The Football Association has set an August 2024 target for the Women’s Super League and Championship to operate under an independently club-owned, club-run structure, the PA news agency understands.
Plans for the top two flights of English women’s football to shift out from under the current direct FA management model have been in the works for some time.
The move will follow a series of consultations with a working group of 10 WSL and Championship executives, chaired by Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, established to steer the next phase of the professional women’s game.
Baroness Sue Campbell, the FA’s director of women’s football, said: “I honestly feel we’ve made incredible progress. There’s been a real acceptance that the women’s game needs to be managed differently, run differently, and I think we’ve had some really honest and exciting conversations.
“We have a meeting with all 24 (WSL and Championship) CEOs in June, which again is terrific.”
England did not have a fully professional women’s league until 2018. Since then the game has grown exponentially, and by many indicators was further accelerated by the Lionesses’ triumph at last summer’s European Championship.
Other members of the working group include Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish, whose side are in the Women’s Championship, and Manchester United director Patrick Stewart.
Lewes chief executive Maggie Murphy and London City Lionesses chairwoman and founder Diane Culligan both represent Championship sides unaffiliated with men’s teams.
It is a predicament that presents their organisations with unique needs, distinct from those representing resource-rich Premier League sides like Manchester City’s chief football operations officer Omar Berrada.
While compromises may need to be reached between clubs with wildly different challenges, goals and coffers, Campbell vowed that the direction of the women’s game will be, by design, “very different in nature, in shape from the men’s game because I think that’s really important”.
The close of next campaign will also mark the end of the FA’s landmark three-season broadcast deal with the BBC and Sky Sports, believed to be worth about £24million, with internal conversations under way to determine the best approach to negotiating the next iteration.
The current season has seen numerous milestones achieved. All but one WSL club – West Ham – have hosted matches in their main stadia, while this weekend’s FA Cup final broke a world record for a women’s domestic club fixture with 77,390 in attendance at Wembley.
Campbell celebrated those and other successes but says the FA is determined to keep breaking new ground, including ensuring clubs have appropriate and “friendly” facilities and the “right fan environment”.
She added: “It’s a real statement about where the professional women’s game has got to. I don’t want to feel complacent, though, because we’ve still got a long way to go.
“We’ve made a lot of progress, but I want to emphasise there’s still a long way to go in terms of getting numbers through gates regularly. We’ve definitely created momentum.”
Doncic backs Mbappe to turn fortunes around at Real Madrid
NBA superstar Luka Doncic has backed Kylian Mbappe to "figure it out" after his underwhelming start to life at Real Madrid.
Mbappe has scored eight goals in 16 games for Madrid in all competitions since joining as a free agent following the expiration of his Paris Saint-Germain contract.
He has gone four matches without a goal – a run that includes losses to Barcelona and Milan – and has been left out of France's latest squad.
However, Dallas Mavericks guard Doncic – a Real Madrid supporter due to his previous ties with the sports club – can see Mbappe turning things around.
"Obviously [their season] could be better," Doncic told Managing Madrid after the Mavericks' win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
"But when you get a guy like Mbappe, it takes some time to get used to it. We'll figure it out."
Mbappe has scored six goals in 11 LaLiga appearances for Madrid but has underperformed his season's expected goals (xG) total by 2.04.
The forward is averaging a goal every 166 minutes in all competitions this term, compared to one every 88 minutes for PSG in his last of seven seasons in Paris.
Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 last time out in the league to return to winning ways but still trail leaders Barcelona by six points.
Asked about his connections with Madrid, former Los Blancos basketball player Doncic said: "I follow Real Madrid every time.
"I grew up there. They taught me everything, so it's a part of my life. You can call it a secondary home.
"I learned a lot of stuff there and, especially, they gave me a way to be here right now [in Dallas]. I always appreciate that 100%."
Madrid return to action after the international break with a trip to Leganes on Sunday.
Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona: Guijarro brace sets visitors up for Clasico glory
Patri Guijarro's first-half brace set Barcelona on their way to a thumping 4-0 win over rivals Real Madrid in Liga F on Saturday.
Claudia Pina and Alexia Putellas were also on target as Barcelona continued their perfect start to the season, extending their lead at the top of the table.
The visitors dominated from the off, as Guijarro broke the deadlock inside the fourth minute, tapping in from Putellas' flick-on from a corner.
Cata Coll was forced into a big save to deny Alba Redondo an equaliser shortly after, but Madrid's hope was soon dented as Guijarro picked out the bottom corner with a superb long-range strike for her second.
Pina strengthened their lead six minutes before the break, clinically slotting past Misa with her low strike.
Putellas added some more gloss to the scoreline with four minutes remaining of normal time, beating the Madrid keeper with a lovely dink to bring up her 199th goal for the club.
Barcelona have won all 10 of their games, and now sit eight points clear of Madrid, who suffered their first league defeat of the campaign.
Data Debrief: Total dominance
Madrid will have felt fairly confident coming into this game after a strong start to their season, but they once again failed to find a way past their Clasico rival.
Los Blancos have lost every single game they have played against Barcelona in all competitions, with this their 15th such meeting.
Barcelona smothered their attack early on, restricting their hosts to just one shot in the first half, while they had 10.
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
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