In the NWSL, minimum salaries are $35,000 (£26,550). Morgan believes £30,000 would be a “fair” minimum for the WSL, while Brown-Finnis said a similar figure to the American league, while also adding a premium for higher living costs in London would be a good starting point.

Morgan, who currently plays for Championship side Crystal Palace, said she earned in the “low 20,000s” when at Tottenham for the 2019-20 season and said the current minimums being seen are “unjustifiable” considering the money clubs pump into their men’s teams.
 
“£20,000 a year is way too low to be a professional footballer,” she said. “I don’t think anyone in the WSL is asking for millions of pounds a week. But the disparity is so big, and I just don’t think you can really justify that gap. I don’t know how you can justify £200,000 to £300,000 pounds a week [for male players] and pay [WSL players] £26k a year. It just doesn’t add up. I would definitely back a minimum salary – I think that’s nothing short of what the women deserve.”

The FA told Telegraph Sport that they regularly review rules and regulations that would factor into contracts and salaries.

While top sides in the WSL have chased salaries being offered at Europe’s leading sides like Lyon, at the bottom the picture is much different. 

Birmingham City, who are in the WSL’s relegation zone, were last season blasted by its own players, who wrote an open letter demanding improved working conditions and criticising the club’s budget. While Telegraph Sport understands things have improved this season, Brown-Finnis said until clubs provided all the basics and league revenue improved, salaries needed to be kept in check.

“For the long-term sustainability I cannot stress enough that we cannot do what the Premier League have done, because we haven’t got those fundamentals in place yet,” she said. “We haven’t got 70,000 people coming to watch on a weekly basis – we haven’t even got 20,000. We’re still in the infancy of our professional game and with that we need to find our own way rather than replicating what the Premier League have done.”