A report has revealed details behind salary cap rules in place for WSL and WSL 2 clubs this season, and what penalties teams could face for breaching them.
What is the WSL salary cap?
The report from The Guardian has revealed the salary-cap rules in place for clubs in the top two tiers of English women’s football.
The total player wage bill must not exceed either 80% of the club’s revenue, plus whichever is higher of £4m or a further 25% of the club’s revenue.
Deloitte recently revealed revenue figures for the top clubs in the world for the financial year ending in 2025.
Arsenal overtook Chelsea to top the Women’s Football Money League. The Gunners claimed £22.2m in revenue, compared to Chelsea’s £22m.
Those figures were comfortably more than Manchester City (£11.2m) and Manchester United (£11m), who were the only other WSL clubs to exceed £10m in revenue.
Although Aston Villa (£6.9m), Liverpool (£6.3m) and Tottenham (£4.5m) also made the top 10.
What penalties could clubs face for breaching rules?
The Guardian reports that clubs could face a fine and points deduction for breaching salary cap rules.
It is claimed that a WSL club could have a point deducted for every £100,000 of overspending, with a deduction of 10 points or more for anything more than £900,000.
Meanwhile, in WSL 2, one point can be deducted for every £50,000 of overspending.
What are the minimum salaries in WSL and WSL 2?
It was announced in September that minimum salaries had been introduced for the 2025-26 season in the WSL and WSL 2.
The news comes as a positive step after concerns over pay surrounding some players in the women’s game.
Wales boss Rhian Wilkinson in an exclusive interview with SheKicks, said that there was a ‘pay inequity issue’ within the women’s game, with some players ‘not making enough money to live properly’.
The report from The Guardian claims that U23 players in the WSL 2 are not guaranteed to be paid the equivalent of the national living wage for a full-time worker.
WSL 2 clubs must reportedly pay players aged 21 and 22 a minimum of £22,000 and those aged 18-20 at least £17,500.
Current regulations require them to receive a minimum of 20 hours of “contract time” per week. This excludes matchdays and mealtimes.
New: Players aged under 23 in WSL 2 are not guaranteed to be paid the equivalent of the national living wage for a typical full-time worker annually, despite a large improvement for lower earners following the introduction of minimum salaries this season. https://t.co/rScsjFQBAS
— Tom Garry (@TomJGarry) January 27, 2026
By comparison, UK law states employees aged 21 must be paid £12.21 an hour, or £10 an hour for those aged 18. For a typical working week of 37.5 hours, this equals around £23,810 for those aged 21 and £19,500 for those who are 18.
The minimum salary for players aged 23 or over in WSL 2 is £26,900. For those in the WSL, players aged 23 and above get at least £42,500, £34,700 for 21 and 22-year-olds, and £26,900 for those aged 18-20.
Meanwhile, the Women’s Super League will introduce academy contracts next season.
Under the new guidelines, clubs can offer players an academy contract at the age of 15 or 16. However, the deal would not be allowed to start until they turn 16.
