The Government has announced that former England and Great Britain footballer Karen Carney MBE will chair an in-depth review into the future of domestic women’s football.

The review will look at how to deliver bold and sustainable growth of the women’s game at elite and grassroots level. This will be with a particular focus on:

• assessing the potential audience reach and growth of the game: by considering the value and visibility of women’s and girls’ football in England, including the potential to grow the fanbase for women’s football and whether current growth still supports home-grown talent and can be achieved without overstretching infrastructure;
• examining the financial health of the game and its financial sustainability for the long term: including exploring opportunities and ways to support the commercialisation of the women’s game, broadcast revenue opportunities and the sponsorship of women’s football; and
• examining the structures within women’s football: including the affiliation with men’s teams, prize money, the need for women’s football to adhere to the administrative requirements of the men’s game; and assessing the adequacy, quality, accessibility and prevalence of the facilities available for women’s and girls’ football for the growth and sustainability of the game.

To start the review, a call for evidence will be launched by the Football Association (FA) in the coming weeks.

Karen Carney will lead a series of group meetings with industry experts across the country. She will be supported in the evidence gathering and analysis by senior officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the FA. A full report is expected to be published early next year, with the Government formally responding shortly afterwards. To read the Government’s press release in full, click here. To access the Terms of Reference for the review, click here.