Are main stadiums the right place for women's football?

Something that Chelsea might look to do is not opening the whole ground, but this also comes with pitfalls.

Only parts of Villa Park and the King Power are used for their WSL teams and the atmosphere generated is not as intense as other stadiums.

For Man City’s Head of Women’s and Girls Football, Hannah Dingley, it is why her team are not considering a move away from the Joie Stadium any time soon.

“We’ve seen this with other teams that if we were in a position to sell out the Etihad, we’d be playing at the Etihad,” she told Sky Sports.

“You don’t make the best atmosphere if you play in a half empty stadium, so playing in the Joie is perfect. It’s full, it’s lively, it’s bouncing and it’s home.

“But equally we need to grow and if you want to do that, then you need to push yourself to try and sell out the Etihad. That’s what we’ve tried to do this year and that will grow over time as that fan base grows.

“But it’s chicken and egg – we need to grow that fan base so that then we can go on and fill that stadium.”

And it shows in their average points-per-game at home this season too – the highest in the league, and a huge factor behind their drive for a first WSL title in ten years.

But for their part, Aston Villa and Leicester rank among the lowest in the league for average points-per-game at home, which is also reflected in their league position.

Discussing Leicester, Sky Sports WSL commentator Ellen Ellard added: “It can’t be an easy situation to play in. It feels really distant from the fans, even when you do get crowds of over a thousand. It really doesn’t feel like it in there with how big the stadium is and how spread out the fans are.

“The previous Leicester manager, Amandine Miquel, did speak about the benefit of the pitch. It was so well maintained that they did not have many injuries and it was important for keeping up the standard of football.

“You have a home advantage in some ways if your pitch is of higher quality, but you don’t have it in terms of fans being able to generate a noise.

“With the smaller stadiums or the women’s specific stadiums, they really keep in the noise.”

The unique challenge of switching between stadiums

Women’s teams often switch between two grounds for their home matches, needing to get used to different pitches and surroundings quickly.

It somewhat dilutes the concept of home advantage. A team could go weeks without playing at their regular home ground if they have a run of away games, fixtures played at their club’s main ground or an international break.

But larger capacities turn more eyes onto the women’s football. Growth is still a key aim for the game and if you can entice fans to come to one match, they will hopefully continue to support the team in others.

It also gives the women’s game the weight of a name behind it, a commitment to its future and a glimpse of what that could be.

Man Utd have played a handful of games at Old Trafford this season in the WSL and Champions League

Man Utd have played a handful of games at Old Trafford this season in the WSL and Champions League

Then, there are the considerations for the teams themselves.

Discussing the differences at Meadow Park, Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers explained: “The changing room is smaller so we have to think more about how many people do we have in there, how are we effective with space and a little bit with set-up issues.

“Then the benches are closer to each other so you’re much closer to the opposition. You can almost see and feel each other, so you have to be very aware of your communication.

“But I love to play at both stadiums because Meadow Park is also a historical ground for Arsenal Women and it’s a very intimate setting.”

Communication is key in any football game between the bench and players. Most WSL teams are used to this being relatively easy, with smaller crowds making less noise.

But dugouts can be further away at larger stadiums and the pitches can be bigger, making communication more of a challenge.

When asked about that prospect when playing Arsenal at the Emirates, Spurs boss Martin Ho stated in March: “It’s making sure the players stick together, communicate with one another and use moments to lift each other through the game.

“They’re not going to hear everything from us as staff, so it’s giving them a lot of clarity and understanding of what we want to do and how we want to approach the game.

“Everyone should have some leadership moments where they support one another, and leaning on one another when you’re playing in these stadiums.

“We’ve maybe not had a lot of these moments where it’s packed every single week. We had one at Manchester City, which was quite noisy. We’ve had some at home at Brisbane Road where it’s full, we’ve had some at the [Tottenham Hotspur] stadium.

“But we know the Emirates brings more noise, more expectation, more pressure, but you play as a professional to embrace that and enjoy it.”

“There are many benefits, but we have to be really balanced. It’s hard to sell them out – these are the biggest stadiums in England, and the men’s game has had time to develop and grow.”

Hannah Buckley, WSL Football’s Head of Safety, Sustainability and Infrastructure

EFL grounds are more suspectable to the elements as well. In February, Brighton postponed their match against Arsenal at the Broadfield Stadium an hour and a half before kick-off due to a waterlogged pitch.

