitration would not be appropriate.”

Commenting on these developments, former AFC Bournemouth chairman Trevor Watkins of Pinsent Masons said: “Investment into women’s sport – whether through acquisition of ownership or into sponsorship, facilities or media rights – underpins the industry’s growth and these recent changes.”

“It’s a continuing trend across sports and reflected in the similar growth of multi-club ownership within women’s football. That increasingly global nature will likely lead to further changes across the industry in both regulation and the requirements placed on stakeholders and the expectations needing to be met,” he said.