At last, the Lionesses have reached an agreement with the FA on player bonuses

Millie Bright and Rachel Daly

Credit: Getty

Strong Women


At last, the Lionesses have reached an agreement with the FA on player bonuses

By Lauren Geall

2 years ago

3 min read

Captain Millie Bright says the squad is “really positive” that things will change in the future after the Lionesses reached an agreement with the FA in their ongoing dispute over player bonuses.      


Fresh from their historic performance at the 2023 World Cup, the Lionesses are celebrating another win for women’s sport – this time, in the form of an agreement with the FA over performance-related bonuses.

Speaking during a press conference earlier today, England captain Millie Bright said the Lionesses had “come to an agreement” in their ongoing dispute with the association over its refusal to pay bonuses to players competing for the national team.

The talks, which started in July, were put on hold during this summer’s tournament after the two sides failed to reach an agreement beforehand. But today, Bright said the squad was “really positive things will be different moving forward”, adding that the agreement the team reached was about “more than finances”.  

“We’ve come to an agreement but it’s bigger than just the bonuses,” she said. “For us, it’s about being world leaders on and off the pitch.

“The women’s game is evolving very quickly so conversations like this need to happen to make sure in all areas we are at the top of our game. The conversation was extremely positive. We feel really confident moving forward with the structure we now have in place.”

This summer’s women’s World Cup was the first tournament in which players received individual payments direct from Fifa for participating, with the Spanish team each taking home £212,000 in winnings. The amount of prize money as a whole also increased: the performance-based fund for the 2019 World Cup sat at £24 million; this year’s tournament had a prize pot of £88.5 million.

Millie Bright

Credit: Getty

But more work still needs to be done to ensure equal opportunity and investment in women’s football – including at a grassroots level. Following their victory at the Euros last summer, the Lionesses wrote an open letter to the government demanding that girls be given equal access to football, a move that led the government to introduce a financial package to facilitate sports equality across England’s schools.  

And in their latest agreement, the Lionesses made sure to continue this work. When asked to explain what the deal included, Bright explained: “[The agreement] covered a variety of things. It’s the whole package that comes with the women’s game. It’s more than finances. It’s everything to do with the next generation.”

She continued: “We’re very passionate about the next generation, where the game is and what we represent. No matter what we do, we want to stand for our values, what we believe in and do it in the best possible way. The way we carry ourselves is really important for us.”

The agreement comes after a number of high-profile agreements across the women’s game. Last week, Scotland reached an agreement with the Scottish Football Association (SFA) following accusations of inequality.

And in Spain, where a dispute between the Spanish national team and the Spanish football association, RFEF, reached a head following the actions of its president Luis Rubiales, players ended their boycott yesterday after “profound changes” to the organisation were promised.

“One thing in the women’s game is, although we’re opponents, we’re all working together in terms of the changes we make,” Bright added at the end of today’s press conference. “It’s always about growing the game. We have to keep evolving and moving with where the game’s at.” 


Images: Getty

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