BY EVERY quantifiable metric, women’s football is on the rise, and Ireland international Jamie Finn is one of the many beneficiaries.

10 or 20 years ago, the option of moving across the water to a club at Birmingham’s level would have appeared significantly less attractive than it does now.

It remains the case that only the footballers at the very top of the English footballing ladder can earn life-changing money, but the potential for growth is increasing.

In Britain especially, the game is thriving in a way it never has before, with England’s recent triumph at the Euros both a reflection of this progress and a reason why the upward trend is likely to continue.

Since the 2018-19 season, the Women’s Super League has described itself as having “full-time, professional status”.

It’s undoubtedly a significant leap from the inaugural 2011 campaign when teams in the top tier were largely semi-professional.

In addition, current rules dictate that in order to gain entry from the Championship to the WSL, teams must meet certain criteria such as professional status, which has led to the expansion of a number of sides in the second tier as well to ensure they do not miss out on promotion.

However, the WSL being ‘professional’ does not necessarily mean players are making millions or that what they are earning is in any way comparable to their male counterparts in the Premier League. 

As journalist and author Suzy Wrack told The42 earlier this year:  “The term ‘professionalism’ gets used a little bit too liberally by the FA and others.

“I get that there’s probably a little bit of hope that, for example, when you announce the Women’s Super League as fully professional, it almost becomes true to a certain extent, just by saying it, because sponsors’ interest increases in it. And then, by default, more money comes into the game and you are able to professionalise it further.

“But the gap between the pay of the likes of Pernille Harder and Sam Kerr at Chelsea to what Birmingham and Leicester City players are getting paid at the bottom of the league [is considerable]. 

“And we’re not at a stage where women can bank on this as a career for life — where, once they retire, they don’t have to go on and get another job, they don’t have to have a plan B.

“We’re just so far from a game that people can sustainably make a living on at the bottom end of the league, or in the Championship, that so much more needs to be done.

“You look at a player in the lower end of the league table or even in the middle of the league table in terms of Women’s Super League, and 90% of the time they are on one-year contracts.

“So you’ve got players that are potentially having to move every year, to a different city, a different club, and are reliant on whether the club can afford to keep them on.”

Finn is one of many Irish footballers in recent years who have opted to try their luck in England.

While the WSL and Championship are far from perfect, as indicated above, both are still well ahead of the Women’s National League in Ireland, where Finn spent several seasons playing with Shelbourne before joining Birmingham just over a year ago.

Asked how the domestic game can improve in the short term, the 24-year-old replies: “You’d want it at least to get to a semi-professional level at some stage. Obviously, you would want to get it fully professional [eventually]. The money is an issue, but I think the players are there to get to that professional level. They obviously want that and in my time when I was in the league, you see the players want that professional level. But it just comes down to money I suppose.”

And would she ever consider a return to Shelbourne, the club whose academy she initially joined as a 13-year-old?

“I saw a tweet that I was at a hundred and something caps for Shelbourne,” she says. “I would like to see that maybe at 150. But obviously, I would like to be in a professional environment for as long as I can.”

The Three Lions’ first-ever success at a major tournament last July already is making a substantial difference.

“Even in our league and the Women’s Super League, the crowds have increased. Obviously, they were decent, but they’re increasing more and more. And playing at the men’s stadium is a plus as well for some of the teams.” 

Going from amateur to professional has also positively impacted the Swords native, whose game can only be improved in this new environment.

“When I was at home, I was working too. Obviously, I’m not working [now]. I was a personal trainer back home. So the full focus is on football now.

“We have the days off to rest and recover. And then obviously, video analysis, one-to-ones with your manager and coach. One-to-one technical sessions and stuff like that [differentiate it from non-professional level].”

There have been setbacks along the way, notably relegation from the WSL last year. But Finn has acquitted herself well overall at Birmingham, signing a new one-year deal in the summer, while she is starting regularly for the first team this season as they bid to secure a top-flight return at the first attempt.

“Obviously last season, it was tough to adapt in one of the best leagues around. Unfortunately, we did get relegated. I think this season now in the Women’s Championship, we really want to push on and get promotion. We’ve started well and just need to continue that now.

“I think the Women’s Championship is very competitive as well. It is going to be tough. I think it’s wide open to a couple of teams that could nick it.

“We’d be more on the ball [compared to the WSL] and we need to adapt to that as well. Last year, we weren’t as much on the ball, we were more defensive.”

Finn’s progress is also clear from her increased prominence in the Irish team. With 13 caps to her name, she is still one of the less experienced members of the squad.

However, with the exception of the 11-0 and 9-0 thrashings over Georgia, and the final game with Slovakia for which she was suspended, Finn has started every other match in Ireland’s World Cup qualifying campaign and will likely be called upon again for next week’s playoff against either Austria or Scotland.

Helping the team qualify for a first-ever major tournament would be another significant milestone in the youngster’s burgeoning career.

“We were just saying earlier, when I was growing up, I always imagined playing at a World Cup for your country. That would be amazing. And I think all the girls are on the same page so fingers crossed we can do that.”

She continues: “They were saying it was like a concert [for the recent Scotland-Ireland men's international]. I was watching it and the atmosphere looked amazing. We’ll see if it’s at Hampden or in Austria, we’ll go out and hopefully try to get the win.

“I think this team have adapted to playing at bigger stadiums, bigger atmosphere, bigger crowds, I think we’ve adapted well. But we need to control what we can control and that’s ourselves.”