Women's league crowds surpass one million
Manchester United's loyal and passionate supporters have helped women's football in England to reach a landmark attendance total this season.
Following last weekend's round of fixtures, including the Reds' 1-0 away win over Leicester City, cumulative crowds across the Barclays Women’s Super League and Barclays Women’s Championship surpassed one million for the first time.
This significant figure includes a record for the WSL. In March, when there were still six rounds of games to be played this season, the FA announced a total of 717,721 attendees for the top division, comfortably beating its previous best of 689,297 which was achieved across the 2022/23 campaign.
Nikki Doucet, CEO of the WSL and Championship, said:
“This season has been one to remember for so many reasons, but surpassing one million in attendance across the Barclays Women’s Super League and Barclays Women’s Championship really does speak volumes about the interest in women’s football in this country.
“This is only the beginning of our journey however, and we’re so excited to see these records hopefully be broken time and time again in the years to come as our game continues to grow.”
Following the trend of the league as a whole, United Women have attracted our own record-breaking crowds this season.
The team's highest-ever home attendance was recorded when we played Manchester City at Old Trafford back in November. The majority among the crowd of 43,615 came to support Marc Skinner’s Reds; unfortunately, Katie Zelem’s goal, scored from the penalty spot, wasn’t enough to give United the victory in front of our fans.
We also set a new record attendance at Leigh Sports Village, when we hosted Arsenal in early October.
A crowd of 8,312 supporters was gripped by a hard-fought battle that United looked to have won, with the score being 2-1 to the Reds at the end of 90 minutes, courtesy of goals from Leah Galton and Melvine Malard.
However, deep into injury time, Arsenal’s Cloe Lacasse levelled the game at 2-2.
The 2023/24 season has already been full of thrilling fixtures, fuelled by brilliant atmospheres, as more people than ever are captivated by women’s football.
Don’t miss out on your chance to support United Women at Old Trafford on Saturday 18 May, as the Reds take on Emma Hayes' Chelsea, and be a part of this record-breaking season for the WSL.