The Football Association is considering flying the England women’s team in business class whenever they play abroad after Phil Neville’s side travelled to the United States in economy.



The men’s senior team travel in business or first class whenever they go abroad. The women’s squad fly business class to major tournaments but did not do so for the SheBelieves Cup, Neville’s first competition in charge. England lost 1-0 to USA in their final game and Neville believes a travel schedule which involved flying from London to Columbus and then to New York and Florida may have affected their chances. When asked whether it would be better for the team to travel in business class Neville agreed that it would.

“I’ve got to fight on behalf of my players to make sure they get the best,” he said. “We need to give ourselves the best opportunity to do well. I quite enjoyed the flight over here, I had nine hours with the team and it was great bonding. It’s not my top priority [flying business class], but you always want better.”

An FA spokesperson said: “The travel arrangements for the women’s senior team, while on international duty, are under review. This is a result of the significant £50m investment made by the FA into the women’s game as part of its Gameplan for Growth strategy.”

The governing body is in the spotlight for the way the women’s game is treated after the Eniola Aluko crisis, which resulted in the departure of Mark Sampson as the England manager. A survey last year revealed 88% of players in the Women’s Super League, which is run by the FA, earned less than £18,000 a year and that 58% were considering quitting for financial reasons.

Neville also challenged the organisers of the SheBelieves Cup to make schedules more friendly to travelling teams.

“The organisers need to schedule the games better,” he said. “We were made to travel through three or four different cities just to get here and I had one training session with the team before the first game after a nine-hour flight. The Americans were together for seven days in camp before we got here.”