Crystal Palace Ladies' players must each raise £250 in sponsorship to pay for annual subscription fees.GETTY IMAGES
Players from FA Women's Championship side Crystal Palace Ladies have been told "they face not being able to represent the club any longer" if they cannot each raise £250 ($321) in sponsorship "or put up the money themselves," according to Martha Kelner of the London GUARDIAN. The onus has been put on the women's first-team reserves "to source the money to pay for annual subscription fees." It "caused anger among some senior figures in the women's game who feel it sends out an unhelpful message about the importance of female players to the club." A source said, "Some of the players, particularly the younger ones, are really stressed about having to find the money. The timing of the demand to find sponsorship was unhelpful too, the same week that Wilfried Zaha was given a new £130,000 ($167,100) a week contract. We know it is a different beast entirely to the men's game but some of the players are getting really fed up with the structure and the message it sends. They’ve been given a letter to hand out to potential sponsors and it's all very patronizing." The letter, signed by club Chair Richard Spokes, reads, "Whilst all aspects of the women's game are getting stronger, we are still needing to think creatively in terms of helping our players in respect of covering this financial commitment." It is understood the club feels that by encouraging the senior players to seek their own sponsors, it is "improving the awareness of the women's game in the community and strengthening ties between individual players and businesses" (GUARDIAN, 9/4).
