Grounds for Optimism When It Comes to Growth?

We’re currently seeing massive growth, with even greater potential for more, in women’s football.

But while interest, participation and exposure are sky-rocketing, for clubs to become truly sustainable, and reduce the reliance on needing money from other parts of the club to plug the financial gaps, it's pretty clear that they need even more people at games.

That’s all clubs although Arsenal might argue they’re doing pretty well already. But everyone else – be they the women’s team of a Premier League club or an independent – wouldn’t say no to a substantial increase in attendances.

The math is already difficult to add up. There are less games and the ticket prices are considerably lower in women’s football (although both could also be considered a major advantage compared to men's football) so a simple equation shows that the clubs aren't going to make enough money without bigger broadcasting and sponsorship deals.

But that's arguably why growing attendances is the biggest factor in all this. The broadcasters and sponsors are only going to put more money in if there are more 'eyes' on the game, and thus bums on seats is crucial because playing in front of empty seats isn't a great look for the cameras.

See the dilemma? The clubs need more fans, and so playing in bigger stadiums - and ideally the club's main stadium - makes perfect sense, but only if the number of fans grows considerably too.

Rangers have just announced that most of their games will be played at Ibrox next season, while in England, Arsenal have done the same - and so far their numbers at The Emirates have been off the charts – and Chelsea, Everton and many others are going that way too.

But for women's clubs, Arsenal’s numbers are an outlier; the exception that proves the rule at the moment. Their current average is around 30,000. No one else gets near that apart from big one-off games. But how do the rest go about reaching the same levels?

Moving to a bigger stadium helps, and is the way that nearly all clubs have to go eventually if they are to grow significantly, but it is just one part of the puzzle.

Fans of the men's team – as Rangers are hoping - are another obvious route to growth but how many fans will watch one team on a Saturday and the other on a Sunday? And both Rangers and Arsenal, for example, have a lot of games moved to a Sunday, so the logistics will be even harder and clearly fans aren't going to go to two games at the same time.

So it’s new fans that are still the key. There are lots of ways to bring them in, but here are five must dos.

Focus on Families

This is, for me, a no-brainer. If you attract a family, you don’t get one new fan, you get at least three of four. AND they spend more time and money at the club, and are less fickle when it comes to results. Plus, the kids are the next generation and if they become lifetime fans of the club now, then the benefits are seen straight away and for years to come.

Get The Price Right

No club can afford to hike the prices to those in the men’s game. Women’s football is very affordable and that makes it really attractive to new fans, families and those who feel priced out of men’s football. But that comes at a price because it means that ticket sales don’t drive big revenue increases. Finding the right balance is going to be vital, because increasing prices might alienate but keeping them so low might impede growth. But implementing deals that create value for families, larger groups, students and other demographics that aren’t currently attending has to be an area to focus on. Of course, value is a perception, and that’s has a separate solution.

Increase The Value

Selling the wider experience is key, because while marketing will get fans to come to games, it's the experience that makes them want to come back again. Clubs have to make a game day about much more than the 90 minutes – an area where they can follow the trend seen in the men’s game – if they want to attract and keep new people. A parent isn't making a decision based upon the game being a good one or the team winning; it's about their kids having a great time, feeling welcome and included, and feeling a connection

About Time

The day and kick-off times of games aren’t always under the club’s control but whoever has control needs to be careful about this. There is a temptation to let broadcasters dictate and for games to spread across very long ‘weekends’ but fans find this a real turn off. At The Fan Experience Company we did some research at Danish Superliga club, Brondy IF, and it was a real eye-opener. This is a club with the best fan zone I’ve seen, and a great experience inside the stadium too, but there are plenty of fans who weren’t going simply because there was no consistency with dates and times. It’s not easy to always make plans when matches are on Monday nights, or even Sunday nights for families, and too much messing around and short-notice changes won’t help to build an audience at games, even though it might do so on TV screens.

Vive La Difference

Last but not least, and possibly the wild card here is to be different. Playing in the same stadium is one of the few things the women's team SHOULD aspire to, but they really need to plough their own furrow wherever possible. The game on the pitch is already different, and often refreshingly so, but there are lots of other parts of the overall experience that can be too. I hope that in a clamour to be more like the men, the women’s game doesn’t go too far.

I often talk about the women's game having to not only catch up but accelerate because whereas the men have had 150 years to get to where they are, women were banned from even playing properly in the UK until the 1970s, and later than that in many parts.

But there is a distinct advantage and that is being able to see what has gone before, learn from it and adapt. Rather than makes the mistakes the men's games has made, the women's game has the opportunity to set a new path. One obvious way is to avoid becoming uncompetitive by having a huge disparity between the big clubs and the not so big one, and certainly limiting any chasms growing between the divisions.  

You could say it's already a bit late but it's not. Yet. But to stay competitive and all grow, the game, the leagues and all its stakeholders have to be smart. Working together, and looking after the long-term interests of clubs, players and fans is crucial. Stepping over each other to reach the top is natural but helping everyone to grow, while not the easiest way in practice, makes the whole game better and that's what will attract more people in the long run.

Many clubs in the men's game operate (as I said in my previous article) from match to match. It's a short term 'let's get Saturday out of the way' attitude that the women's game can ill afford to replicate. This is a long term challenge and what everyone connected to the women's game does now, and in the next 2-3 years, will echo for decades.

The men's game was in a pretty dreadful state in the 80s, so the evolution to the Premier League razzamatazz we see today - and the amazing experiences we see up and down the EFL every week - didn't happen overnight.

But the women's games doesn't have 30-40 years to get this right. Interest has never been stronger, and with the impending Euro 2025, and then a UK World Cup six years from now, there is a natural window to really embed the culture and dynamic that should mean that, post-2031 World Cup, stadiums are full on Saturday's and Sundays regardless of whether the men's or women's team are in action.

3 July 2025