Fay wages pledge in a £4m boost for Scots
GEMMA FAY revealed Scotland’s women will turn pro this year and pay a wage to more than 30 leading women players.
The most-capped player in the history of Scottish football – with 203 games for her country – is now head of women’s and girls’ rugby at Murrayfield.
Fay yesterday helped launch a four-year plan to revolutionise the game
Overall, Scottish Rugby intend to boost spending on the women’s and girls’ game by £2.5million next year to over £4m total.
The SRU also want to form two semi-professional teams to compete in a league against other teams from England or Wales.
Fay has come up with a contracts scheme where wage packets on offer will differ, depending on whether players also want to carry on with their jobs rather than becoming full-time pros.
She said: “We’ve done a benchmarking exercise behind the scenes around what other unions are looking to do, or are doing, and what UK Sport is doing in terms of pay. I’d say we’re competitive with that.
“We’re not going to come out with those values, the salaries, yet. If you choose to live off that, you can – and that’s not scraping by.
“It’s an extremely exciting time to be involved in women and girls’ rugby. We will focus on connecting all aspects of what it takes to ensure Scotland Women are supported for success on the international stage.”
● Former Glasgow lock Hamish Bain has become the latest Scot to be signed by ambitious Jersey Reds.
The Channel Islands club snapped up prop Sam Grahamslaw earlier this week from Edinburgh to join countrymen Steven Longwell and Adam Nicol.