Five key learnings from FIFPRO's latest women's workload report

FIFPRO has released the 2024 Women’s Player Workload Monitoring report, analysing footballers’ experience through the lens of high-usage and underloaded players during the 2023/24 season and culminating with the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024.

The report – now in its fourth edition – highlights the disparities that currently exist in the women’s professional game. It also examines new and expanding competitions, placing them in a broader context of what they will mean for players in future. Take a look at five key learnings from the report.

1. 'High-usage' players are consistently squeezed

It is evident that playing opportunities are not distributed equally amongst footballers; there are players who the calendar disproportionately burdens more in the form of more games, minutes and back-to-back appearances. These players, who are termed as ‘high-usage’, are highly sought after to play in all competitions and particularly squeezed by the calendar.

Spanish forward Mariona Caldentey, who joined Arsenal in July 2024 from Barcelona, played the most games of any women’s player last season (64) and made the most back-to-back appearances (44). Caldentey is followed by Real Madrid player Athenea del Castillo, who racked up 61 appearances for club and country and 44 back-to-back appearances. Out of the top five players who tallied the most matches and back-to-back appearances last season, four played in Spain.

2. Larger proportion of players experiencing 'underload' 

While some high-usage players are being squeezed by the match calendar and schedule, a larger proportion of professionals experience underload due to not playing enough competitive minutes. Underload is an overlooked but pervasive issue in women’s football – further exposing the imbalance in the women’s match calendar and fragmented growth-rate.

According to the Women’s Player Workload Monitoring Platform, leagues in USA, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, Korea Republic and Sweden saw the average player only make 33 appearances; when season breaks are factored into the equation that translates to less than one match a week for the duration of the entire season. Caldentey played 28 percent more games than those ranked 11th-15th in total appearances during the 2023/24 season.

3. Uneven growth and development of football competitions

Some leagues and confederations are actively expanding existing and developing new competitions but these developments are largely uneven; while UEFA and Concacaf have created new competitions, other confederations lag behind. The same can be said for leagues that are developing like the NWSL.

The expansion and development of competitions also brings into question the travel demands placed on players: some international footballers spent over seven days (over two percent) of their year with flights to matches. Australia’s Hayley Raso, who joined Tottenham Hotspur in September 2024, travelled 147,498 kilometres last season, which amounted to 190 hours of international travel. Chelsea’s Canadian defender Ashley Lawrence made 31 international trips last season, which amounted to 151 international travel hours.