The prize fund for this season’s Women’s FA Cup has been doubled to £6m, the Football Association has announced. The FA board has approved a £3m increase compared to last season, which means a prize pot of £44,000 per match at the third-round stage, up from £12,500 in the same round last season. Winning the final will now earn the victors £430,000 compared to £100,000 last season, the FA said. It is the second consecutive season in which the prize pot has increased, with last season’s uplift focused on the money available at the earlier stages of the competition. The FA’s director of women’s football, Baroness Sue Campbell, said: “Doubling the prize money showcases the FA’s clear commitment to the future of the Women’s FA Cup and will help us maintain its stature as the most prestigious domestic women’s cup competition in the world. “That’s why we’re delighted to be making a second successive increase to the prize fund, ensuring that as clubs progress through the competition they receive financial rewards that will empower them to invest in their own futures. “Ultimately, we want the women’s competition to receive the same prize money as the men’s, and this new increase is a positive step in the direction of achieving that long-term ambition.” The men’s FA Cup prize fund for the current season was confirmed in June, with £2m on offer for winning the final and £1m for the losing finalists. Those teams would also benefit from payments for progressing through the earlier rounds. FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said last month that changes to the future format of the Women’s FA Cup were being considered. “We’ve done a really good job of growing the final as an event. When I first started working with the FA it was an event that got less than 20,000 and wasn’t even at Wembley,” Bullingham said at the Leaders Week conference at Twickenham in October. “We’re now selling out Wembley, and that’s a big event for us in our calendar. So the final is going really well. “Our challenge now is to grow the rest of the competition. Within that, we don’t always feel that the women’s competitions have to follow the format of the men’s, so we’re looking at how we could at least evaluate some potential changes that may be more creative and allow the competition to have its own structure and format. “So we’re evaluating those at the moment with the view to what would appeal to fans more, what would appeal to broadcasters more and how do we grow even more quickly? “Like the rest of the women’s game, we will grow it. It’s just how do we accelerate it even faster?” Read More How Manchester United managers have fared since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement I will never back down – Leandro Trossard happy to play anywhere for Arsenal Tottenham star reveals secret to upturn in form after summer transfer How Manchester United managers have fared since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement I will never back down – Leandro Trossard happy to play anywhere for Arsenal Tottenham star reveals secret to upturn in form after summer transfer

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Margot Robbie's body double in Barbie says she had no idea what the hotly anticipated film was about. Barbie marks Emma Eastwood's first gig as a body double after she applied to be an extra but got turned down. She was then hired to be Robbie's hand double but later took on more prominent scenes in the film. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Eastwood candidly shared that she didn't quite know the concept of Barbie. "They did a very good job of keeping the plot hidden," Eastwood said, adding that she wasn't given "any details" about what they would be doing. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "There were a couple times they said the whole cast would be there and it would be an important day, but they never actually gave me any details of what we would be doing until I was on set," she continued. In one scene, Eastwood said she was required to lie on the ground for an hour. "When I got up, I literally felt drunk," she told the publication. "I have no idea what that scene was about." Another scene saw her walk up a flight of stairs as though her feet hurt. Eastwood finally lifted the lid on her recent endeavour in a Twitter post, where she told followers she can now publicly reveal she worked as Robbie's doube. "Had the best experience of my life and will absolutely never shut up about it," she wrote. Greta Gerwig's Barbie, featuring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Kate McKinnon, Will Ferrell, Micheal Cera and Issa Rae, is set to hit cinemas on 21 July. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Victoria Beckham has said she would not want to be in her twenties again as she used to focus on what she felt needed to be improved upon but now she is “comfortable” with who she is. Beckham rose to prominence in the nineties as a member of girl group The Spice Girls, but later turned her hand to the worlds of fashion and beauty. She said she embraces her look at age 49 but admitted that her husband, former England footballer David Beckham, has never seen her without her eyebrows done. Asked how she feels about ageing, she told The Sunday Times: “I am comfortable with who I am, I accept how I look, I make the best of what I have. “I feel, professionally and personally, really accomplished at 49. I consider how I apply my make-up. But I like how it feels being older. “I wouldn’t want to be 25 again. I was the kind of young woman who would look in the mirror and see what needed to be improved upon, as opposed to what actually looked OK.” She continued: “I’ve always been quite tough on myself, but because of that I’ve also always strived to be the best version of myself. “It’s not about changing anything, it’s just about looking at the best version of yourself.” These days, her signature style is largely removed from the Spice Girls’ heyday and through her eponymous fashion label, she is known for elegant silhouettes with lots of sleek, flowing dresses, palazzo pants and block colours. Beckham revealed she undergoes some laser and skin tightening treatments but underlined that she is “not trying to turn back the clock”. “I think it’s about little things. Same with make-up, it’s about not doing too much, which can be really ageing”, she said. “I went to an event recently and people had very ‘big’ (overfilled) faces. There are some scary options out there.” However, she admitted that she fell victim to the over-plucked eyebrow style and now drawing on her eyebrows is the first thing she does every morning. “Over the years my brows have been so overplucked that if you saw me without it you’d be horrified”, she said. “David has never seen me without my brows. They’re the first thing I do: wake up, put on the brow.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live 7 tips and tricks for hay fever relief Top Films: w/c Saturday, May 27 Soap Guide: w/c Saturday, May 27