Together Stronger- Equality in the wages of the Wales international football teams

Women's football has become increasingly popular since the ban on women's football was released in England in 1971. The highest attendance for a women's match was Barcelona vs Wolfsburg, in the semi final of the Women's Champions League on the 22nd April 2022. It was a record breaking 91,648 and the game ended 5-1 to Barcelona.  Although women's football is now supported, not everything is equal. Male footballers earn millions of pounds, the average annual income of a Premier League player is £3,000,000. A female footballers' average annual salary in the Women's Super League is around £47,000. Although this is a good wage, it is in stark contrast to the men's salary. The highest-earning female players only earn 1% of the highest-earning male player. This stat really puts the unfairness of wages in football into perspective. In non-playing roles in football the earnings are similarly unfair. England Women's coach Serena Wiegman earns around £400,000 a year while ex England manager Gareth Southgate, when he was England manager, earned £5,000,000. 

Fortunately, there is a country that has already recognised and fixed these issues, showing that it is possible. Wales' male and female football players are all paid the same for playing for their country. This is an amazing start to equality, embodying the Wales motto 'Together Stronger' or in Welsh 'Gyda'n gilydd rydym yn gryfach'. Gemma Grainger ex-Wales women's team manager said "I am really happy about the equal pay, it is about equality, we want our players to embody Together Stronger, the collaboration with the men's team is something we want to continue". Both men and woman's national teams said "As part of the FAW's strive towards equality, we are now proud to announce that together, our men's and women's teams have agreed to an equal pay structure for future international matches. We hope that this will allow future generations of boys and girls to see that there is equality across Welsh international football, which is important for society as a whole".