Women’s health training is becoming mandatory for top-flight football clubs in England

Alessia Russo and Hayley Ladd during Arsenal vs Manchester United in the Barclays Women's Super League

Credit: Getty

Strong Women


Women’s health training is becoming mandatory for top-flight football clubs in England

By Lauren Geall

11 months ago

4 min read

Staff at football clubs across the top two women’s leagues in England will be required to complete mandatory women’s health training under new plans that aim to boost support for female athletes across the professional game.


Top football clubs in England will be tasked with nominating a women’s health lead under new plans to support the wellbeing of professional athletes across the women’s game.

The new plans will also make it a requirement for staff across the Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship – the top women’s football leagues in England – to receive dedicated training on the latest evidence-based approaches to women’s health and how that applies to athletes.

The changes are being made as part of a partnership between the top leagues and The Well HQ, a company that specialises in delivering female health strategies across the world of sport.

The ambitious project, which kicked off in 2020, saw players and staff given the chance to share their thoughts on what needed to change before a series of recommendations were published in 2022.  

Those recommendations have led to the new plans being announced this week, which also include the delivery of best practice guidelines on pregnancy, post-natal care, menstrual cycle health and pelvic health. These will be delivered throughout 2024, with clubs working closely with medical staff from the England women’s national team to ensure approaches are aligned across the board.

Commenting on the changes, Lionesses manager Sarina Wiegman welcomed the initiatives and described them as “another step in the right direction” for the women’s game.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: “It’s really good and also very necessary. It has been said all the time there needs to be more research about women in sport and more support too. We have to keep going and doing research, which will take time to make it the best for women in sport. We need to do what’s best for them.” 

Sarina Wiegman

Credit: Getty

The news comes amid renewed discussion about the ACL injury epidemic that continues to plague top-flight women’s football. In 2024 alone, athletes including Chelsea’s Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel and Manchester City’s Jill Roord have been added to the list of players sat on the sidelines due to the injury, with England’s Leah Williamson only recently returning to the pitch after a nine-month absence following an ACL injury.

While there’s no isolated explanation for this influx of injuries, women’s health has been linked to several possible reasons, including pelvic shape, hormonal fluctuations and differences in muscle mass.

The online course, which is being made mandatory for staff as part of the new changes, will hopefully go some way towards addressing these issues. Titled FootballHER: Continuing Professional Development [CPD] For All, it features modules including menstrual cycle and performance; kit for women; nutrition in football; injury risk and resilience; pelvic health; fertility and pre/post-natal care and cultivating environments. It was first introduced to select clubs at the end of last year but is now being rolled out across the board.

Dr Emma Ross, chief scientific officer at The Well HQ, described the changes being made as part of the partnership as a “huge” moment for the women’s professional game in England.

“It will pave the way for what best practice looks like in the future across all sports – everybody involved should all be very proud that they have played their part in changing sport for women today,” she said.

“We need to be brave enough to challenge the status quo, to kick ‘the way we have always done things’ into touch and forge a new hopeful future where women can thrive.” 

It will pave the way for what best practice looks like

Andy Hudson, performance support manager for The FA’s Women’s Professional Game strategy, added: “Female athlete health is a key focus for us across women’s professional football and we are fully committed to supporting and improving this area of the game. We have some fantastic people who are helping to drive this work and they are supported by The Well HQ, who are specialists in delivering female health strategies across the world of business and sport.

“This is just the start of our research in this area, and we look forward to continuing our work with them as we aim to improve education around our athletes’ physical health.”

The Well HQ has also collaborated with The FA on a separate research project to better understand and address women’s health issues across the grassroots game. The findings of this research will be published in the coming months, with the idea being that they will help to enhance wellbeing and support performance for all women and girls in football. 


Images: Getty

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