Revealed: WSL and WSL2 players to get minimum salaries from this season

“We wanted to make sure that they could focus on being a footballer, not focus on a part-time job over here and the pressures that come with that, [helping] players focus all their energies on being the very best footballer on the pitch that they can be. We did a huge, 18-month project; this wasn’t something that we just thought up two months ago and rolled it out. It took extensive consultation.

“It’s not as easy as just saying: ‘Oh, it’s this amount of money a year,’ because there are different thresholds depending on your age group. It [was also about] making it a jump that was affordable. I think we’re all aware, women’s football is still financially fragile. We’re seeing wonderful growth and it’s such an exciting period, but we know that costs outweigh revenue short-term. We know the revenue opportunity in the women’s game is phenomenal, but we do need to be really thoughtful about not just loading costs into any business. We have to be adding value.

“We’re also putting more support around those players, so there will be a number of additional mandatory roles that will be rolled out – we’re introducing a [mandatory] performance wellbeing role within all of our clubs. Football traditionally hasn’t moved in that space, but we see the importance of supporting athletes.”