Above: NewCo CEO Nikki Doucet smiling, due to take over as being in charge of the English women’s professional leagues. Photo: The FA
By Caitlin Kelly
Despite the FA being in charge for 14 years, NewCo is set to take over to run the women’s professional football leagues in England, consisting of the Women’s Super League and Championship. But who are they and what does this takeover mean?
Growing up in Canada and previously working in investment banking and being a former Nike director, Nikki Doucet is the CEO of NewCo, who is due to take over in taking charge of the professional women’s football leagues from the 2024/25 season.
“NewCo will be a new independent company that will run the women’s professional game in England- the WSL and Championship- and the clubs will be the shareholder of this new company”, the CEO stated, “a revenue-generating… standalone entity with a professional, dedicated management team” is what the company consists of.
Doucet believes “We are ready for this growth opportunity. The market is ready. The audience is there. Everyone is screaming for this.” With this happening, the chance for women’s football to continue growing is inevitable and will be highly beneficial to the game.
All the fans know, as does Nikki that “the experience of going to a women’s football game is fun, it’s kind, it’s welcoming but it’s hugely passionate” and that will only continue happening as the game resumes to expand. “This is competitive sport and that is why all we love it so much… these are the most incredible role models on the planet and it’s something everybody wants to be a part of.” she adds.
CEO Doucet credits the FA for their investment and work put into women’s football by acknowledging “they have belief in the women’s game and the FA has funded the proof of concept for women’s football in this country. And now we’re at the stage that [NewCo] is set up to be a standalone entity to capitalize on the growth opportunity in front of us”, after previously stating that, “the reason why we’re here, the reason why [she’s] here, and the reason why the concept of NewCo exists is because of [this investment].”
Above: NewCo CEO Nikki Doucet in her interview discussing the takeover of the WSL and Championship. Photo: The FA
The vision for NewCo is to transform women’s football and what Doucet hopes this means is questions in ten years’ time should be sounding like “How can I get off the waiting list for WSL tickets?” with stadiums at full capacity and “all the top players wanting to come over here.” But on top of this she answers questions about elite female athlete health and how it has transformed high street physiotherapy are asked too and to “look at a female team and the first thought that goes through your head is ‘wow they’re a high performing team’ without any hesitation from that perspective.”
To round off, Nikki is “as equally excited as the fans” because “the athletes are amazing” and she loves to watch them as footballers”. As a footballer herself, she wishes this was available for her growing up. The most exciting thing about the takeover for her is “the generations behind [her] are going to grow up in a different world than [she] grew up in.”
This decision to implement NewCo is essential for the development of the women’s football world, especially at a time when revenues, attendances and coverage is skyrocketing compared to previously. Their power includes the ability to initiate rule changes, make changes to the structure of the league, invest in new technology as well as agree new broadcast deals- all in hopes of continuing the incredible growth of the game.
The future of women’s football sure does seem bright in the hands of Nikki Doucet and NewCo.
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