Lucy Staniforth: Women’s football has changed beyond recognition – now it must keep pushing forward

About the author
Former England international Lucy Staniforth, 33, recently retired from professional football and has joined FIFPRO as a Women’s Football Officer. Staniforth reflects on the rapid growth of women’s football during her playing career, the role unions have played in driving progress and why she wants to help shape the future of the game through the player union movement.

By Lucy Staniforth

When I first started out at Sunderland, women’s football felt a world away from where it is today. We were competing at the highest level, but there was still a sense that it was viewed as a hobby rather than a profession. There was no real pressure, no spotlight and certainly no sense that people were constantly watching your every move.

I often think back to the time we reached the FA Cup final in 2009 and had to go to a supermarket to pack people’s shopping bags to raise funds to get there. At the time, it felt normal. Looking back now, it feels almost impossible to imagine. Can you picture today’s top clubs asking their players to stand in a supermarket packing bags before a final?

That contrast tells you everything about how far the women’s game has come.

Over the course of my career, I’ve witnessed women’s football go through rapid professionalisation. The growth has been incredible: bigger crowds, more investment, greater visibility and opportunities that younger players now rightly expect. In England especially, the Lionesses’ first EURO victory accelerated everything at a speed none of us could really have imagined. But growth that fast also comes with challenges.

At times, the game has been playing catch-up. Support structures haven’t always developed at the same speed as the commercial growth. There are still huge differences globally in what it means to be a professional women’s footballer. In some countries, players are well-supported and looked after. In others, the reality is still incredibly difficult.

That’s why player unions matter so much.

Quite honestly, a lot of the progress in women’s football would not have happened without them. Their role goes far beyond contracts and negotiations. They fight for the welfare, wellbeing and dignity of players. They push the game to think properly about what women’s players actually need, rather than simply adapting systems originally built for men.

Women’s football requires its own lens. We’re not “little men”, as people have said in the past. Women’s players have different experiences, different health considerations and different career realities. One of the clearest examples is maternity and fertility support. For women’s players, prime career years often overlap with prime years for starting a family. That creates decisions and pressures that simply do not exist in the same way elsewhere in football.

Seeing player unions begin to address those issues properly has been hugely important.

I’ve been fortunate to benefit personally from the support of the PFA during my career, particularly during periods when I needed access to better rehabilitation and medical expertise. They also gave me the tools to develop off the pitch, graduating from the PFA Business School. But what really opened my eyes to the wider importance of the player union movement was attending my first FIFPRO Women’s Player Summit.

Listening to players from around the world speak about their realities was incredibly powerful. I remember hearing players discuss cultural barriers, minimum salary campaigns and working conditions that many people in established leagues would never even think about. It made me realise how important collective action is and how much more still needs to be done.

As I started thinking seriously about retirement over the last couple of years, I also started thinking about how I could contribute to the game beyond the pitch. Injuries gave me time to reflect, and by late 2025 I knew stepping away from playing was the right decision for me. What made that transition easier was knowing there were opportunities outside football and organisations that genuinely support players through that next phase of life.

That’s one of the reasons joining FIFPRO felt like such a natural next step.

For years, I’d watched the organisation work behind the scenes to push women’s football forward in meaningful ways. I’d visited the offices, spoken with experts, attended summits and witnessed firsthand how proactive the work was. It never felt like people talking about change for the sake of it. It was about creating sustainable improvements for players around the world.

Now, coming directly from the dressing room into this new role, I hope I can bring the perspective of someone who has lived through this era of transformation in women’s football.

The WSL may now be one of the leading leagues in the world, but even there, many issues remain overlooked. Minimum standards, player welfare, women-specific medical support and consistent tournament conditions are all areas where progress is still urgently needed. Projects like FIFPRO’s work around ACL injuries are so important because they help move the game away from guesswork and towards evidence-based support systems for women’s players.

I also think lived experience matters in decision-making. The future of women’s football depends on having more former players involved in the rooms where decisions are made. After all, they’re the people who truly understand the realities of the game. 

For too long, some positions in women’s football have existed out of necessity rather than expertise. As more former players transition into leadership, governance and policy roles, I believe the entire sport will benefit.

And despite the challenges, I remain incredibly optimistic.

Football is loved everywhere. The appetite for the women’s game is enormous, and in many parts of the world we are only beginning to scratch the surface of what is possible. When I think about going from packing shopping bags before an FA Cup final to seeing tens of thousands of fans filling Wembley for women’s matches, it reminds me just how quickly things can change.

The next step is making sure that progress reaches everyone, not just a handful of leagues or nations.

That is what excites me most about joining the player union movement. The opportunity is enormous, but so is the responsibility. We now have a chance to shape a version of women’s football that is sustainable, competitive, properly supported and genuinely representative of the players at its heart.

Women’s football has already proven how far it can come. Now, we have to decide how far we’re willing to take it.