The series was based on the book Footballers' Wives Tell Their Tales by Shelley Webb, wife of British footballer Neil Webb.

The character Tanya Turner was originally named Tansy before being renamed.

In the earlier series, Earls Park Football Club's home games were filmed at the real-life Selhurst Park, home of Crystal Palace FC, while from series three onward stadium scenes were shot at the original White Hart Lane, the former home of Tottenham Hotspur.

The finale of series four was heavily edited for its ITV broadcast, though the uncut episode was shown in Ireland and Australia; some of the cut scenes later appeared in Footballers' Wives: Extra Time and series five, and the full episode was later restored for the DVD release.

Many celebrities made cameo appearances as themselves, including Peter Stringfellow, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, Jordan, Peter Andre, Richard Madeley, Judy Finnigan and Rula Lenska, alongside real footballers such as Sol Campbell, David Seaman and Teddy Sheringham.

Between the third and fourth series, Zöe Lucker's character Tanya Turner crossed over into Shed Media's other hit series Bad Girls for three episodes, where Tanya was imprisoned for drug possession.

An American adaptation called Football Wives was developed for ABC in 2007 with a pilot directed by Bryan Singer and starring Lucy Lawless, but it was not picked up, reportedly due to potential conflicts with the NFL and ESPN's Monday Night Football deal.

On 15 July 2006, the BBC aired a six-minute spoof episode called The Last Ever, Ever Footballers' Wives for Sport Relief, featuring original cast members Zöe Lucker, Laila Rouass and Ben Richards, with host Graham Norton playing a new Sparks captain named Brendan Spunk.

The Guardian noted on the show's 20th anniversary that it had become regarded as a kitsch cult classic, frequently appearing in meme form on social media.