A ground-breaking sponsorship deal for women’s football could mark the start of “three huge years” in the development of the sport, according to the Football Association’s Kelly Simmons.
The FA’s director of the women’s professional game was speaking after Barclays was announced as the first title sponsor of the Women’s Super League.
The three-year partnership, which Press Association Sport understands to be worth in excess of £10million, has been described by the FA as “the biggest ever investment in UK women’s sport by a brand”.
It will see the top tier of women’s football renamed the Barclays FA Women’s Super League from the start of the 2019-20 season.
Securing sponsorship for the WSL was among Simmons’ main priorities on assuming her FA role in September.
With that objective now achieved, she feels this summer’s World Cup in France, next year’s Olympics and a European Championships on home soil in 2021 provide major opportunities to further increase the stature of the sport.
“It does feel a really special moment. It’s not just the investment, it’s the power and the reach of that brand can take women’s football to new audiences,” Simmons told Press Association Sport.
“In terms of building the profile, building the fan base, building that awareness of the quality of women’s football, we’ve got potentially three huge years.
“Of course, we’ve got the World Cup – I think it’s probably going to be the biggest women’s team sport spectacle ever, globally and domestically.
“And then the GB Olympic team, all the spotlight will be on the Olympics – it will be a great opportunity if we can be part of that. And then Euros on home soil, which is incredible, in 2021.
“I think if an England team could win a major tournament it would definitely capture the imagination and attention of the nation. Those players will become household names and that will again transfer into club football.”
The multi-million pound deal, which includes the introduction of an annual £500,000 prize fund, comes three days after a record crowd for women’s club football was set at Atletico Madrid’s match with Barcelona.
England international Toni Duggan scored Barca’s second goal in a 2-0 win at Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium in front of 60,739 fans.
The largest attendance for a WSL game in England is 5,052, while a bumper crowd of 45,423 at Wembley last May saw Chelsea defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup final.
Simmons says the turnout for the Spanish match demonstrates the increasing interest in the women’s game.
“It’s phenomenal – I was a bit jealous,” said Simmons.
“It shows that women’s football is massively on the rise, I think it shows what can be done.
“With the Women’s Super League, it’s brilliant that it’s gone professional – I think our next job is to try and make that secure and sustainable over a period of time.
“What we really want to focus on is how we get more and more fans through those turnstiles because I think that’s a hugely important step in terms of professional women’s football.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here