‘It’s not about the money, money, money’, so Jessie J once sang – but for clubs like Luton Town Ladies, the increased cash on offer in the Women’s FA Cup cannot be ignored.
Inspired by last season’s promotion success of the men’s team, they travel to Enfield Town in the second round on Sunday.
Victory would lead to the possibility of being drawn against a side from the second-tier Championship, with the elite Women’s Super League teams then entering the competition in round four.
“We like to enjoy our football and not put too much pressure on ourselves to win for the money, we want to win because we want our name out there and the club (name) out there,” captain Jess McKay told BBC Look East.
But Luton play in the Premier Division of the Eastern Region Football League – the fifth tier of the women’s game – and coach Rob Burton acknowledges that at that level most clubs need financial support from wherever they can find it.
“The FA Cup is always special; men, women, it’s all the same,” he said.
“It is always about the enjoyment but the prize money makes it that little bit sweeter. It takes a lot of funding for the facilities these days, the kit and equipment, so for us it’s really about stability for the club.”
Every third-round game has a £44,000 prize pot, with £35,000 for the winners – and those figures rise to £67,000 and £54,000 in round four.
Burton added: “Some [of the money at the top end of the women’s game] is starting to filter down to our level but for the majority of teams it’s a pay-to-play scenario.
“As it filters down, as things progress, the quality of the game is definitely improving. It will build for us but we’re at the infancy of that.”