Arsenal’s victory over rivals Tottenham at a sold-out Emirates Stadium on Sunday means that the Women’s Super League (WSL) club’s average attendance this season (34,997) is now higher than that of 10 Premier League teams.
The north London club – who sit third in the WSL table, three points behind Manchester City and league leaders Chelsea – have attracted 279,974 supporters to watch the team this season and have sold out the Emirates on three occasions.
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Beth Mead’s 49th-minute goal secured all three points for Arsenal in front of 60,050 fans on Sunday, two weeks after they beat Manchester United 3-1 in a match that set a new WSL attendance record (60,160).
“I was thinking about a quote from Dennis Bergkamp when he said you don’t support a team only for a player, or only for history, or only for trophies, you go and support a team because that’s where you found an environment where you think you belong,” Eidevall told a news conference when asked about Sunday’s capacity crowd.
“And that’s what makes me extremely proud to be able to say that I think we have found a place where more than 60,000 people feel that they belong. They feel that this is their home, this is where they want to come and support their football team.
“That is very special and that is something we need to keep very very much alive and keep building on. But, that’s a special feeling that we have been able to create that together.”
The average attendance of 34,997 that the club have attracted through eight games this season is a 63% increase on total ticket sales from all 11 WSL matches last season, and means that only 10 Premier League clubs can boast a higher average crowd.
United’s men’s team tops the list thanks to it’s 74,310-capacity Old Trafford stadium, with the WSL club sitting between Premier League strugglers Everton and Sheffield United in the attendance rankings.
Arsenal, who collate their official attendance figures by tickets sold rather than the number of fans entering the stadium on matchday, split their home fixtures between the Emirates and the 4,500-capacity Meadow Park in Borehamwood.
Arsenal have played five of their eight WSL home matches at the Emirates this season, and have announced that their fixture against Leicester on either April 20 or 21 will also be played at the ground.
“I’m so happy that they’ve put one more game at the Emirates — it would have been really sad to sit here and say that this was the last time we were going to the Emirates this season,” Eidevall said.
“We are looking forward very much to that and I hope our fans are as well. There is a lot of time for that game so hopefully the tickets sell fast.”
