(Women's World Cup) league-based, England did it - Women's World Cup told "sonorous roses"

Sydney, August 17 (Xinhua) -- League-based, England did it - Women's World Cup told "sonorous roses"

Xinhua News Agency reporter

With the England women's team knocking out hosts Australia, they reached the World Cup final for the first time in their history. From missing the World Cup at the turn of the century, to reaching the semi-finals in the last three editions, to now meeting Spain at the top, England's progress has been impressive. However, when we explore the healthy league system behind them, all this is so natural.

League-based, this is one of the basic laws of modern football development. After a 6-1 defeat to England, Chinese women's football, at least at the league level, needs to learn from England.

Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool... In the field of men's football, the Premier League's watching, exposure, gold-absorbing ability and other aspects are the industry leaders; In the wave of professionalization of European women's football, the Premier League Women's Football League is also a pioneer: reasonable planning, a strong tower, good operation, and rich sponsorship make them at the forefront of their peers.

The immediate effect of the rise of the Premier League Women's Football League is that England has evolved from a semi-strong team to favourites in all international competitions.

England's rise has only taken just over a decade, and it coincides closely with their league reform timeline. At the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany, England lost to France on penalties in the quarter-final, and reached the quarter-finals of two consecutive World Cups. In the same year, the FA restructured the English Women's Football League, the Premier League Women's Football League officially began, and a change quietly took place.

At the beginning, the Women's Premier League had a total of 8 teams and operated only on a semi-professional basis. In the following years, after a series of operations such as classification and expansion, from the 2018-2019 season, the Premier League Women's Football League became fully professional, according to the regulations participating teams must reapply for licenses to obtain seats, the league forced clubs to provide players with at least 16 hours a week contracts, and the formation of youth colleges became the new licensing standard.

Building on the past three years, in 2021 the FA released a three-year plan dedicated to professional women's football, with the goal of creating the best women's league in the world. The plan proposes initiatives to develop and attract world-class talent, maximize audience engagement, increase business revenue, and maintain financial sustainability.

To be sustainable, it is necessary to develop the independent commercial value of women's football. In March 2019, the Premier League Women's League agreed a multi-million pound title sponsorship deal with Barclays, a three-year sponsorship deal worth more than £10 million (£1 is about 9.30 yuan) starting with the 2019-2020 season. The FA called the deal "the biggest investment in the history of British women's sport". Two years later, Barclays renewed the deal at the end of 2021, doubling its sponsorship fees and extending its sponsorship to the Women's Championship.

According to data research firms, the annual sponsorship revenue of the Premier League Women's Football League as of 30 November 2022 was around £11.5 million. Blood transfusions for men's clubs remain the main source of funding for women's clubs. In the 2022-2023 season, 11 of the 12 teams in the Women's Premier League are affiliated teams of Premier League men's clubs, especially the big clubs, and have invested very generously in women's football. According to statistics, since the establishment of the league, the six Premier League giants Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham have invested a total of about 124 million pounds in women's football.

Starting from the 2020-2021 season, the Premier League has invested £2.25 million in improving women's training and playing grounds. The Premier League Stadium Fund funds the first four women's league clubs to improve their venues, and clubs in the third and fourth divisions can also apply for up to £20,000 for venue improvements. In addition to existing support, the Premier League has pledged £21 million over the next three years to develop women's football. Of these, half is used in the Women's Super League and Women's Champions League, while the other half is used in grassroots football.

The FA Women's Director Campbell said it was a fate-changing step in the English Women's League pyramid, saying: "We want to help the club grow and have better players on the pitch, but we also want the league to be more lasting and healthy. ”

Of the 736 players who participated in the World Cup, nearly 100 were from the Premier League. Sweden and Australia in the final four have about one-third of the players in the Premier League, and Kerr and Huttigue are key players in their respective national teams.

The arrival of high-level players means that the quality of the league has improved, which naturally attracts a lot of attention. In 2021, the FA announced a three-year television rights deal with Sky Sports and the BBC, which is believed to cost £8 million, the highest deal in the world professional women's football league and marking the first time that the broadcast rights of the Premier League Women's Football League have been sold separately from a men's match.

According to statistics, last season, the number of participants in multiple matches in the Premier League Women's Football League exceeded 40,000, with an average of more than 5,000 people per game. Last year's Women's European Championship "broke the circle" in England and even the whole of Europe, and the attention was unprecedented, and England finally won the first major championship of English football (including men's football) since 1966, less than 4 years after the full professionalization of the English women's team.

After China's World Cup match against England, Wang Shuang said: "Their (England's) men's league level is very high, and I think the speed of progress of English women's football is due to the Premier League. Why do we train harder and give more than those players in Europe, but we never get the results we want? ”

Wang Shuang's words also reflect the difference in the current development model of Chinese and English football. More than a decade ago, the English team still played the role of the Chinese women's football team's catch-up, and in a blink of an eye, it was already leading by a large margin, and the league level became one of the keys for the English team to complete the surpass.

In the past year or two, many Chinese female football players have gone abroad, but the domestic league system should be the largest talent reservoir. From the current situation, including the operation of the league, the staffing of clubs, the quality of games, the development of young players... Compared with the advanced level, the Chinese Women's Super League still has a long way to go. (Written by Wei Hua, Wang Haoming; Participating reporters: Shuwen, Yue Ranran, Gao Meng, Hao Yalin) (end)