And for Hannah Buckley – Head of Safety, Sustainability and Infrastructure for WSL Football – one of the benefits of playing at a club’s main ground is better infrastructure which is able to handle unpredictable weather and avoiding a build-up of fixtures.

She explained: “From a player’s point of view, the quality of the playing surface guarantees the fixtures will be scheduled.

“Player arrival, safety and security is also a big piece of the jigsaw. Very often the buses go in underneath the stadiums, and then the players have a route to the dressing room.

“In terms of scale, even thinking about the size of the changing rooms, the size of the squads, and then things like dressing rooms for the MDT (multi-disciplinary team) and the coaches or media obligations.

“From a fan point of view, there’s more seats and the food, beverages and hospitality on offer is broader and wider.

“But from my point of view, it’s thinking about all the different users on a match day, whether you are the grounds person, for example, you might have undersoil heating.

“Or if you are the written journalist, the content creator, or even the analyst, the technology that’s available to you in the stadium to be able to deliver high quality outputs.

“There are many benefits, but we have to be really balanced. It’s hard to sell them out – these are the biggest stadiums in England, and the men’s game has had time to develop and grow.”

Sky Sports’ Harriet Prior also sees why the switching works for many WSL teams, saying: “I prefer attending WSL games at their individual stadiums because it brings its own vibe.

“The stadiums are fuller and generally has a better atmosphere and feels more personalised to the women’s team, rather than at the larger men’s stadium, which can sometimes be a bit emptier with not as many fans.

“But I really like that exhibition matches are played at bigger stadiums, for example when Liverpool play Everton at Anfield. They always attract a big crowd and it feels like a big game.

“It’s a good touch point to get fans who don’t generally engage with the women’s team into the game. That’s a major plus point to integrate fans.

“When you have a team like Arsenal who are packing out the Emirates week in, week out, that’s where you can see the benefits of it because the atmosphere is electric and it feels like you’re at a huge game every single week.”

Women’s football fans are different from men’s fans

While the game of football may be similar on the pitch, off it the fans of women’s and men’s football wildly differ.

Women’s football is a far more inclusive, safe space for female fans, the LGBTQ+ community and families and stadiums need to cater for a vastly different fanbase.

For most grounds, that is a hard balance to strike with many set up for men’s football and their fans, largely male.

These considerations are what led WSL Football to publish new guidelines aimed to help build or upgrade venues for women’s teams.

The range of topics were substantial, from female-friendly changing rooms and toilet facilities, parent/guardian orientated spaces, plus considerations around safety for a primarily female fanbase.

Women’s football has a lot of young fans and families who attend matches in comparison to the men’s game

Women’s football has a lot of young fans and families who attend matches in comparison to the men’s game

Buckley led the way on producing the guidelines and gave an insight on how she foresees them being implemented

“We have a stadium strategy for all of our clubs and one of the objectives of that was about recognising there was a gap in the marketplace,” she stated.

“There was no guidance around what the female fan or player needed and when we pulled a working group together with industry specialists and clubs, there was a clear recognition of needing to look at what’s different.

“We can’t always move walls in current stadiums, or put more seats in because it might reduce capacity, because it wasn’t designed for those purposes so the guidance document is for everyone – those starting afresh and those with current infrastructure.

Women’s football is known for having closer and easier access to fans in smaller grounds

Women’s football is known for having closer and easier access to fans in smaller grounds

“There are a number of our clubs who are looking at their long-term venue strategy. With the growth of the game, the calendar congestion, we’ve got to be very mindful of trying to get primacy in stadiums so we can schedule at the times that we need to and to service our fans and broadcasters.

“This is version one, and there’ll be version two, three, four, five, as clubs build and we learn, because the important thing to remember is we’re at the start of our journey around stadium development.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re agile and are fit for purpose for the future of the game and all of the users to make sure the business plan can stack financially.”

“The owners were very keen for it to feel like Everton Women’s stadium. They did not want us to feel like it was the men’s stadium and we now just play there.”

Catherine Wright, Everton’s Director of Women’s Football Operations

This season, Everton moved their women’s team from Walton Hall Park to Goodison Park after the men’s team vacated their famous home for the newly-built Hill Dickinson Stadium.

The club has had to adapt an existing men’s ground for its female team and their fans, with Director of Women’s Football Operations, Catherine Wright, stated: “It’s a longer-term project, but we identified some critical areas that we thought would be the most impactful for the first season. We really prioritised the player spaces and the branding around the stadiums.

