The renewal of the FA Women’s Cup has been postponed following criticism

SheGulls, which represents fans of WSL club Brighton & Hove Albion, suggested that labeling “elite level teams” would only widen the gap in quality across the game.

“The sporting merit of our game is slowly eroding in favor of ‘supermatches’ between elite level teams,” the fan group wrote on X’s website.

“The rich will get richer, and teams will fade up and down the pyramid knowing that without tens of millions of pounds, they won’t even be able to get the big time.”

Fulham Supporters Club, whose team plays in the fourth tier, described the idea as a “ridiculous idea” and added: “[It] It goes against all principles of the FA Cup. I would like to see WSL teams actually get to the round early.”

“And that’s the magic of the FA Cup! The Underground Cup [League Cup] Is this a farce, now?” added the official Everton Women’s Supporters Club.

“It’s all about the money. It didn’t take long for women’s football to be destroyed, and it did too…”

The Women’s FA Cup currently follows the same format as the men’s competition, with a draw held after each round.

There is a preliminary round and three qualifying rounds involving teams from levels four to seven of the pyramid, with National Women’s League teams entering in the first round, WSL2 teams in the third round and top-flight teams in a later round.

The proposals came to light less than two weeks after a major revamp of the Women’s League Cup was announced, with the competition set to get a new name and follow the Champions League group stage format next season.