Yahoo Sports Women’s FA Cup prize money boost proving a game-changer for lower-league clubs
There is record prize-money available in the Women’s FA Cup this season and, in Sunday’s fourth-round ties, there is no more aptly-named recipient than Moneyfields.
The Women’s FA Cup prize money was doubled this term to just under £6 million, with £430,000 given to the overall winner at Wembley. The most-needed impact is being felt at the women’s lower-league sides and Hampshire-based Moneyfields – one of only two teams left in the cup from below the third tier – have already won a “game-changing” £53,000 across four cup victories. They play the second tier’s London City Lionesses on Sunday and stand to earn another £13,000 if beaten or £54,000 if they go through.
Karl Watson’s side, who started playing on “local parks” when they launched in 2017, have been moving around various venues for the past two years because of delays to the development of their ‘Moneyfields Park’ home in Portsmouth. The manager said: “It’s been a really challenging two years but to the credit of this group, they never moan, even when we’re doing 60-mile round trips for home games at Basingstoke. They’ve given it everything to get us this far.”
Watson, formerly a non-league goalkeeper in the local area, says the cash injection from their cup run will help them achieve pay equity with their men’s team, who play in the Wessex League Premier Division. “Parity is what I’ve been fighting for from day one,” he told Telegraph Sport. “I want us to be treated with equality and, after the women won the Euros, I met with the board and said, ‘We need to go down this road. Credit to the board, they agreed. Now they’re seeing the benefits of the finances from the cup run. It’s huge, it changes everything, it changes the whole landscape.”
The lowest-ranked side left in the cup, the fifth tier’s Luton Town, are run by volunteers and their players pay to play. Manager Rob Burton says his side’s upcoming home tie against Brighton, of the top flight, is “like our cup final” and added: “Now they’ve increased the cup money, this great run has given us the financial stability we need. It adds financial security for the club for a couple of years.”
Even if they lose on Sunday, Luton will earnt £69,000 from their cup run. Burton, who had to play a striker in goal for their victory at Grays Athletic in qualifying amidst a last-minute childcare issue, said: “It’s a phenomenal budget for us to gain at the level we’re at. It gives us a chance to have a minibus for away games occasionally, and then there are things we simply can’t afford at the moment, for example, analysis, heat maps to increase our stats on our players.”
Captain Jess Mckay, a central midfielder who works in the logistics industry, added: “We’ve got teachers, graphic designers and students doing a bit of football on the side, a real mix, but we’re so close-knit. A lot of girls have made a lot of sacrifices to put football first, it costs us a lot of time and money, but we’re a family unit here and that unity has probably got us through all the rounds so far.”
Even for some Women’s Super League sides, the prospect of winning £54,000 this weekend is not to be sniffed at. West Ham manager Rehanne Skinner, whose team travel to holders Chelsea on Sunday, describes the prize money as a “huge incentive”, adding: “That’s a significant amount, when you’re talking about bringing additions to the squad.”
The match that the BBC has chosen for live coverage on the iPlayer this Sunday is Manchester City’s trip to Championship side Durham, who have sold out their Maiden Castle ground and are expecting around 2,400 fans, despite doubling their usual adult ticket prices to £18.
Defender Becky Salicki, who has played for Durham since 2016, said of being the TV pick: “A couple of the girls who have been here for a long time got quite emotional about it. The fact that we’re playing live on telly, as ‘little Durham’, means so much to us and I hope we can make the fans proud. We’re not naive to who Man City are and what they’re capable of. We’re aware of their class, but we have got home-ground advantage and our fans will be incredible.”
Durham earned £35,000 for their 5-0 victory away at West Brom in the third round and Salicki added: “It’s incredible, any extra money is fantastic for us. However, I still think it could be more. It’s amazing that it [the prize pot] was doubled but the gap from us to the men’s prize money is still quite large. I’m in no way saying we should get equal pay but hopefully, as the game grows, the rewards the women’s game deserves will come.” The men’s FA Cup prize pot was frozen at £19.8 million this season.
