For too long, football’s been all about the men: As with many sports, the men’s football game tends to be valued much more highly than the women’s. Coverage and viewership of women’s matches are usually much lower than men’s, and significantly fewer resources are allocated for their accommodation, facilities and training. Women are often forced to play on artificial turf, unlike their male counterparts. Some female players have argued that what the women’s game lacks in speed, it makes up for in technical prowess. But there’s no denying that for many viewers, it is still a less compelling game to watch.

Could this be about to change? In 2018, the Women’s Super League (WSL), the female equivalent of the English Premier League (EPL), went professional, making this year the first season of full-time players working as professional athletes. Recently, Barclays signed a GBP 10 mn agreement with the Football Association to sponsor the Women’s Super League (WSL), the female equivalent of the English Premier League, the FT says, in what is widely thought to be the biggest corporate investment in UK women’s sport. The sponsorship sum is supposed to transform the WSL into the world’s top female footballers’ league. It will also support the FA Girls’ Football Schools Partnerships, which improves girls’ access to football in schools.

Equal pay for equal work is still a long way away: Despite these strides, the WSL lags behind the EPL, financially. WSL athletes earn on average GBP 27,000 compared to the GBP 2.64 mn earned by their peers in the men’s Premier League, according to this Guardian piece.

Regardless of the economics, we’ll still be watching this summer’s FIFA World Women’s Cup in France, which will be held from 7 June – 7 July. Egypt will not be playing in the tournament, unfortunately. England’s team has its share of fans here in Enterprise, though and we will see the them take on Scotland, Argentina, and Japan in the group stages. Any England football fan tired of the perennial disappointment of the men’s team should break out their St George flags and back the women’s team.