December 16 – Barclays has doubled its investment in women’s football in England to more than £30 million in a three-year deal.
Under the new terms – the bank spent £15 million over the three years from 2019-22 – the agreement will cover the FA Women’s Super League, as well as a first time title sponsorship of the Women’s Championship (Barclays FA Women’s Championship) and a commitment to grassroots programmes.
The new deal will start with the 2022-23 season and run until the end of the 2024-25 season and is a record for investment in UK women’s sport.
Sasha Wiggins, group head of public policy and corporate responsibility at Barclays, said: “We’re delighted to announce the agreements with the FA and Premier League at a time when we are celebrating our long term commitment to English football. Collectively we have been through extraordinarily difficult times over the last 18 months and over that time football has done much to help raise spirits and bring people together.
“The doubling of our investment in women’s and girls’ football, whilst continuing to support men’s football (the bank is celebrating 20 years of sponsorship of the Premier League), and providing finance to the smallest football organisations through the new community fund, is the right way to support the future of the game for everyone’s benefit.”
Barclays will extend its sponsorship of the FA Girls’ Football School Partnerships (FAGFSP) which in 2019 saw 9,700 new schools join the scheme taking the total to over 12,000. The new target is for 20,000 schools to be offering football to girls by 2024 – though frankly it is still incredible that not all schools in the UK are not already making that offer.
From January 2022 a new Barclays community fund – partnered with the Sported charity -will offer grants and support resources to grassroots groups wishing to start offering football.
Kelly Simmons, FA director of women’s professional game, added: “Barclays have played a crucial role in the growth of women’s and girls’ football… As part of our 2020-2024 Women’s and Girls’ strategy, Inspiring Positive Change, we set ourselves the ambition of providing equal access for all girls at 90 per cent of primary and secondary schools in the UK.”
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