“In terms of branding, instantly when people walk in, it will look and felt different to what it had been before. We rebranded within the colour palette of the club using blue and pink with more prominence of the pink than you have with the men’s branding.

Pink has been adopted into the new branding for Everton’s move to Goodison Park

Pink has been adopted into the new branding for Everton’s move to Goodison Park

“We also have ‘seat curls’ that cover some of the empty seats because we had to recognise where we were with attendances. We didn’t want it to feel like we were playing in an empty stadium – that was important to the players.

“So the the lower tiers on three side are open and then the tiers above that and on the fourth side have been covered in branded seat curls.

“We also spoke with our players and asked what was important to them in the tunnel areas and the player spaces.

“One of the big things was having a space for their family and friends so we identified a lounge within Goodison and we changed that to be called ‘the Mo Marley Lounge’, so our player families have somewhere to go before the match and somewhere to wait after.

“In the tunnel areas and dressing room, we had some simple, quick wins – removing urinals for instance. We also got all new showers to make them a bit nicer.

“We put in additional storage so every seat unit has a name placard for each player so it feels more personal.

Seat curls have been branded with Everton terminology, badges and colours

Seat curls have been branded with Everton terminology, badges and colours

“We put in cupboards so they have places to store jewellery and phones and we moved hooks down because women are shorter than men generally.

“One of the key things for them too was mirrors because when they leave that dressing room, they’re on a world stage and it’s important for them to look their best.

“We also put baby changes in there so if there’s any players with babies that might need to be in the tunnel area, for example if a player is still breastfeeding, a partner or whoever might bring the child and wait in that area for them.

“We had put in a new anti-doping section. In the men’s game, we rarely used the two referee changing rooms so often, the second referee changing room was used for anti-doping.

“We didn’t have that option because virtually every week, we’ve got mixed referees so both of those rooms are in use.

“Then the next phase will be more around fan areas and fan seating.

“Our attendances are growing, but they’re still quite modest so we’ve got time to look at the wider changes around the stadium that will support that growth.

The next phase of Goodison’s adaptation will be focused on fan areas to help boost attendances

The next phase of Goodison’s adaptation will be focused on fan areas to help boost attendances

“We have done a lot of things already like our fan zone, for instance. We recognised that our fans are very different to the make-up of men’s fans, so we’ve moved our fan zones into the concourses because they’re bigger spaces where people can keep dry.

“That’s quite important when you’ve got young children because you don’t want them getting wet and then sat outside for an hour and a half.

“But increasing the numbers of baby changes and female toilet ratios area among the area we need to address.”

On the pitch it has been a difficult start to life at Goodison. Everton did not win at their new ground until February, beating Aston Villa 2-1, and have only earned eight points there so far this season.

Everton have also had a change in manager – Scott Phelan replacing Brian Sorensen on an interim basis in February, which ironically came after that first home victory.

It is difficult to predict how any team will perform when moving to a new stadium, and Everton’s women have needed time to settle into theirs.

The experience as a whole is different and we need facilities that are supportive of that for the game to grow and for us to be able to sell out those bigger stadiums.

Hannah Dingley, Man City’s Head of Women’s and Girls Football

One ground that has catered for a female fanbase for some time is the Joie Stadium. Dingley explained how catering to the right demographic can help retention – which in turn, would expand growth and the potential move into larger capacity stadiums.

She stated: “We’ve all experienced it as women – I’ve been to many a men’s game and I never have to queue for the toilet, then you go to a women’s game and you miss half of the second half because of the queue.

“There’s definitely differences in the make-up of the fan base that we need to consider.

“One of the things we’re really proud of at the Joie is having a buggy park, and when you need more spaces for kids to be able to run around and have their face painted or things like that, fans that come to the women’s game don’t want to crowd on a terrace. We want to be a bit more comfortable.

“The experience as a whole is different and we need facilities that are supportive of that for the game to grow and for us to be able to sell out those bigger stadiums.

“We need to make sure that the experience of the fans that are coming now is top so that they don’t just use it as a one-off, that they want to come every week and they really engage in the sport.”

The Joie is perhaps an easier example with the ground used primarily for the women’s senior team, but this is not so easy elsewhere.

Asked how current grounds are taking female teams and fans into consideration, Buckley added: “We are seeing clubs find ways to deliver solutions.

“It might not always look how you think it might, but the fact they’ve never had to think about some things until now is a great example of clubs having to think outside the box in terms of finding solutions.

“Sometimes they’re operational solutions as opposed to physical infrastructure solutions, but it’s about recognising that with all of our clubs where they need to invest.

