England women central contracts to keep players hungry - Baroness Sue Campbell
- Published
England beat Wales in August to secure their place at the 2019 World Cup
England women's new central contracts will hopefully keep players "hungry", says the Football Association's director of women's football.
The team were first awarded central contracts in 2009, external to help ease the burden of having second jobs.
The restructure introduces four levels of contract, with top players paid £30,000 a year by the FA and junior players earning £15,000.
Baroness Sue Campbell wants the changes to keep players "aspirational".
"We want our young players to still be striving to improve and that's really hard when you think you've got there too early," she told BBC Sport.
"We want those players to recognise that we've picked them out, that they're potentially very good but there's still a journey to go on - whereas those senior established players know the journey.
"I hope it keeps people a little bit hungry and aspirational."
The new contract levels include:
Young aspiring players with the potential to play for the senior team - five players;
Junior England players - eight players;
Senior England players - 18 players;
Seniors who are coming to the end of their international careers - two players.
Players playing their club football abroad are eligible to receive the contracts.
The FA consulted the team on the new deals, which will run until December 2019.
"They're very excited by it," Campbell added. "They're quite happy about the differentiation between the proven internationals and the aspiring internationals.
"We think it's an important part of encouraging and supporting our best players to do well.
"We want to give those players [at level four] a parachute payment to help them become coaches, referees - to help them move out of football and into something meaningful and productive for them."