Kirby: Women don’t deserve equal pay yet

FRAN KIRBY believes England’s women must win the World Cup and start filling stadiums before they can ask for equal pay with the men’s side. USA, three-time women’s world champions, have launched a lawsuit against their federation over alleged disparities in pay and working conditions, but Chelsea forward Kirby, 25, believes England must win in France this summer to merit the same debate. Kirby, part of Phil Neville’s Lionesses squad that faces Denmark in a warm-up friendly in Walsall today, said: ‘We need to grow the women’s game — then you can talk about equal pay and everything else. Ultimately we are doing the same job as the men but I understand that we’re not filling out stadiums. ‘That makes it difficult to have that argument. As the women’s game progresses, they’re the conversations we can have. ‘The USA are in a dispute at the moment but they’re selling out arenas, they’ve won the World Cup and have some of the best players in the world in their team. They’re in a position to do that. We need to win the World Cup to have a leg to stand on in those situations. But if we keep selling out stadiums, improving the game on and off the pitch, those arguments can start to creep in.’ England v Denmark, 1.30pm, LIVE on BBC One from 12.45pm.