Arsenal star: Strike action not “off the table” over schedule

Arsenal and England defender Lotte Wubben-Moy has warned that industrial action has not been ruled out if football’s authorities continue to ignore mounting player concerns about an increasingly congested women’s calendar. Speaking while on international duty ahead of England’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine, the 25-year-old centre-back said the sport risks “an accumulation” of avoidable injuries because governing bodies refuse to synchronise rest periods with the demands of domestic and international competition.

Wubben-Moy, whose Arsenal side carried one of the highest average minute loads per player last season, argued that success is now penalised: the deeper a team progresses in tournaments, the less recovery time its players receive. Several senior Gunners moved straight from club campaigns into international windows and have since spent time in the treatment room.

“It always sounds like we’re asking for a holiday, but that’s not the case,” she said. “I’m a professional footballer and part of my job is also to rest, which I’m encouraged to do by my managers and the environments we play in. So why is that not prioritised when we’re left to our own devices?”

The defender stressed that players are not “arguing against scheduling for fun” but because injury data across the elite women’s game supports their fears. “We’ll never know for sure, but the more successful you are – and this team has been very successful – the less rest you have and the higher risk of injury there is.”

While no strike discussions have yet taken place within the England camp, Wubben-Moy made clear that withholding labour remains a live option if dialogue fails. “I’ve not had any conversations, but if people do not feel they are being listened to, history suggests that’s the only way they can be heard. I would never take it off the table. I don’t think that’s where we are now. I think we’re still in a place where we can collaborate, listen and educate.”

For now, the players’ group wants a seat at the table with league organisers, national associations and global governing bodies to align calendars and embed mandatory recovery blocks. Whether those pleas are acted upon, Wubben-Moy conceded, “is out of our control.”