The Government has given its backing to the recommendations in ex-England midfielder Karen Carney’s review of domestic women’s football, stressing the need to “collectively seize the moment and deliver sustained commercial success”.

After the independent review, titled ‘Raising The Bar: Reframing the opportunity in women’s football’, was commissioned in September 2022 and published in July, the Government has issued its official response, in which it agrees that all 10 of the strategic recommendations should be actioned.

In its efforts to help drive things forward, it is to convene an “implementation group” of the Football Association, NewCo – the new independent body set to run the Women’s Super League and Championship from 2024-25 – and other stakeholders, which will assemble in March and July next year.

The review was commissioned shortly after England won the Women’s Euros on home soil, and the Lionesses subsequently finished as runners-up at this year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said: “I’d like to thank Karen for her detailed review which has delivered a clear blueprint for the future of women’s football from the grassroots up to the elite level.

“We must collectively seize the moment and deliver sustained commercial success for the women’s game, and fully support the FA and NewCo to drive forward the full professionalisation of the game.”

Carney said: “I’m encouraged that the Government is providing their full backing to my review and renewing their commitment to develop women’s football in the UK and fulfil its potential to be a world-beating sport. The real work begins now.”

The creation of a fully professional environment in the top two tiers is one of the key recommendations in Carney’s report.

Within it’s backing in this area, the Government says it supports the introduction of a minimum ‘salary floor’ in the WSL from 2025-26 and in the Championship once revenues allow, the phasing in of increased contact time as part of licence criteria for second-tier clubs, formal union representation across both tiers, and a centrally-funded unit focusing on research for issues affecting female players.

With regard to the review’s call in this recommendation for the provision of “gold standard physical and mental health provision”, the Government said it felt the FA could have gone further in terms of changes made to medical licence criteria this season, and that it was “disappointed that the FA has not mandated clubs to recruit sport and exercise psychologists”.

It added that it had “had discussions with the FA, and have set out our expectation for them to fully consider the recommendation around medical licensing uplifts for the 2024-25 season.”

The review called for a dedicated broadcast slot, and the Government’s response on this included its view that “revoking Article 48 (the Saturday 3pm blackout) for women’s football alone is one viable option.”

The response also emphasised the importance of the FA and Newco appointing a new strategic partner “committed to fully investing in building a sustainable talent pathway for girls”.

It said on the topic of diversity in the women’s game that it “fully supports the sector as it moves to become more inclusive”, and welcomed the recent news of the Women’s FA Cup’s prize fund doubling for 2023-24 to £6million.

It also said it would continue to drive forward equal access for girls and increase transparency on funding following its announcement in March of a £600m package to boost school sport, and highlighted last week’s announcement of a new £30m fund to deliver artificial pitches at grassroots sites designed to prioritise women’s and girls’ teams.

As well as the implementation group, the Government will also establish a Board of Women’s Sports in the new year in a bid to accelerate growth beyond women’s football.

Richard Hood is once again the man charged with moving Trinidad and Tobago’s senior women’s football programme forward, as he was recently appointed Head coach for a second time by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA).

Hood was deemed best fit for the post by a selection panel, which had to sieve through 151 applicants.

The selection panel which comprised TTFA’s technical director, Anton Corneal, Jinelle James, director women’s football, former national player Steve David and Ken Butcher, former minister of sport and youth affairs and sport director at UTT, initially narrowed the list to 30 and then to 14, before Hood and two others were interviewed. 

Hood’s duties began with immediate effect, with his backroom staff which will include critical expertise in the area of performance and video analysis, to be named in short order. 

“I would like to thank the NC for having faith in me as well as the interviewing committee for recommending me for the position. I am deeply humbled and appreciative,” Hood told TTFA media.

“Of course, it’s always an honour and privilege to represent Trinidad and Tobago, particularly at the senior level. We have a very challenging passage into the 2024 Gold Cup but it’s not one that’s insurmountable. I am keen to start the process as quickly as possible because we have a very short preparation time before the first assignment in September,” he added.

Hood is no stranger to the position as he once guided T&T to the quarter finals of the Pan American Games in 2011 and Concacaf Olympic Qualifiers in 2016. He also served as head coach of the Under-20 team in 2020, at the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, and was assistant coach of the Under-17 team for the 2010 FIFA Women’s Under-17 World Cup when the twin island republic played host.

 “My immediate task is to establish the availability of players and I’ve already made several contacts in that regard. So, I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead and will approach same with tremendous enthusiasm and optimism and god’s willing, we will succeed in our task,” Hood noted.

Technical Director Corneal explained the reason behind Hood’s appointment.

“Mr. Richard Hood demonstrated during his interview and application, the necessary areas of expertise for the position. He also possesses the required experience coaching national women teams and understands the women’s competition in our region,” Corneal shared.

Hood’s first assignment in competition will be qualifiers for the Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup. The qualifying tournament will take place during the Fifa women’s international match windows in September, October, and November, and will include 35 Concacaf nations divided into three leagues. T&T will play in Group A of League A alongside Mexico and Puerto Rico. They will open away to Mexico on September 26, before contesting the return leg on October 27, after which they will visit Puerto Rico on December 1 and again at home on December 5.

After 90 group stage matches, which include home and away play within each league and group, the top finishers in each of the League A groups (three teams) will qualify for the 2024 Women’s Gold Cup Group Stage. Furthermore, the second-place finishers in each of the League A groups (three teams) and the first-place finishers in each of the League B groups (three teams) will advance to the 2024 Gold Cup Preliminary round.

Jamaica Under-20 Reggae Girlz coach, Xavier Gilbert, insists the team’s ambition will be to win the group as they look to secure a spot in the CONCACAF Under-20 Women's Championship Round of 16, despite facing somewhat of a tricky situation.

Finding themselves third in a competitive Group H, the Jamaicans have targeted taking all three points against zone leaders Haiti when the teams meet on Wednesday. 

With the top three teams advancing to the knockout stages, it is the Haitians who are top on 4 points but only by goal difference over second-place Guatemala. Guatemala will play bottom of the group Cuba in the day's other match.  Ahead of the round, despite not securing their spot in the next round as yet, Gilbert backs Jamaica to move up the table.

 “Looking ahead to the Haiti game, we would want to see if we can secure qualification to the next round.  We also need to see if we can still win the group,” Gilbert said ahead of the match.

“Our objective is to win the game, maximise our points and see where we can go from there.”

The team will head into the match without experienced midfielder Peyton McNamara who was injured on Saturday.