NewCo to operate England’s top two women’s leagues from 2024-25،
Women’s football in England will be run by an independent organization rather than the Football Association from next year, in a bid to set new standards in the game.
The Women’s Super League and Women’s Second Division Championship clubs will operate under the management of NewCo, whose first chief executive will be Nikki Doucet, a former investment banker and Nike executive.
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The 24 clubs involved in the two divisions voted in favor of the takeover of NewCo.
“I have been incredibly encouraged by the collective desire and shared ambition to make our leagues the most distinctive, competitive and entertaining women’s club competitions in the world,” Doucet said.
The FA has run the WSL since its inception in 2010 and the Championship since 2014, but last year announced plans to create an independent entity to take over the commercial activities of women’s football and give clubs greater control over their future.
The Premier League has managed men’s first division football since 1992 and has become the most popular and richest league in the world.
“The women’s professional game is in the strongest position it has ever been in thanks to the hard work of everyone involved in its development to date,” said Sue Campbell, director of women’s football at the Football Association. .
“But we firmly believe that NewCo will take things to a whole new level.
“Each of our 24 clubs and the league itself want the Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship to set the standards for women’s football around the world, and this creation of a new governing body is the next step in achieving that ambition .”
Campbell added that it was a “historic moment for women’s professional football in this country.”
“This is a decision,” she said, “that will allow our clubs and our players to make greater progress, on and off the field.”
The changes aim to capitalize on the huge growth of women’s football in England, which has seen its clubs become more competitive in European competitions and the national team become one of the best in the world. England won the European Championship last year and reached the World Cup final in Australia this year, losing to Spain.
