Keira Walsh made history when she signed with Barcelona from Manchester City earlier this month for what was widely reported to be a world-record fee of £350,000 ($400,000). The move followed off the back of the success of the European Championships, which saw England lift their first major trophy on home soil. The transfer is undoubtedly a landmark moment for the game, but why is it that the record fee is so much lower than in the men’s game? And is focusing on transfer fees in the women’s game the most important marker of success?
At the Euros this summer, midfielder Walsh was a lynchpin in England’s victory. And the tournament, which saw records broken in attendances, viewership and impressions on social media, proved that the women’s game has grown to new levels and continues to pull new fans in. Walsh only drew further attention to the game upon signing for Barcelona, a move that left many wondering what impact a transfer like this will have on the game.
After a few failed bids to sign Walsh from Barcelona, City agreed to the deal with the Spanish club on Sept. 7, a day ahead of the transfer deadline, for a fee expected to rise to around £350,000 beating the fee — in excess of £250,000 ($286,000) — that Chelsea paid to sign Pernille Harder from Wolfsburg in 2020. In comparison, the record fee for a men’s player is £198 million ($263m), when Neymar signed for Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in 2017. Still, despite the vast gap, Walsh’s move signals another step forward.
Speaking ahead of the Women’s Super League (WSL) season getting underway, City manager Gareth Taylor, who has seen significant turnover in his squad through departures and retirements this summer, said that Walsh’s move was a “jolt.”
“It left us with about a week when we realised Keira wanted to leave and had requested to go,” Taylor said. “Keira had given us eight years of service, had developed really well and wanted to take this challenge. We got a record fee for her, which shows we’re doing something right here at the club.”
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History plays a significant role in how the women’s game has progressed in England and around the world. Just over a 100 years ago, the Football Association (FA) banned clubs from allowing women to play in their grounds, which ensured there could be no women’s league or structure in which players could come together and develop. The decision followed not long after an historic game in 1920, where Dick, Kerr Ladies FC beat St. Helens 4-0 in front of 53,000 fans at Goodison Park, proving that women’s football was in a position to be successful over a century ago. The ban halted much of the success women’s football was building, and it lasted for nearly 50 years.
It’s important to mention that men’s football has also grown exponentially in the past 30 years, but the time in which they had to build the sport up put the men’s game in a position to succeed decades ago, while women’s football is beginning to see that ascending growth now.
In 1975, Italian Giuseppe Savoldi became the first male £1m footballer in signing for Napoli and a little over 20 years later, Alan Shearer signed for his boyhood club, Newcastle United, for a then-record of £15m. Neymar holds the current transfer record at £198m for his 2017 move to PSG, and while we may not see the fee rise to that extreme again soon, men’s players now regularly bring in £100m in transfer fees. Broadcasting revenue, endorsement deals and merchandise sales have all contributed to the growth and increased finances in the game.
All of that being said, the women’s game is seeing financial growth and it feels like only a matter of time until we see the first female player to sign for £1m. It has only taken two years for the fee to rise to upwards of £350,000 and with increased investment from clubs and broadcasters in the game, that record will continue to be broken.
