PFA working to give female players parity with men on contract extension options

The Professional Footballers’ Association is seeking to give female players parity with their male counterparts on contract extension options, to avoid them being left “in limbo” when their deals expire.

The union said last week it had agreed policy changes on maternity leave, injury and illness cover and contract termination due to long-term injury after 16 months of negotiation with the Football Association, the governing body of the Women’s Super League (WSL) and Women’s Championship.

It is pushing for these changes to be applied retrospectively to existing contracts, rather than in a “piecemeal” way to new deals. It is understood the FA and the PFA are working to finalise the detail on maternity packages in the standard contracts.

The union said on Tuesday that progress still needs to be made in other areas, such as a club’s option to extend a contract.

“The current notification period in the standard WSL contract could leave some players in limbo when their deal ends,” the PFA’s director of women’s football Marie-Christine Bouchier said.

“Players can find themselves in a situation where their contract has expired, but their club can wait a further week to decide whether they activate the option or release the player.”

In the men’s game clubs must notify players that they intend to exercise the extension option by the third Saturday in May or four days after their last game of the season, with contracts running until June 30.

Bouchier added: “We are confident this will be remedied imminently, but again, it’s just a basic issue of fairness.”

The PFA is also working to establish a Women’s Professional Football Negotiating and Consultative Committee (WPFNCC), equivalent to the men’s PFNCC which contains members from the