Footballer Wayne Rooney earns more in one hour than women’s England captain, Steph Houghton earns in a week.
According to research conducted by Ticketgum.com, Rooney earns £300,000 a week, while Houghton reportedly earns £65,000 a year.
The Women’s FA was originally formed in 1969, and three years later the first Women’s World Cup took place. Since then, interest in women’s football has grown, especially in recent years with the success of the English women’s team in the 2015 Women’s World Cup.
There are also a number of initiatives and programmes aimed at getting more women into the sport. The FA is aiming to double the number of women in football by 2020. Their ‘Gameplan for Growth’ plan aspires to increase the amount of women in football by building a better pipeline for female footballers.
Meanwhile, under new government legislation, top UK sporting bodies could be at risk of losing funding if they do not introduce more women into senior roles.
However, the attitudes amongst fans of the sport reflect why a gender pay gap still exists. Oliver, 28, from London said, “I believe it is fair that women get less pay than men in football.”
“The quality from men and standards are much higher.”
“They also train more and spectator rates are greater for men than women.”
“I tried watching a female match once, and was very quickly bored out of my mind watching them.”
“There is no thrill or excitement.”
The study also found that the prize money for world cup tournaments currently stands at £1.56 million for women – four times less than the prize money for male teams.
This is despite the England team coming third in the 2015 Women’s World Cup, while their male counterparts were eliminated at the knock out stages.
