England’s players have reached an agreement with the Football Association over the bonus dispute that had hit the build-up to the start of this summer’s Women’s World Cup.
The Lionesses had criticised the FA on the eve of the tournament after not reaching a performance-related bonus deal prior to travelling to Australia and issued a statement at the time saying the matter would be parked until they returned home from the tournament.
Captain Millie Bright revealed on Thursday that a deal has now been reached following a meeting that is understood to have taken place earlier this week. But she added this was “bigger” than resolving the bonus issue and that the squad would continue to push for improvements for the women’s game.
It is understood the FA’s chief executive Mark Bullingham was involved in the negotiations with the players, with the FA meeting the players in-person at St George’s Park. The Lionesses are said to have negotiated the deal themselves, without third-party moderators acting on their behalf.
“We’ve come to an agreement,” said Bright, speaking ahead of Friday’s Nations League game against Scotland. “But I think it is bigger than just the bonus. For us it’s about becoming world leaders on and off the pitch. As we know the women’s game is evolving very quickly, and conversations like this need to happen, in order to make sure that in all areas we’re at the top of our game.
“The conversation was extremely positive and as players we feel really confident moving forward about the structure we now have in.”
Asked if the chapter had now closed, in terms of the pay negotiations that were unresolved prior to the World Cup, Bright replied: “Yes, definitely.”
Reacting to the news, head coach Sarina Wiegman said: “I was expecting this. As I said last week, the conversation was always going well but the World Cup was ahead of us so we needed to stop those conversations, to [re-]start them up after the World Cup and that is literally what happened.
“[Even though] they didn’t come to an agreement then [before the World Cup], the communication and connections were there all the time. There has been communication and now this part is solved and we can move forward.
“Of course, this makes me very happy because it is good for the players and the women’s game to move forward and take the next step. It is so good for us, so that we can focus on football, which we did anyway in the World Cup too because we were not distracted by discussions at that moment.”
