The prospect of a European Super League reared its head again last week and so did the threadbare plans for the future of women’s football.
But, just like the last time the breakaway league was proposed, the Super League’s grand plan for the future of European football only briefly referenced the women’s game.
This time the women’s game occupied 51 words of a 1,138-word document from A22, the firm behind the proposals — a slight increase on the 27-word sentence tacked onto the initial announcement in April 2021.
Those 51 words were: “Football stakeholders should promote and develop the women’s game by putting it ‘centre stage’ side-by-side with men’s competitions. To achieve this goal, financing should be significantly expanded beyond existing contributions from women’s European club competitions. Investments should be provided not only at a professional but also at grassroots level.”
Additional details, though, were sorely lacking and the overwhelming response from the women’s game was certainly not positive.
In April 2021, when the initial Super League was announced, UEFA chief of women’s football Nadine Kessler wrote an open letter addressing the implications on the development of women’s football.
Speaking to people entrenched in the sport, there…
