The winners of this season’s Women’s FA Cup will now receive £430,000 – £100,000 more than Chelsea earned for landing the competition last season – with the Football Association having doubled the size of the overall FA Cup prize pot.
An additional investment of £3m has been approved by the FA Board, bringing the total prize fund for the competition to £6m.
That means there will be a significant increase in prize money for clubs competing from the third round onwards for the 2023/24 season.
Clubs competing in the third round will now access a prize pot of £44,000 per match, a substantial uplift on the £12,500 pot allocated for the same round in the 2022/23 competition.
There will also be an increase in the prize money for each match between the third round and the final, with the final prize pot also significantly increasing from £150,000 to £538,000 to ensure success in the competition is rewarded.
Chelsea lift last season’s Women’s FA Cup trophy at Wembley
This season’s funding increase aligns with when Women’s Championship clubs enter the competition. Twenty-eight teams from outside of the professional game also compete in the third round, meaning clubs from Tier 3 and below of the women’s football pyramid will collectively access a minimum additional prize pot of £404,000 compared to if they had made the same stage last season.
This is the second time in successive seasons that The FA has increased the prize money for the Women’s FA Cup. Last year’s increase was weighted towards growing the prize fund for the earlier rounds of the competition from the first round qualifying to the second round to the benefit of clubs lower down the pyramid.
With a record 460 teams competing in the 2023/24 competition, more clubs from across the divisions will benefit from the two annual increases in prize money. Last season the Women’s FA Cup final sold out for the first time, with a record crowd of 77,390 watching Chelsea defeat Manchester United 1-0 to win their fifth title.
“Doubling the prize money showcases The FA’s clear commitment to the future of the Women’s FA Cup and will help us maintain its stature as the most prestigious domestic women’s cup competition in the world,” said Baroness Sue Campbell, the FA’s director of women’s football.
Sam Kerr celebrates after scoring for Chelsea in last season’s Women’s FA Cup final
“That’s why we’re delighted to be making a second successive increase to the prize fund, ensuring that as clubs progress through the competition they receive financial rewards that will empower them to invest in their own futures.
“Ultimately, we want the women’s competition to receive the same prize money as the men’s, and this new increase is a positive step in the direction of achieving that long-term ambition.”
The men’s FA Cup prize fund for the current season was confirmed in June, with £2m on offer for winning the final and £1m for the losing finalists. Those teams would also benefit from payments for progressing through the earlier rounds.