Women’s World Cup: England’s Lucy Bronze says pay resolution with FA could ’empower the whole game’

Lucy Bronze says England players feel “empowered” for taking a stand on the pay gap and remains hopeful of a resolution that will “make the game better”.

But they intend to revisit the topic after the tournament, which starts for England with a game against Haiti on Saturday.

“It’s the first time as a group we sent a message out ourselves,” said Bronze.

“Collectively, it was done together, and we set our sights on [it]. In that respect, it’s a very empowered player group this morning, last night and in the last few weeks.

“We felt it was important we sent the message out to show we’re focused on the World Cup.”

She added: “There are always discussions going on. I’ve been part of a leadership role for many years and this has been made more public, not just by our team, but other teams.

“It’s important to share our voices, strive to make differences. Although we’re just players, we want women’s football to be better for ourselves and in the future.”

England won the European Championship last summer and are among the leading contenders for World Cup glory in Australia and New Zealand.

Bronze believes that the attention around the tournament can be used to elevate an issue that will benefit the women’s game in the long-term.

“We’re not doing this for ourselves. We can set a standard, something we’ve seen with the US team. They won World Cups because of it and all teams are seeing that,” said Bronze.

“The World Cup gives us the big stage, it’s when people want to listen to us, when things really matter, and [it’s] why so many teams are speaking about it. It’s the only moment they sometimes get this stage.

“Teams across the board are empowering each other, to push the game on. It’s the biggest World Cup ever, and I’m sure in four years’ time it will be even bigger thanks to the changes that we’re able to make.”

It has been reported that the England players are unhappy with the FA for not offering England players performance-related bonuses, unlike other major nations like the United States.

It comes after FIFA announced it will make individual performance-related payments to players at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, ranging from around £23,600 per player for a group-stage exit to around £213,000 per player for the champions.

Previously, prize money was paid to national federations who would then distribute it as they saw fit, but England’s players believe the new structure should not replace FA bonuses entirely.

“It’s about finding a solution that works for both to strive to make the game better,” Bronze added.

“[The FA] are on our side, want to make the game better and you see that in everything we do. I’m pretty sure we’ll find solutions and it will never get to the point and route that other teams are going down.

“We are European champions – we’ve changed the game massively in England. We want things to fall in line with what we’ve done on the pitch.

“If we can set the standard for ourselves, then we can for other nations who don’t have as good a relationship with their federations. We can empower the whole game. It’s a bigger picture.”