Australian Research Suggest That More Players Will Quit If There Is No Professional Women’s A-League

Professional Footballers Australia has expressed growing concern over the potential exodus of talented female players to leagues in the United States and Europe. 

They have emphasized the urgent need for the professionalization of the A-league Women in order to retain and attract top-tier talent within the country. 

Failure to level up the standards and support for female football domestically could result in a significant drain of players to more established and lucrative leagues overseas, posing a long-term threat to the growth and competitiveness of women’s football in Australia.

“The ALW has already had its top-end talent siphoned off over the past five years”

The country’s hosting of the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup should be used as leverage to make the ALW fully professional starting with the 2026–2027 season, according to the PFA’s annual report on the 12-team league. 

The capacity of the ALW to retain players who will eventually make up the next generation of national team players was reportedly threatened by the professional women’s game’s explosive expansion in the US and Europe.

The report stated “The ALW has already had its top-end talent siphoned off over the past five years, and these new developments risk seeing its middle hollowed out, The ALW is growing, but superior playing opportunities are growing faster.”

Total player payments have reached a record A$8.4 million

When the Matildas national team wowed the country by making it all the way to the semifinals of the 2023 Women’s World Cup on home soil, women’s football in Australia took a major leap forward. 

ALW attendances soared 72 per cent on the basis of that event but the league would always struggle to retain players while it was unable to offer them a livelihood, the report concluded.

Despite the record A$8.4 million (5.68 million USD) in total player salaries, 62% of ALW players still work outside of sport.

The report also stated “In the player survey, 69 per cent of ALW players said they would consider leaving football early for some reason other than form or fitness, with low club salaries being by far the most-picked reason,”

The report’s authors acknowledged that many would consider the cost of bringing the ALW up to full professional status to be unaffordable.

Report added “To those who see women’s football purely as a cost, accepting this recommendation will look unaffordable, The data in the report shows that we can less afford not to. It is time for those who recognise this moment as an opportunity to invest in football’s biggest growth centre to step up, and for others to step aside.”

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