On Sunday 14 May, the Women’s FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London will be the culmination of an extraordinary year for women’s football in England. The Football Association recently confirmed that the showpiece had sold out for the first time, and it is set to eclipse last year’s attendance of 49,094.
The past 14 months have seen huge changes across Europe, with Barcelona breaking the 23-year-old world record for the highest attendance at a women’s football match twice within the space of a month. In March, 91,553 fans watched Barcelona thrash Real Madrid 5-2 in the Champions League quarter-final at the Nou Camp, and 91,648 turned out for their semi-final against Wolfsburg a month later.
The momentum continued into last summer’s European Championship, where 574,875 people passed through turnstiles up and down the country – shattering the previous tournament record of 240,055 supporters at Euro 2017 in the Netherlands. 87,192 fans – an all-time Uefa tournament record – belted out Sweet Caroline as England lifted the trophy after beating Germany 2-1 in extra time at Wembley Stadium.
The WSL also reported record ticket sales before the season had even kicked off, with the north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham setting a new record of 47,367 at Emirates Stadium in September. The Gunners were also at the forefront of helping to break attendance records for a women’s club game in England when 60,063 fans watched their Champions League semi-final second leg against Wolfsburg in May.
These moments have demonstrated the thirst for women’s football and have shown that society is changing. As former England defender Alex Scott said: “We were begging people to host the Euros games in their stadiums. So many people said no. I hope they’re looking at themselves and thinking they weren’t brave enough. If you’re not involved, you’ve missed the boat.”