Women’s FA Cup prize money to see ‘tenfold rise’ following pay disparity protests

The Football Association is set to increase prize money for the Women’s FA Cup by as much as 10 times what it is now, as per reports by the Guardian. 

Women’s prize money in the competition has regularly come under scrutiny, with a number of teams that compete struggling to cover the costs of participating. 

For women’s teams who win in the first round, the financial reward is just £850, compared to men’s teams at the same stage, who collect £22,629.

Last year, Women’s FA Cup winners Chelsea were awarded just £25,000 for their victory over Arsenal at Wembley. Meanwhile, Leicester City’s men were given £1.8 million after beating the Blues.

After complaints were made concerning the lack of prize money on offer earlier this year, the FA stressed there would be a “significant increase” moving forwards. 

“Whilst the competition doesn’t yet drive commercial revenue to fund prize money growth, the FA Board has agreed a significant increase in prize money to support the competition’s continued development,” they said.

As a result of the disparity in pay, the Women’s Football Fan Collective was launched, which aims to bring together all fans of women’s football in England to “promote and protect” the women’s game. 

And the group emphasised their satisfaction with the latest developments online.

Taking to Twitter, they wrote: “We welcome news of a historic 10-fold increase in prize money for the Women’s FA Cup. Whilst £2.5 million is still some way from the equal prize money for which we are campaigning, we appreciate this is an important step in that journey. #EqualFACup.” 

The prize pot is currently £309,000 but is poised to rise to beyond £2.5 million, according to journalist Suzanne Wrack. 

Aside from the FA Cup, there have