Fara Williams feels diversity has taken a step back since she and the other football-mad kids on her Battersea estate replicated Wembley finals in cages and dared to dream of one day playing in the real deal.
The 40-year-old, England’s most-capped footballer of either gender, made her Lionesses debut as a 17-year-old in 2001 and hung up her boots two trophy-laden decades later.
Much has improved as women’s football has evolved into what the ex-midfielder’s former England team-mate Karen Carney last year declared could become a billion-pound industry – but Williams is wary that an increasingly elite game also risks leaving less-privileged girls behind.
Speaking at Wembley ahead of this weekend’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals, she told the PA news agency: “When I look back on the England teams I played in we had a Black manager (Hope Powell), certainly when I started in England at least five players were black and the rest were made up of white females, but now when you look at the England (women’s) team it’s pretty much made up of white players.
“And so when you think about being relatable to everybody, I don’t think the Lionesses quite represent that now. I feel like it was more represented when I played than it is now but I also understand that the game has changed massively.
“The more elite it’s got, the more expensive the game has become in terms of trying to afford to play, trying to afford one-to-one personal trainers, it’s more expensive.
“And so when you are from an underprivileged area, in terms of accessibility for that, I think you’re putting barriers in a way for underprivileged people to participate.”
Last year, a report conducted by the BBC estimated that black, Asian and minority ethic players made up a maximum of 15 per cent of those signed to WSL clubs, while the Lionesses remain overwhelmingly white.
The FA has acknowledged challenges with representation across the women’s game and have taken steps they hope will accelerate change, including a significant overhaul of the performance pathway early last year to tackle barriers like travel distance to training centres and access to elite-level coaching.
Winning clubs in this weekend’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup quarter-finals will receive £90,000 from a near-£6 million prize pot that has more than doubled since last season’s edition, with this year’s champions receiving £430,000 alongside the trophy.
In November, tech giant Adobe signed on as the competition’s title sponsor for the next three years, becoming the latest major brand to specifically back a women’s sporting event.
Last year also marked a first Wembley sell-out for the final, with a record crowd of 77,390 turning out to watch Chelsea lift the trophy for the fifth time in their history.
Williams scored an own goal in her first FA Cup final and lost three more before finally lifting one with Everton at the City Ground in 2010 but it was winning her second with Arsenal in 2016 that remains the highlight.
Wembley only took over hosting duties for the trophy contest in 2015, so for Williams 2016 was a first chance to fulfil what was once an impossible childhood fantasy – even if it came at the expense of runners-up Chelsea, who she grew up supporting.
That trophy took the now-BBC pundit right back to the days of playing a game called “Wembley knockouts” in a south London cage, where winners would ascend its steps and pretend they were those of the iconic venue.
So while Williams will continue to advocate for the “more diverse thinking” she feels is critical to ensuring progress doesn’t stall, revisiting her own Wembley triumph does remind her about just how far things have indeed come.
She said: “That was the ultimate dream. Even more so than winning the league. Walking the Wembley steps was something that, certainly in my era, I never thought would be achievable.
“And now it’s becoming a regular thing at Wembley. We played I think in front of 40,000. Now to do a sell-out, it’s amazing.”
Al Kholood 2-4 Al-Hilal: Koulibaly on target as champions move to summit
Al-Hilal withstood a late Al Kholood rally to move top of the Saudi Pro League following a 4-2 victory at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium.
The damage was done during a late first-half surge by the reigning champions, who leapfrogged Al-Ittihad to the summit of the table.
Al-Hilal broke the deadlock in the 38th minute through former Napoli and Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who finished after Renan Lodi initially struck the woodwork.
Malcom doubled the lead four minutes later, then Ali Al Bulayhi made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time.
Former Atletico Madrid and Nottingham Forest defender Lodi then got in the act to make it four within three minutes of the restart.
The hosts finished the contest the stronger of the two sides with Hammam Al Hammami and a William Troost-Ekong penalty halving the deficit, but that rally could not prevent the visitors from remaining perfect after their first five games.
