Women's Super League attracts record sponsorship deal
Wednesday 20 March 2019 16:00, UK
The FA Women's Super League is to be sponsored by Barclays from the 2019/20 season in what is the biggest commercial investment in UK women's sport.
The multi-million-pound partnership, which sees Barclays become the first title sponsor of WSL, runs until July 2022.
The top tier of women's football will be renamed the 'Barclays FA Women's Super League' and there will be record levels of investment into the women's game in England.
The new partnership includes The FA and Barclays working together to drive the growth of the women's game at a grassroots level, with Barclays becoming the lead partner of the FA Girls' Football School Partnerships, a nationwide scheme to help develop girls' access to football at school.
The initiative will see a network of hubs delivering FA programmes for their local network of schools which will encourage girls to make football a part of their life.
Barclays will also join with The FA and The Youth Sport Trust to support the development and delivery of 100 Girls' Football School Partnerships.
Kelly Simmons, The FA's Director of Women's Professional Game, told Sky Sports News: "It's a landmark moment in the women's game.
"It's the biggest investment by a brand in women's sport in the UK. Of equal importance is the support this provides to The FA Girls' Football School Partnerships, a cornerstone to our ambition to double participation within The FA's Gameplan for Growth strategy.
"We will see girls across the country given the opportunity to begin a relationship with football, which we hope will last a lifetime."
Jes Staley, Group CEO of Barclays, added: "Football has the power to transform young people's lives, boosting their confidence, being part of a team and providing more opportunities to grow.
"The grassroots work through The FA Girls' Football School Partnerships will help thousands more girls in England to take up sport and we look forward to partnering with The FA to deliver that.
"Barclays' multi-year investment is also our salute to the professionalism of The FA Women's Super League players, and we hope it will help take the game to new heights, making England's domestic league a world leader."
Chelsea Women's manager Emma Hayes believes the sponsorship deal marks a "watershed moment" for the women's game in England.
"I think the women's game is at a tipping point and I've been saying this for some time," she said.
"I felt this year would be the watershed moment where we commercialised the game.
"The investment of the recording of women's sport has reached the point where sponsors want to put their money into it.
"The product is now such that the best companies want to work with the league."
