The Women's Super League have announced that Barclays will become its first ever title sponsor in a deal the English Football Association calls "the biggest ever investment in UK women's sport by a brand" with the partnership, worth in excess of £10m.
With previous WSL winners having not been awarded any official prize money, the new deal, starting from next season, will see the competition rebranded the Barclays FA Women's Super League with a prize-money pot of £500,000.
Former Arsenal and England striker Kelly Smith said: "This is massive news for the game in England.
The women’s game is in a healthy place now and you can see the interest growing year-by-year.”
Kelly Simmons, the English FA's director of the women's professional game, added: "It's a real landmark moment in the development of the women's game.
This investment will add the fact that schools can make sure lots of girls will get the chance to play football, which is our pipeline for the future."
"If England can do well at the World Cup and get to the final, or even win it,” Smith said, “then the game will be taken to a new level. It's a healthy place to be."
Barclays' sponsorship deal will see them become the lead partner of the FA Girls' Football School Partnerships, a nationwide scheme to help develop girls' access to football at school.
The partnerships aim to double participation and fan base in the game through the FA's Gameplan for Growth strategy, a four-year plan launched in 2017.
