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Everyone is hoping that with a good wind, they can make it all the way to Wembley this weekend because the women’s FA Cup second round is taking place. Can’t we just dream?

Lewes Football Club, which I am currently the director of, became the first and only professional or semi-professional club in the nation to support its men’s and women’s teams equally in 2017.

Our women’s team has since experienced greater support, matching their higher league position, thanks to the Football Association’s central grants and commercial revenue shares. Moving from an equity-focused position to one that is Equality FC.

We have also been campaigning for equal FA Cup prize money for both women’s and men’s competitions since 2019. This is not a catchphrase, but rather a strategy.

The FA Cup needs to catch up with the fairytale if it truly is, as it claims to be, “the game’s great leveller.”

A victory in the second round of the FA Cup is worth £79,500 for a men’s club. For the women it is just £8, 000 – a £71, 500 difference.

The difference is £41, 750 in the first round, and £86, 500 in the third round. Same game, the same rules, the same competition, the same governing body, but with a different emphasis on the players.

Let’s avoid using the common justifications: “commercial reality,” “revenue difference,” “it’s complicated.”

No, it’s not. The prize pool for both competitions is determined by the FA. Tomorrow they could be equal, it’s just that you need to want to do it.

By focusing on broadcast revenues and crowd sizes, it is simply too easy and lazy to ignore the demand for equality as some people do. Yes, men’s TV rights are currently worth more, and there are higher attendance rates for men’s matches.

However, the FA does not participate in gate receipts, making the discussion of equal prize money irrelevant. There is ultimately no valid justification for maintaining unequal prize funds because the FA is publicly committed to redistribution.

The FA has previously chosen to ignore our requests for clarification and dialogue, but has recently gotten more accommodating.

Ironically, the FA is aware of how to “do equality.” The same match fees and bonuses have been paid to the women’s and men’s England teams since 2020. The St George’s Park policy is based on the adage “equal pay for equal performance.”

So, is it not important whether the FA supports equality. That belief is halted by the FA Cup, though.

This season’s men’s competition has a total prize pot of £23.5 million, while the women’s prize pot is £6.14 million. Is the FA basically telling women and girls that they are not as valuable as their male counterparts?

The Lewes FC campaign calls for a more equitable division in the men’s competition in addition to promoting equality between the women’s and men’s competitions.

The £23.5 million men’s prize fund will currently go to wealthy Premier League clubs where it is unlikely to have a significant impact. Small clubs would benefit more from a more equitable distribution of the rewards across the pyramid, helping them survive and prosper rather than just aiming to fill the highlights reel once a year.

Football’s finances are incredibly risky and becoming increasingly dangerous, as I now only know now, so here is a quick and efficient way to ensure that prize money is distributed more evenly and fairly. Our full proposal can be found at equalfacup.com.

Women’s football was denied decades of development, investment, and, most importantly, the building of the cultural capital that is so essential to the success of the men’s game: the ingraining of football into our daily lives. The ban lasted for 50 years.

This is a reminder of what football stands for, not a protest against it. The premise of the FA Cup was that any team could win, and that Wembley-based teams were equally important.

Equalizing FA Cup prize money is a single, straightforward, and transformative step because the FA wants the women’s game to stand on its own two feet. Giving out prizes in the same way is not charity; rather, it is a form of honoring performance.

After a difficult year that included a challenging Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend, Lewis Hamilton said he is not looking forward to the 2026 Formula 1 season.

The first time in his 19-year F1 career that he qualified last for the race was when he first competed on pure pace.

In the final stages of the race, the Ferrari driver quickly climbed up the standings to take the lead over Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber on a medium tyre, and he placed 10th overall.

“It’s a terrible outcome,” the author declared. Hamilton stated on BBC Radio 5 Live, “There is nothing to take away from today.”

“I’m anticipating it to end, and I’m anticipating it to end. I’m not anticipating the following one.

After the team debrief, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur said he would take Hamilton’s comments into account because they were made at the right moment.

Let’s get to the point. Let’s talk about it after the debrief, Vasseur said, and jump out of the car and say the first comment is always a little too much.

Lewis has obviously had to deal with it over the last few weekends, and he acknowledged that it has been difficult.

We just need to relax and concentrate on the next two races, Lewis said, “I understand the reaction right after the race because we will be back.”

“And keep in mind that Lewis was there in FP1 and FP2 as well, which means that we must build up the weekend like this, and starting from P20 is undoubtedly not the best way to get a good result.”

Hamilton leads Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who is currently fifth, by 73 points.

Hamilton, 40, finished third overall in the Ferrari race podium, but he did win the sprint race there in March.

It would mark Hamilton’s first season without a podium finish in Formula One if he didn’t finish in the top three in the final two races of 2025.

After a poor qualifying session on Friday in wet conditions in Las Vegas, where he struggled for pace on the extreme wet tyre, he was on the back foot.

After leaving the Sao Paulo Grand Prix two weeks ago, Hamilton said his first year with Ferrari was “a nightmare.”

James Harden set a Los Angeles Clippers record with 55 points in the team’s 131-116 victory against the Charlotte Hornets.

The 36-year-old guard surpassed the previous Clippers record of 52 points in a game, which had been jointly held by Bob McAdoo and Charles Smith.

Harden’s efforts helped the Clippers improve their record to five wins and 11 losses this season, and he said: “The work I put in individually, I do it for the entire team. I’m just trying to find ways to win games.”

Elsewhere in the NBA on Saturday, Nikola Jokic put in a fine individual performance of his own, but the Serb’s 44 points could not prevent the Denver Nuggets losing 128-123 to the Sacramento Kings – who ended their eight-game losing streak.

Detroit Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference, having extended their winning run to 12 games – their best sequence since 2004 – with a 129-116 victory against Milwaukee Bucks.

James Harden set a Los Angeles Clippers record with 55 points in the team’s 131-116 victory against the Charlotte Hornets.

The 36-year-old guard surpassed the previous Clippers record of 52 points in a game, which had been jointly held by Bob McAdoo and Charles Smith.

Harden’s efforts helped the Clippers improve their record to five wins and 11 losses this season, and he said: “The work I put in individually, I do it for the entire team. I’m just trying to find ways to win games.”

Elsewhere in the NBA on Saturday, Nikola Jokic put in a fine individual performance of his own, but the Serb’s 44 points could not prevent the Denver Nuggets losing 128-123 to the Sacramento Kings – who ended their eight-game losing streak.

Detroit Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference, having extended their winning run to 12 games – their best sequence since 2004 – with a 129-116 victory against Milwaukee Bucks.

James Harden set a Los Angeles Clippers record with 55 points in the team’s 131-116 victory against the Charlotte Hornets.

The 36-year-old guard surpassed the previous Clippers record of 52 points in a game, which had been jointly held by Bob McAdoo and Charles Smith.

Harden’s efforts helped the Clippers improve their record to five wins and 11 losses this season, and he said: “The work I put in individually, I do it for the entire team. I’m just trying to find ways to win games.”

Elsewhere in the NBA on Saturday, Nikola Jokic put in a fine individual performance of his own, but the Serb’s 44 points could not prevent the Denver Nuggets losing 128-123 to the Sacramento Kings – who ended their eight-game losing streak.

Detroit Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference, having extended their winning run to 12 games – their best sequence since 2004 – with a 129-116 victory against Milwaukee Bucks.