Arsenal’s Women’s Super League (WSL) home attendances last season significantly outpaced those of several other clubs combined. The Gunners averaged nearly 34,000 spectators per match at the Emirates Stadium, accounting for approximately 41% of the league’s total attendance. This figure surpassed the cumulative home crowds of Manchester City, Liverpool, Everton, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, London City Lionesses, Brighton & Hove Albion, Leicester City, and West Ham United.
The higher attendance numbers for Arsenal are partly attributed to the venue. The Emirates Stadium offers enhanced facilities and greater capacity compared to the smaller grounds used by many other WSL teams. The club plays all its home league matches at this Premier League stadium, which may contribute to attracting larger crowds.
This season, Chelsea, which recorded the second-highest average attendance in the WSL last year at 8,519, will follow a similar approach by hosting all of its home WSL fixtures at Stamford Bridge for the first time. The move is expected to boost attendance figures for the Blues and reflects a growing trend of women’s teams utilizing larger, more established football stadiums.
In other football news, Middlesbrough, a consistent presence in the top ten of the Championship for six consecutive seasons, faces a challenging Carabao Cup tie against Premier League side Crystal Palace. Since the 2024-25 season began, Premier League teams have played lower-division opposition 55 times in cup competitions, losing only twice in regulation time. Those rare defeats were Nottingham Forest losing to Swansea City and Burnley falling to Cardiff City, both matches occurring last season. Out of the remaining 53 encounters, Premier League clubs secured victory in 43 within 90 minutes and prevailed in five of the ten matches decided by penalty shootouts. This record highlights the difficulty lower-tier teams face when confronting top-flight opponents in knockout competitions.