Data Debrief: Al-Hilal remain perfect
Al-Hilal have won each of their opening five games in a Saudi Pro League season for the third time in their history, also achieving the feat in 2010-11 and 2018-19.
Jorge Jesus' side also continued their dominant record against newly promoted clubs, having now won each of their last nine such matches.
Despite their late surge, Al Kholood suffered their third defeat of the season, though there was individual cause for celebration, as former Al-Hilal player Mohammed Jahfali came on for his 200th Saudi Pro League appearance.
International record goalscorer Sinclair to retire after NWSL season
Christine Sinclair, the all-time record goalscorer in international football, will retire at the end of the National Women’s Soccer League in November.
Sinclair, 41, has 190 goals in 331 appearances for Canada, making her the top scorer across both men's and women's football.
She has played for the NWSL's Portland Thorns since 2013, helping them to win the inaugural title that year. She added further league crowns to her collection in 2017 and 2022.
The Canadian great has had similar success with her national team, winning a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She is also one of three players to score at five World Cups, alongside Brazil's Marta and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.
Sinclair retired from international football in December 2023, and will now call time on her club career.
"Portland, thank you will never be enough. Soccer has been my passion since I was four years old and it has taken me on a journey I could never have imagined," Sinclair wrote on Instagram.
"As I finish out this last ride, I want to say what a privilege it has been to represent this unique, beautiful, and passionate city that I will always call home."
St. Louis City v Sporting Kansas City: This rivalry is important to MLS, says Hackworth
John Hackworth believes St. Louis City's derby with Sporting Kansas City is key to MLS as they resume their rivalry on Saturday.
The last two meetings between the sides have finished level, with both ending in dramatic fashion.
St. Louis City come into the latest edition having lost just one of their last six outings, though that was their last home match.
They sit 13th in the Eastern Conference, level on points with Sporting above them, and Hackworth is now keen to build on the momentum from their win over San Jose Earthquakes last Saturday.
"We talked about trying to finish these last five games with a lot of momentum, showing our fans what we were capable of," Hackworth said.
"We knew we had to go on the road in one of these three games and be successful, and now we just need to build on that.
"This rivalry is really important to our league. It's two teams who are going to go after it and play by their principles, leaving it all out there to see what happens - two dramatic draws set us up for this contest."
Meanwhile, Kansas City have won just one of their last five matches in all competitions and suffered a 3-1 defeat to Los Angeles FC in the US Open Cup final on Wednesday.
Head coach Peter Vermes was left disappointed by the result but believes there are positives to take from the performance.
"I give the guys a lot of credit. I'm very proud of the effort that the guys put into that game," Vermes said.
"It never feels good to lose. But I also think that the group did themselves proud in the way they performed. We had good responses in that game, but in the end, we fell short."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Cedric Teuchert
Cedric Teuchert scored in the fourth minute in each of St. Louis City's last two matches.
Teuchert is one of six players to score more than one goal in the opening four minutes of matches this season and the second to do so in consecutive matches (Mikael Uhre).
Sporting Kansas City – Tim Melia
Both goals Sporting Kansas City conceded in their loss to Minnesota United on Saturday came in the final 30 minutes.
Sporting have allowed 31 goals in the final 30 minutes of matches this season, only San Jose (33) has allowed more, and Tim Melia will be hoping his concentration levels can improve ahead of Saturday's match.
MATCH PREDICTION: ST. LOUIS CITY WIN
St. Louis City have lost only two of their last 10 matches in all competitions (W4 D4), including picking up a 2-1 win at San Jose on Saturday. St. Louis have not won two straight matches in all competitions since wins over Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City last September.
Sporting have lost 10 of their last 12 regular-season away matches, including a 2-0 loss in Seattle in their last league road match. Only league-worst San Jose (11) have lost more away matches this season than Sporting (10).
However, Kansas City are unbeaten in four straight meetings with St. Louis (W2 D2) after St. Louis won two of the first three encounters. This will be the eighth meeting between St. Louis and Kansas City, totaling 10.4 % (8/77) of all of St. Louis' games in all competitions up to this point.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 43.4%
Draw – 26.7%
Sporting Kansas City – 29.9%
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