Cop Practical: Initial Research

Brief:

Highlight the differences between female and male professional football in order to increase awareness and recognition for women in the sport.

Initial Ideas:

• Highlight pay gap 
• Lack of support/platform to be shown 
• feature events from the past to compare to current situation, how far have we come?
• Banned from sport 
• unsuitable for females 
• could be for sport in general?
• for FA, rebrand #wecanplay campaign?
• show pay difference through materials e.g. posters for women's football cheap production or create an oxymoron 

Research:
Pay:

• Female, top players can expect to earn around £70,000 per year which includes wage, sponsorship and any bonuses. 
• "They range from anywhere from £5000-£10000 on the lower spectrum for players who aren't professional up to around the £35,000 mark for the top earners." 
• England internationals have only been paid for the last 5 years 
• top male footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo $93 million in 2017 highest paid footballer around £68 mill. 
• clubs can only use 40% of turnover for wage bill, resulting in considerably low wages due to limited funding available to women's football 
• '30 players have been awarded central contracts that sit separately from their club contracts. Each of them is given a minimum of £25,000 a year, rising to £30,000 through things such as appearance bonuses.'

Brief timeline of women's football:

1895: The first women's football match. North beat South 7-1.

1921: The FA bans women from playing on Football League grounds. “…the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged." 

1971: The FA Council lifts the ban which forbade women playing on the grounds of affiliated clubs.

1991: The WFA launches a national league, which kicks-off with 24 clubs.

1997: The FA outlines its plans to develop the women's game from grassroots to elite level.

2007: Arsenal become the first British side to win Europe’s top club prize, the UEFA Women’s Cup. 

2015: England won bronze at the FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada and inspired an army of Young Lionesses to take up the game.

2016: England captain Steph Houghton and most-capped player Fara Williams were awarded MBEs in the New Year's Honours List.

Anon, (2017). The History of Women's Football. [online] Available at: http://2016: England captain Steph Houghton and most-capped player Fara Williams were awarded MBEs in the New Year's Honours List. [Accessed 3 Dec. 2017].

Thoughts/ areas to research:

• Highlight the difference between men and women and question why there is such a discrepancy within pay and showing women football as a whole 
• How far have we actually come from “quite unsuitable for females”
• Youth players earn as much as female professionals?

Sources:

Bajkowski, S. (2017). How much do women footballers earn? WSL salaries explained. [online] Manchester Evening News. Available at: http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/how-much-women-footballers-earn-1114748 [Accessed 3 Dec. 2017].

Wigmore, T. (2017). Sport’s gender pay gap: why are women still paid less than men?. [online] Newstatesman.com. Available at: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/sport/2016/08/sport-s-gender-pay-gap-why-are-women-still-paid-less-men [Accessed 3 Dec. 2017].

Kessel, A. (2017). English football: when women ruled the pitch. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2009/sep/10/england-womens-football-team [Accessed 3 Dec. 2017].