Lionesses 'come to an agreement' with FA over player bonuses - England captain Millie Bright

England women’s captain Millie Bright has revealed that the Lionesses have "come to an agreement" with the Football Association following a long-standing dispute over performance-related bonuses.

It came after Sarina Wiegman’s side had been pushing the governing body to provide the squad with bonuses, a discussion which had been raging since before the start of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Despite reaching the final, the FA had not provided England with those payments, while players from other countries were set to receive them.

England chose to temporarily pause talks during the World Cup to help them focus on the competition. But in a statement released in July, said that they were "disappointed" the issue had not yet been resolved.

Despite that, talks had been planned to restart after the tournament and it seems, according to Bright, that "positive" conversations have taken place and a deal has now been struck between the players and the FA.

“We’ve come to an agreement but it’s bigger than just the bonuses," Bright said, according to BBC Sport. "For us, it’s about being world leaders on and off the pitch.

“The women’s game is evolving very quickly so conversations like this need to happen to make sure in all areas we are at the top of our game.

“The conversation was extremely positive. We feel really confident moving forward with the structure we now have in place.”

Bright added that the conversations that have taken place were not just about increases in pay, affirming that the meetings were also about "building a new structure" within women’s football.

“It covered a variety of things. It’s the whole package that comes with the women’s game. It’s more than finances. It’s everything to do with the next generation,” Bright said.

“We’re very lucky and privileged we have amazing facilities and set the tone in many areas.

“Those conversations were also just about checking in and building those relationships, so if a problem does pop up we’re in a position where we can have an open and honest conversation.

“That’s why I feel positive we came to an agreement and we’re building a new structure where we can have more of that open dialogue so everything stays the way it should be.”

For the first time at a Women’s World Cup, players received individual payments directly from FIFA, which was previously distributed to national football associations competing in the tournament who would decide how those fees should be shared.

The team’s manager, Wiegman, revealed her delight that the players had finally struck an agreement with the FA, saying that "moving forwards, it looks really good".

“I was expecting this,” Wiegman said. “The conversations had been going really well, but the World Cup was ahead of us so we had to stop those conversations.

“The connections have been made and there was communication all the time. Now this part is solved and moving forward, it looks really good.”

England are set to take on Scotland on Friday at the Stadium of Light before playing Netherlands the following Tuesday as they kick start their Women’s Nations League campaign.

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