Women's Super League Crowds Keep Climbing, but Not Evenly
Average crowds at Women's Super League matches jumped by 192% in the season after England's Euro 2022 triumph, according to the BBC. The Lionesses' win at Euro 2022 was the moment many new fans first walked through a turnstile. The growth has continued since, though the picture is more mixed than the headline number suggests.
A 2026 report by the research firm YouGov and architecture firm Populous looked at the typical crowd, using the median figure, which is the middle value when every match is lined up by size. It found that median crowds rose from 3,070 in 2023-24 to 3,236 in 2025-26. That is an increase of 166 fans per match.
The biggest games tell a different story. Arsenal against Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium fell from 46,603 in 2024-25 to 29,853 this season. Chelsea against Arsenal dropped from 34,302 to 19,349 over the same period. Arsenal had averaged around 34,000 at the Emirates last season, and their October match against Birmingham City drew 19,546.
Attendance numbers can move for many reasons. Some of the drop in the top fixtures comes from where games are played. Manchester United against Manchester City drew 5,361 at Leigh Sports Village in October. The same fixture at Old Trafford in March 2026 drew 24,983. Clubs also move matches around to suit broadcasters and stadium availability, so a smaller ground can mean a smaller crowd on paper.
Arsenal's fans still show the appetite. The club sold out its 4,000-ticket away allocation at Tottenham for the first time, which means the travelling supporters filled every seat they were given.
The YouGov-Populous report also asked fans what makes a women's match enjoyable. A welcoming, family-friendly atmosphere ranked above team success and the quality of play on the pitch. Brighton leaned into that idea for their October match against West Ham at the Amex. They billed it as a "Saturday Spooktacular", with a haunted house, face painting, hair braiding and costume competitions.
The same research suggests that many fans are still getting to know the game. Only 15% of people who went to a women's match in the past five years go at least once a month. Around 43% describe themselves as casual followers, who pay more attention to major international tournaments than to domestic club football. Just 10% call themselves devoted supporters.
For clubs, that means the job is less about one big crowd and more about bringing people back. A fan who came for a summer tournament needs a reason to return in November, on a wet Tuesday, against a side in the bottom half of the table. The clubs that get that right will be the ones whose average crowds keep rising.
The Football Association, the sport's governing body in England, has a women's and girls' strategy called Reaching Higher that runs from 2024 to 2028. Its director of women's football, Sue Day, leads that work.
