December 22 – More than 348,000 fans have attended games in the Women’s Super League in the first half of the 2022/23 season, a rise of 227% on the previous season, according to the English FA, who have hailed 2022 as a historic breakthrough year for the women’s game in the country.
It was a year in which England hosted, and won for the first time, the Women’s Euros in front of record breaking crowds – the total tournament attendance was 574,875, double Euro 2017.
As if to emphasise the breakthrough of the women’s game and their players, England striker and top scorer at the Euros, Beth Mead, was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year in a public vote, while her team was voted Sports Team of the Year and head coach Sarina Wiegman won the Coach of the Year.
The scale of recognition of these awards should not be under-estimated in a country that loves its sports stars. 2022 was a year that held a men’s World Cup that featured a very good England team, while England’s cricket team won the T20 World Cup while test match captain Ben Stokes, second in the voting, has been ripping the accepted norm of the 5-day game and igniting the game worldwide with an unprecedented, and spectacular, nine wins in the last 10 games.
Mead overcame all of that to be the public’s winner and the first female footballer of the award.
It is not just at the top of the game where England’s women’s football is having an impact with the increase in attendances not confined to the WSL, with nearly 59,000 fans attending games in the Barclays Women’s Championship.
At grassroots, more than 416,000 new opportunities were created to play, coach, officiate and volunteer created in England. There has been a 5% increase in female affiliated clubs from June 2022 – December 2022, and a 12.5% increase in female players registered from September 2022 – December 2022.
There has also been a 15% increase in female youth teams from June 2022 – December 2022.
Baroness Sue Campbell, The FA’s Director of Women’s Football reflected: “When the Lionesses lifted the EURO trophy at Wembley Stadium on 31 July in front of a record 87,000 fans, they not only made history and created an outpouring of joy that I’ve never seen before, but they also created an opportunity to transform the future of the game. We are all determined to capitalise on that opportunity and ensure that the legacy of the tournament isn’t just a trophy but that every girl has the opportunity to play football.
“What we’ve seen in 2022 is more women and girls stepping forward to play, coach, referee, volunteer, more fans filling our stadiums and new commercial partners all wanting to be part of this great movement for change. There’s no doubt there is more work to be done however we can reflect on this year with a huge amount of pride.”
Women’s football in England by numbers:
England senior women’s team:
- Winners of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, the team’s first ever major trophy
- Winners of the inaugural Arnold Clark Cup
- An unbeaten and record-breaking 2022 with 16 wins, 4 draws and 72 goals
- Awareness of England senior women’s team is up 32% since June 2022 in girls aged 5-16 in England
A record-breaking UEFA Women’s EURO:
- Eight attendance records broken
- 574,875 total tournament attendance, double EURO 2017
- 87,192 at the Final, a EURO (women’s and men’s) competition record
- A peak TV audience of 17.4m on BBC watching the EURO Final and 5.9 million iPlayer and BBC Sport website streams
- 365 million global viewership (double previous tournament) across 195 territories
- £81 million economic boost across nine host cities
A UEFA Women’s EURO with a long-lasting legacy:
- Over 416,000 new opportunities to play, coach, officiate and volunteer created in England across schools, clubs, and the community across the nine host cities
- More than half of local residents and 2 in 5 spectators and tournament volunteers inspired to do more sport and physical activity generally, as a result of the tournament
- 3,500 schools engaged in the tournament
- Over 2,300 volunteers recruited and trained as part of the tournament
- 7,800 girls and women newly registered and playing in clubs across the nine host cities
- Over 16,000 girls and women playing recreationally across the nine host cities
Domestic Game:
- Barclays Women’s Super League attendance up 227% on last season
- Barclays Women’s Championship attendance up 86% on last season
- Almost 348,000 fans have passed through the turnstiles in the Barclays Women’s Super League in the first half of the 2022/23 season. And nearly 59,000 in the Barclays Women’s Championship
- Both League attendance records broken (47,367 at Arsenal and 11,137 at Sheffield United) and half of all Barclays Women’s Super League and Barclays Women’s Championship clubs have broken an individual club and/or stadium record so far this season
- Record Vitality Women’s FA Cup Final attendance of 49,094 in May and a peak BBC audience of 2 million for the fixture
- Sky Sports’ highest match peak of this season is 495,000 viewers for Liverpool v Everton in September
- The FA Player saw record numbers with Arsenal’s win over Brighton & Hove Albion on the opening day of the season streamed live by 23,366 fans
- Barclays Women’s Super League is now the most followed women’s professional football league in the world with over 1.55m followers across social channels
Participation:*
- 5% increase in female affiliated clubs from June 2022 – December 2022
- 9% increase in female registered football teams from June 2022 – December 2022
- 12.5% increase in female players registered from September 2022 – December 2022
- 15% increase in female youth teams from June 2022 – December 2022
- Interest in women’s football is up 12% amongst girls aged 5-16 in England
- A 196% increase in women’s and girls’ football session bookings through the England Football ‘FindFootball’ tool
- 150,000 girls now registered to take part in next year’s Let Girls Play ‘Biggest Ever Football Session’ on International Women’s Day (8 March) supporting the Barclays Girls’ Football School Partnerships by England Football and the ambition for girls to have equal access
Refereeing:*
- 21% increase in female registered referees across all levels since October 2021
Coaching:*
- Number of female coaches working in affiliated female teams is up 75% compared to the same point last year
- More than double the number of FA Community Champions who identify and support new female coaches
Commercial Growth:
- 4 new commercial partners in the women’s and girls’ game
- A total of 25 commercial partners supporting the women’s and girls’ game
*These figures have been calculated using The FA’s participation tracker rather than a measure of participants that live solely within The FA eco-system.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734881566labto1734881566ofdlr1734881566owedi1734881566sni@n1734881566osloh1734881566cin.l1734881566uap1734881566