How women's football has made history this year

It’s Saturday 9th November. England are just about to play Germany at Wembley Stadium in front of a record crowd of 77,000 fans, a record attendance for a Lionesses game. This was the second time that the Lionesses had played a match at Wembley. The last time that they played at Wembley was in November 2014 against Germany in a 3-0 loss in front of 45,600 fans. However this rise in attendance for women’s football hasn’t just been at International level, it has had an influence at club level as well, most notably in the top leagues in Europe. 

In March 2019, Atlético Madrid Women broke a European women’s attendance record when they hosted Barcelona women at the Wanda Metropolitano in front of 60,739 fans. It was one of the first occasions that a women’s team had played in a stadium which was predominantly used by the men’s teams, as the women’s teams play at smaller stadiums often used by smaller clubs or by the academies. The reason behind this is due the low attendance numbers that women’s matches get, it wouldn’t have been a viable option to play a match at a stadium that has a capacity greater than 50,000. A few weeks after Atlético played Barcelona, Juventus women broke the Italian league record when 39,000 fans crowded into the Allianz Stadium in Turin to watch Juventus claim a 1-0 win over Fiorentina. These two matches have highlighted that Women’s football is becoming more popular throughout Europe. 

Turning the attention back to England and in particular the Women’s Super League. In September 2018, a major breakthrough came for club football in England as for the first time, the WSL would turn professional. This was a major announcement as before this, the players were classed as semi pro or part time as they would have other jobs when they weren’t playing football. This announcement meant that now they wouldn’t have to have part time jobs alongside playing football, which for the players was something that they had always been dreaming of. 2018 not only saw the WSL go professional for the first time but it also saw one of the biggest clubs in Europe, Manchester United launch a women’s team for the first team. This was a massive moment in English football as it meant that Manchester United could compete in the women’s game with some of the biggest clubs in English and European football. All they had to do was get promoted from the Women’s Championship, which they did with ease, meaning that in the 2019-20 season, they would get the chance to play Arsenal, Chelsea and rivals Manchester City. The 2018-19 WSL season was a massive success as it saw Arsenal win their first league title since 2012 and it also saw a WSL match being played at a Premier League stadium for the first time when Brighton hosted Arsenal at the AMEX Stadium in which Arsenal won 4-0.

After the club seasons had ended, all eyes turned to France for the start of the highly anticipated 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. It was expected to be the most viewed women’s World Cup and it didn’t disappoint. England were looking to go one better from the 2015 World Cup and make the final and USA were looking to defend their title. England secured top spot in their group by winning all their group games, which included a 2-1 win over Scotland, a 1-0 win over Argentina and to end the group stage a 2-0 win over Japan. The group stage saw the top nations secure qualification into the knockout stages. One highlight of the group stage was USA beating Thailand 13-0 in their opening game. Next up the Round of 16, which also didn’t disappoint. The highlight of the Round of 16 was hosts France defeating Brazil 2-1. It also saw England progress to the quarter finals after a convincing 3-0 win over Cameroon. The match was overshadowed by bad conduct by the Cameroon players. Up next the Quarter Finals. England progressed through by beating Norway 3-0 to advance through to another World Cup Semi Final. The quarter finals saw a bit of a shock as Germany were knocked out by Sweden. In the Semi Finals, England took on USA and Netherlands played Sweden. England were very unfortunate not to grab a draw or even a win as VAR and a saved penalty meant that USA won 2-1 and advanced to the Final to take on Netherlands. Once again England had made a World Cup Semi Final. However compared to 2015 the performances and the team in general looked a lot better. It would suggest that England were becoming a force to be reckoned with, which is important if they want to go on and win major tournaments such as the Euros and World Cup. In the final, USA played Netherlands in the most watched final in World Cup history as 82 million people watched the final live on TV. The final was the most watched in tournament history and had an increase of 56%. USA won the match 2-0 to become world champions yet again. The 2019 World Cup has been a major success globally as it has seen women’s football become more popular, as more people were watching the matches on TV supporting either their country or to experience the women’s game. Hopefully the 2019 World Cup will be the start of the women’s game becoming more popular.

After the highs of the World Cup, it was back to club action and in the WSL big announcements were made, which would provide a breakthrough for women’s football in England. It was announced that on the first weekend of fixtures which started on Saturday 7 September, select matches would be played at Premier League grounds. The matches that were included were Manchester City v Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium, Chelsea v Tottenham at Stamford Bridge, West Ham v Tottenham at the London Stadium and Tottenham v Arsenal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The first game was the Manchester Derby at the Etihad Stadium, where a record WSL crowd of 31,213 fans witnessed the first ever women’s Manchester Derby. The match didn’t disappoint either as Manchester City came out 1-0 winners thanks to a spectacular goal from Caroline Weir. Chelsea entertained Tottenham the following day at Stamford Bridge and once again the crowds descended on West London to witness a 1-0 Chelsea win. The attendance may not have been as high as the Manchester Derby, but 24,564 witnessed another top level match. Tottenham were also involved in another high attendance match, this time against West Ham at the London Stadium as yet again 24,790 fans witnessed another high quality match with Tottenham coming out 2-0 winners. It was then announced that for the weekend of November 16-17 the WSL would be a part of women’s football weekend, which was the first time that this had been done as in the past women’s football wasn’t as popular as it is now. It was then announced that as well as the North London Derby being played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, more matches were to be played at Premier League and Championship grounds. Brighton were to host Birmingham at the AMEX Stadium, Liverpool were to host Everton in the Merseyside Derby at Anfield and Reading were to host Bristol City at the Madjeski Stadium. 

All in all, women’s football weekend was a major success as more than 70,000 fans turned out to watch their team play. It also saw a WSL attendance record broken at the North London Derby as 38,262 fans attended the match and witnessed a 2-0 win for Arsenal. It is hoping in the future that more WSL matches are played at Premier League stadiums as the women’s game becomes more popular. The rise has been amazing, the key now is to make sure that women's football continues to grow.