Image: London City Lionesses
Women’s football stadiums paint an interesting picture of the stage the sport is currently in, because there is so much variation between them. From the likes of Everton Women who now play at Goodison Park (the men’s old stadium), with a capacity of almost 40,000, to Chelsea Women who play at Kingsmeadow with a capacity just under 5,000, it’s a real mixed bag.
Of course, the bigger stadiums are rarely if ever full, but attendances have been steadily growing over the years, and for big games they can easily be in the multiple tens of thousands where capacity supports those numbers. Arsenal Women regularly play at the Emirates, for example, and when they do, attendance is often north of 30,000.
Women’s football is one of the few leagues where teams might play between a few different stadiums too, or share them. For instance, Manchester City Women play at the Joie Stadium (Academy Stadium), which is part of the Etihad complex, and is shared with the under 23s and the academy, while Manchester United Women play most games at Leigh Sports Village, but also use Old Trafford for bigger games.
This gives fans and players of many teams a taste of the atmosphere enjoyed by the men’s game, but also allows them to play to full capacity crowds at stadiums more suited to the level of the women’s game. You can find out more about each of the women’s football stadiums below.