Women’s FA Cup Prize Fund To Double
The prize fund for the Women’s FA Cup has doubled from £3m to £6m.
The additional £3m investment was recently approved by the FA Board, marking a significant increase in prize money for clubs competing in the third round onwards from the 2023/24 season.
Clubs competing in the third round of English football’s’ biggest domestic cup competition will now access a prize pot of £44,000 per match, a substantial uplift on the £12,500 pot allocated for the same round in the 2022/23 competition.
There will also be an increase in the prize pot for each match up to the final, with the final prize pot also significantly increasing from £150,000 to £538,000 to ensure ‘success in the competition is rewarded.’
This season’s funding increase aligns with when Barclays Women’s Championship clubs enter the competition. 28 teams from outside of the professional game also compete in the third round, meaning that clubs from Tier 3 and below of the women’s football pyramid will collectively access a minimum additional prize pot of £404,000 compared to if they had made the same stage last season.
This is the second time in successive seasons that the FA has increased the prize money for the Women’s FA Cup. Last year’s increase was weighted towards growing the prize fund for the earlier rounds of the competition from the first round qualifying to the second round to the benefit of clubs lower down the pyramid.
Baroness Sue Campbell, Director of Women’s Football at the FA, said, “Doubling the prize money showcases The FA’s clear commitment to the future of the Women’s FA Cup and will help us maintain its stature as the most prestigious domestic women’s cup competition in the world. That’s why we’re delighted to be making a second successive increase to the prize fund, ensuring that as clubs progress through the competition they receive financial rewards that will empower them to invest in their own futures.
“Ultimately, we want the women’s competition to receive the same prize money as the men’s, and this new increase is a positive step in the direction of achieving that long-term ambition.”
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