Lewes Women call for equal FA Cup prize money to end ‘shocking’ disparity

Players from the Women’s Championship club Lewes have written an open letter calling for equal FA Cup prize money before their quarter-final against Manchester United.

The letter highlights the huge gap in prize money between the men’s and women’s competitions. Lewes have received £45,000 for winning three ties to get this far, whereas the men’s teams who entered at the third round have been paid £450,000. Women’s clubs receive no money for an FA Cup game being broadcast by the BBC, which is showing the Lewes tie on Sunday, but men’s teams will each be paid £200,000 for their televised quarter-finals.

The letter, seen by the Guardian and published on Tuesday, is addressed to Karen Carney, who is leading the government’s future of women’s football review, and encourages the public to pledge support. It says equal prize money would transform the women’s game in terms of wages, facilities, equipment, medical care, staffing and travel costs.

“We’ve earned £45,000 for the club but if we were men we would have earned £450,000; I was shocked to know that that was the difference,” the Lewes midfielder Lauren Heria said. “We are happy the prize fund increased by £3m this year and we’ve had more money coming in from the Cup but still, comparatively, it is a small increase compared to where the men are at.”

In March last year the Football Association announced prize money for the Women’s FA Cup would increase about seven-fold, from £428,915 to just under £3m. However, the men’s prize pot received an uplift of £3.9m, from £15.9m to £19.8m, widening the gap.

“I’m fully aware we’re gonna get back: ‘Well, it increased to three million this year, you should be happy with that,’” Heria said. “The thing that I love about Lewes is they