Karen Carney says review of women’s football will ‘leave no stone unturned’

Karen Carney says her government-commissioned review of women’s football will focus on building the game up from its foundations, as she announced Ian Wright, Hope Powell and the head of the NFL in Europe, Brett Gosper, as part of an expert panel offering guidance.

Carney is continuing to gather evidence and remains open-minded as to the outcome, saying it would be “naive” not to consider alternative futures for professional women’s football, including the possibility of a closed American-style league.

“I want the women’s game to be the best,” the former England international said. “I don’t want to put a label on where it could be. A lot of people have told me: ‘Don’t settle. Don’t settle, keep pushing.’ Women’s football is a start-up business model; you’ve got to start with the foundations otherwise it will all crumble. This is a product – we have to make it the best product possible. We [also] have to do it at the right pace.”

Carney has selected six people to offer specialist support. Alongside Wright, Powell and Gosper there will be input from Lisa O’Keefe, the creator of the This Girl Can campaign, Dan Jones, the creator of Deloitte’s football money lists, and Jane Purdon, the former director of governance at the Premier League and head of the Women in Football Group.

Carney said she had selected the panel for their “experience, expertise and understanding” of the game. “Best of all, I know they share my ambition to make the UK one of the best places in the world to play, watch and invest in women’s football.”

Powell, the former Lionesses and Brighton manager, said she was delighted to join the panel. “It gives us the opportunity to check, challenge and discuss the progression of women’s football,” she said.

Wright,