The Super League will run over the summer months and it promises women footballers the chance to play semi-professionally in an initial eight club competition. This number is expected to grow to a maximum of 12 clubs by 2014.
The FA will invest up to £70,000 to each club per season, with the aim of making women’s teams self-sufficient rather than reliant on their male counterparts.
Delayed start
The new women’s league was originally meant to start in March 2010, until the FA deferred its start date to summer 2011 earlier this year citing “the current global financial downturn” as a primary reason for the delay.
The fact that the FA didn’t see their investment in a Women’s Super League as “the most appropriate and meaningful” area to spend their budget, came as no surprise to the English women’s game, who have been waiting for a professional league for nearly 40 years.
The delay came as a huge disappointment nonetheless and some working in the industry doubted it would ever take off.
"I personally believe it's been shelved indefinitely," said Vic Akers, former manager of Arsenal Ladies, back in April.
"It's sad that the girls' game always seems to take the mallet over the head. We've already lost five national players to the United States, including the iconic Kelly Smith. We'll lose more, and that can't be good for the game in England."
So the FA’s latest announcement will come as a relief to the English women’s game, but whether it will stop the migration of our finest players to the United States’ Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPS) is doubtful.
WPS
• The WPS firstly pay their players so they are not forced to work 40-hour weeks along with vigorous training in their free time.
• They boast many of the world’s best female stars, most notably the Brazilian star Marta (pictured below) who was awarded the 2009 Michelle Akers Player of the Year Award in August.
Brazilian star Marta is a great attraction in the MPS• Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español air weekly Sunday night matches and the WPS All-Star Game with Fox Sports Net will air the semi-final and league championship contests.
By contrast, the Women’s FA Cup final in May each year is the only women's game broadcasted on national television.
The creation of the Women’s Super League aims to raise the profile of the women’s game in England and indeed to secure more sponsorship and media coverage.
The fact that the league’s schedule will coincide with the men’s game’s summer break will hopefully draw in the football starved fans.
The FA’s most promising move to date had been the awarding of central contracts to 17 English international women players in May. This decision aimed to allow the players the time to concentrate on helping England to qualify for major tournaments.
And these international sportswomen more than proved their worth by reaching the finals of the European Championships in Finland for the first time in September.
As the FA invite applications to the Women’s Super League, 2009 is shaping up to be a pivotal year in English women’s football.