“For example, we’ve got players returning from maternity leave and clubs are having to think about how they can facilitate, for example, breastfeeding rooms.

“It’s also important thing to stress we only launched in November. Most works take place in the off season, so hopefully all of our clubs are making good use of the document.”

Research shows WSL fans spending more to attend games

In an additional and somewhat surprising difference, new data from Barclays has revealed that WSL fans, on average, spend more when they attend games than Premier League fans.

The research – which excludes ticket prices – looked at spending across the 2024/25 season, and how football fans spend inside stadiums and in the local economy, such as in pubs, restaurants, shops and local transport.

Premier League fans who attended at least one match in person during the 2024/25 season say they attended seven games on average, supporting local economies by choosing to spend £138 throughout the day.

During the same season, WSL fans who saw at least one match opted to attend four times on average, spending £144.70.

Based on average matchday attendances, this equates to combined discretionary fan spending of £5.6m per Premier League matchday, and just under £1m (£988k) per WSL matchday, totalling £2.3bn across both seasons.

Across both the Premier League and WSL, spending within a 1km radius of stadiums rises by an average of 4.1 per cent on matchdays.

Regionally, the north of England performs particularly strongly, with local spending rising by 5.2 per cent, compared with 3.5 per cent in the south.

Fans drink beers in the stands at a Bristol City game in WSL2

Fans drink beers in the stands at a Bristol City game in WSL2

At the same time, London-based clubs see an average local spending uplift of 5.6 per cent on matchdays, while clubs outside the capital see a 2.8 per cent increase.

One initiative that might have had an impact is a trial that allowed supporters to drink alcohol in the stands.

Legislation introduced in 1985 to combat hooliganism made it illegal for fans to drink alcohol in view of the pitch in the top five tiers of men’s football in England and Wales.

However, women’s football has never been included in the ban and in the 2024/25 season, four WSL2 clubs took part in the initial phase of the trial.

This was then expanded for the 2025/26 campaign, where seven WSL teams – including Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City and Man Utd – joined, alongside a further three WSL2 clubs.

While it remains in the trial phase, three more teams have joined the scheme with 15 of the 26 WSL Football clubs now taking part.

It has been a real success too, with it not having a detrimental impact on women’s football’s welcoming environment.

A survey of the trial by WSL Football involving 4,270 fans found the average rating for fan safety was 9.4 out of 10, while 70 per cent were in favour of alcohol at games.

There was also an average score of 9.1 when asked about the family-friendly environment at games, with match officials also not reporting a change in fan behaviour.

Are purpose-built stadiums the next step?

There could be another UK women’s football first on the horizon and one that might pave the way for more radical change.

In April, Brighton unveiled their plans for the first purpose-built stadium in the country and Europe

It will be built on land called Bennett’s Field, which is adjacent to the Amex Stadium near the ground’s East Stand. It will be linked with the current main ground via a bridge link and will have a minimum capacity of 10,000.

The stadium will incudes bespoke changing and recovery rooms for female athletes all the way through to catering for a more inclusive fan base. This will include easy access for families, wider concourses and social spaces.

A proposed image of Brighton’s new women’s stadium (Credit Brighton and Hove Albion)

A proposed image of Brighton’s new women’s stadium (Credit Brighton and Hove Albion)

Their plans had been approved by the local council in October 2023, however delays meant the building was delayed.

The Seagulls had initially wanted to ground to be ready for the start of the 2027/28 campaign, but is is now hoped the stadium will be open no later than the start of the 2030/31 season.

Brighton’s current home ground is the Broadfield Stadium in Crawley

Brighton’s current home ground is the Broadfield Stadium in Crawley

And Brighton are not the only team in the UK to be planning for a more bespoke future for their women’s team.

WSL2 side Durham unveiled in March 2025 that they were teaming up with the Durham Women’s cricket team to build a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to women’s sport in Chester-le-Street.

This would include a football high performance centre, new training facilities and crucially, a new stadium, creating the Riverside sporting complex.

They currently play at Durham University’s sports ground at Maiden Castle, while the cricket team share the Seat Unique Riverside with the men’s side.

The trailblazers: KC Current

There are few purpose-built stadiums in the world for women’s teams, let alone the UK.

One of those though is in Kansas City, Missouri, where National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) side KC Current play, co-owned by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany Mahomes – a former footballer herself – as well as businesspeople Chris and Angie Long.

It has proven to be a wild success. In the last two years, KC Current have sold out every home game with the team and the ground – called the CPKC Stadium – becoming a beloved community entity.

