The not-so-beautiful game: how the FA stifled women’s football for 50 years and paved the way for today’s vast gender gap

Although women’s football has made strides towards narrowing gender inequality, breaking the glass ceiling of the world’s most popular sport remains a challenge.

Settled in April last year, the US Women’s National Team’s (USWNT) high-profile pay dispute – known as the “Equal Play, Equal Pay” campaign – has inspired movements for equality among women’s teams around the world.

“While I think there is still much progress to be made for us and for women more broadly, I think the [Women’s National Team Players Association] should be very proud of this deal and feel empowered moving forward,” USWNT co-captain Megan Rapinoe told The New York Times.

Five top players on the USWNT filed a wage-discrimination complaint against the US Soccer Federation in 2016, arguing that their male counterparts were paid more. The new collective bargaining agreement runs until 2021, covering the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

But the disparity between men and women’s football worldwide remains staggering.

By simply qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, men’s national teams netted double the amount of prize money (US$8 million, HK$62.7 million) than the US$4m that the 2019 Women’s World Cup champions will take home – France received US$38m as tournament winners in Russia.

Despite Norway’s historic equal-pay agreement for male and female footballers in 2017, Lyon and Norway striker Ada Hegerberg, who was recently crowned best women’s football player, will be absent from the 2019 Women’s World Cup.