Bristol Academy are optimistic that geography could work in their favour as they look to be part of the forthcoming revolution taking shape in English women's football.

They are one of 16 clubs who have submitted a bid for the eight available places in the new FA Women's Super League, which will be launched in March next year.

It is part of a push by the FA to raise the standards of the top level of the domestic women's game and will also introduce an element of full-time professionalism into a sport which, for the most part, has been run on a part-time and largely amateur basis at club level in the past.

FA chiefs are insisting that a strong financial plan is a must for any of the clubs wishing to take part, for they will be expected to pay three or four of their top players a salary of between £20,000 and £30,000 a year.

In addition, they will have to match the £70,000 the FA will give to each of the clubs over each of the first two years.

"Commercial sustainability will be vital and, on the playing side, we want clubs who can make this a world-class league," said the FA's bid co-ordinator Sally Horrox.

But cash will not be the only criteria with Horrox also acknowledging: "A good geographical spread would be ideal."

And that is one of the factors that could work in Bristol's favour. They are the only club in a huge area stretching from the south of Birmingham to the west of London.

Others who have submitted bids are Arsenal, Barnet, Birmingham City, Chelsea, Colchester United, Doncaster Rovers Belles, Everton, Leeds Carnegie, Leicester City, Lincoln City, Liverpool, Millwall Lionesses, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland.

"Geographically we must have a fantastic chance," said Academy manager Mark Sampson, who also believes the Bristol bid can satisfy the relevant financial commitments. "Our bid provides a budget for the playing side which would include a number of full-time players who would also perform duties outside of match days.

"They would get involved in the local community and help to raise the profile of the club.

"We believe that if we get one of the eight places then it would allow us to access some big sponsors and financial partners who would be willing to support us. Tentative talks with some have already taken place and we think we would get the support we need. We have already had a lot of backing from the local community with a lot of local sports clubs, schools and Bristol Rovers and City supporting our bid."

The FA has already signed a deal with broadcaster ESPN for exclusive rights to the new league and hopes regular national TV exposure will also help to raise the game's profile.

At the moment, Bristol are struggling near the foot of the FA Premier League National Division and attract crowds of between 150 to 300 people to their home games at Oaklands Park in Almondsbury on a Sunday afternoon.

But other bidding clubs operate at a lower level – Barnet and Colchester are both in the Southern Division, while Liverpool, Leicester, Lincoln and Newcastle compete in the Northern Division.

Sampson believes a switch to a new playing facility at Filton College and the chance to play games on a Thursday evening would help to attract much bigger crowds.

"At the moment, a lot of the people who come along to our games are parents or relatives of the players," he said. "But there is a lot of local league football played in Bristol on Sundays – including the local women's leagues. If we play a midweek fixture our crowds can be double what we get on a Sunday and we think the new Super League would be fairly flexible on allowing clubs when to arrange their games." The FA will also be hoping the new format will stop the tendency for some of the top English players to head to the USA to ply their trade and, in turn, help to improve the standard of the national side, who were beaten 6-2 by Germany in September's European Championships final in Helsinki.

The bidding clubs will present their individual cases to the FA's selection panel later this month and their numbers will then be whittled down to eight in March, giving them a year to prepare for what is arguably the biggest shake-up the women's game in England will ever have witnessed.