“We looked at the financial model around sports broadly, and in this case, being an owner of a women’s professional football team,” Chris Long exclusively told Sky Sports. “One thing we noticed really quickly was no great franchise doesn’t have its own facilities.

Chris and Angie Long (right and far right) are co-owners of Kansas City current

Chris and Angie Long (right and far right) are co-owners of Kansas City current

“We wanted this sense of ownership and we thought that it would elevate everything – elevate the play, the culture and the feeling for the city – and it has.

“It brought that feeling of ownership to the broader region and people are really proud that it’s our own.

“It’s a community asset and everybody gets to participate in attending games, attending and hosting events and being part of something that’ll be generational.”

But as is the case for many trailblazers, it was not an easy process to get off the ground, especially in terms of funding. The ownership group visited 40 banks – only one saw women’s football as a viable investment and stated yes.

“When we decided to do this, not a lot of people were positive on it,” Long stated. “They stated ‘go and play in the men’s stadium, you’re wasting money, use the location for something else’.

Brittany and Patrick Mahomes are co-owners of KC Current are attended the opening ceremonies at the new CPKC Stadium in March 2024

Brittany and Patrick Mahomes are co-owners of KC Current are attended the opening ceremonies at the new CPKC Stadium in March 2024

“However, we felt like if you put something forth and be the precedent, it’s really going to capture the world’s attention, because it’s something that’s meaningful.

“But nobody wanted to finance it. There was no benchmark for what a women’s stadium looked like.

“We would say ‘we’re going to sell the naming rights’, and they would discount it by 50 per cent. Or ‘here’s what we think attendance will be’, and we’d get that discounted, and on and on to the point where there wasn’t support to finance it based on those types of projections.

“Also, at that point, valuations for women’s teams were really low, certainly in the gap between men’s and women’s, so you couldn’t even use the men’s side as a precedent.

“We didn’t have public funding, it was all done privately, so the financing was a huge piece of the of the puzzle.

“Having your own stadium opens up so many revenue levers that, in the case of women’s sports, haven’t been properly utilised, like naming rights, gates, the way you do your premium, you design it all, the way you do all the branding around the stadium – everything is yours.

The CPKC Stadium during construction – it took just 18 months to build

The CPKC Stadium during construction – it took just 18 months to build

“We felt really convicted that that was a massive swing in revenue that would help us.”

Once the finances were secured, the stadium took just 18 months to build and opened in March 2024. It was a process that needed to be quickened as their lease at their former ground, Sporting Park – where MLS side Sporting KC play – was due to expire.

Having their own stadium has given Current a significant competitive advantage too.

KC Current record at CPKC Stadium in all competitions: P38, W31, D2, L5

Long explained: “It’s so loud. There’s a sea of teal and when the team goes into their locker room, it’s not a second locker room at someone else’s stadium, even for a home game. It’s theirs.

“Opposing players and coaches haven’t been shy about saying it’s a super intimidating place to play. For all the reasons our team likes it are the reasons other teams find it a daunting task.

“When you can get any advantage in sports – and you do it in a legal manner like infrastructure – you take it because live sports is one of the hardest things to get an edge in.”

KC Current have a good home record at the CPKC Stadium

KC Current have a good home record at the CPKC Stadium

With KC Current paving the way, other teams in the NWSL especially are now following their lead, with Denver Summit set to open their own purpose-built stadium in 2028.

“I knew we wouldn’t be the last,” Long stated. “Denver are putting a massive amount of investment into infrastructure with their new team.

“Boston are renovating an existing stadium in a great location outside of the Boston area and we are constantly fielding calls across the world of others that want to do it.

“I feel like there’s been the new wave of thinking that has existed in men’s sports forever. In the MLS alone, their first stadiums were built over 25 years ago.

“But this is the moment for women’s sports and infrastructure and I can’t wait to see what we look like, not even in 10 years, but in five years when a lot of these projects really catch their momentum.”

Interviews conducted by Charlotte Marsh, Hayley Fox and Sky Sports News, with thanks to….

Hannah Dingley and Man City; Chris Long, KC Current and Dan Johnson; Hannah Buckley and WSL Football; Renee Slegers and Arsenal; Natalia Arroyo and Aston Villa; Martin Ho and Tottenham; Sonia Bompastor and Chelsea; West Ham and Brighton; Harriet Prior and Ellen Ellard; Catherine Wright, Courtney Brosnan and Everton