As world leaders in gender equality across the board, with their national women's football team a prime example, it seems a matter of when, not if, the Football Ferns are fully represented in the W-League.

As a nation with only one professional men's football team, if New Zealand were to create professional opportunities for their increasingly successful women's outfit, Wellington Phoenix would have to take a leading role.

But that's something New Zealand Football CEO Andrew Pragnell is throwing their weight behind, telling Stuff that the Phoenix want to be included as soon as possible.

"I'd like to say that you could call me in a month and I'd be able to say (whether that will happen).

“At the moment the willpower is there, but if you called me in a month, I'd know where we're going to land.

“I would say you're going to see a New Zealand W-League side, no matter what, it's just a question of when, and if we can make it happen in this upcoming season, then we will.

“The appetite is 100 per cent there from ourselves and the Phoenix.”

The problem for Wellington is the cost associated in flying and then hosting a squad of 15-20 semi-professional women's footballers to a foreign country every second week.

While a Wellington Phoenix W-League team based in Australia is far from ideal for the club, at the moment it appears the only tangible option and with a home World Cup on the horizon, it's still preferable to no team at all.

A W-League team based in Australia would cost Wellington in the region of $1 million per year and the next challenge is finding a stadium and training facilities in Australia that could host the club.

With Sydney the long-talked about ideal option, Wollongong based club Illawarra Stingrays have now pitched themselves to potentially host the club according to the Illawarra Mercury.

This creates the possibility of a Wellington, Wollongong partnership for the next W-League season.

“We're 100 per cent on the same page with the Phoenix as to how this could happen, so that's great, because it means we've got a solid foundation to work off," Pragnell continued.

"I think it's one of those scenarios where if there's a will, there's a way, and whatever the hurdles are, we'll be trying to overcome them.”