It’s a weekend of derby action in the Women’s Super League (WSL). On Friday, Everton will play Liverpool in a midtable clash at 40,000-seat Goodison Park. Then, on Saturday at 3pm, the north London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal is back.
But this time, instead of being played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the match has been shunted to Brisbane Road, the 9,000-capacity Leyton Orient stadium nearly four miles away from Tottenham. How can we expect women’s football to keep growing when it is still not a priority even for the clubs themselves?
Following the Lionesses’ triumph in the 2022 Women’s Euros, the WSL has enjoyed a record-breaking season. In September, Barcelona smashed the world women’s transfer record to sign Manchester City star Keira Walsh for £415,000.
The north London derby has been at the heart of the league’s rising profile. This campaign’s first matchup between Arsenal and Tottenham last September was watched by 47,367 supporters at the Emirates Stadium. This number surpassed the previous record of 38,262, set in the reverse fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2019.
Women’s football, and Tottenham vs Arsenal in particular, has proven it now has the ability to pull in huge crowds. So why will the teams be playing at a stadium which has a capacity of less than one fifth of the number of people who watched the derby earlier this season?
The answer is rugby. Specifically, the men’s Gallagher Premiership match between Saracens and Harlequins, which will be played at Spurs’ stadium instead. This is the third time that the fixture, dubbed “The Showdown” by Saracens, will be played at Tottenham.
Spurs might be able to justify the decision if the game pulled in capacity crowds. But it doesn’t. Out of the 62,850 that can fit into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, last year’s Showdown drew around 40,000. As of Wednesday afternoon, a quick glance at the Saracens ticketing page suggests this year’s game will be far from sold-out.
It speaks volumes that Tottenham Hotspur Football Club have opted to host a rugby game over their own women’s team, even when evidence suggests they’d sell more tickets for the latter. Saturday’s fixture promises to be a fascinating matchup, but off the pitch, both teams have already lost this game.
