WSL Close to Deal for All Players in Top Two Tiers to Join PFA

The Women's Super League is in advanced discussions with the Professional Footballers' Association over providing a funding deal that would enable all players in the top two divisions to join the union for the first time.

- Matt Hughes

Under the existing arrangements the PFA does not receive any financial backing for the women's game, with players in the WSL 2 - previously the Championship - unable to use its services, leaving many without access to healthcare and medical insurance despite being paid pro-rata salaries far below the national minimum wage.

Talks between WSL Football and the PFA are understood to have accelerated after Blackburn's decision this month to withdraw from WSL 2, which has left their players feeling anxious and angry. Many of them were paid as little as £11,000 a year by Blackburn as they were employed on part-time contracts, with the PFA stepping in to provide financial assistance despite not having any formal obligation to do so.

The PFA has approximately 250 female members, with some of the funding the union receives from the Premier League, English Football League and Football Association diverted to provide them with some basic services. Players in the WSL 2 have been ineligible to join the PFA, however, as the union lacks the resources to support them.