With 64,000 tickets sold, women’s club football to break 99 year old world record crowd on Sunday

On Sunday afternoon at the venue of this season’s Champions League Final, a 99-year-old record could be smashed as the top two teams in La Liga Iberdrola, Atlético de Madrid and FC Barcelona meet at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Not since the fabled English works team Dick, Kerr Ladies attracted an estimated 53,000 spectators to Goodison Park for a Boxing Day match with St. Helens, has such a crowd been drawn to a women’s domestic club match in Europe.

All 64,000 advance tickets have been allocated for the match in Madrid. Of those, over 27,000 tickets have been purchased with the rest claimed by almost 30% of Atlético’s 127,471 socios.

The official European club record of 50,212 at the 2012 UEFA Champions League final in Munich’s Olympiastadion is set to be broken and the world record figure of 51,211 witnessing the Liga MX Femenil Clausura Final between Monterrey and Tigres UANL in May could also be surpassed.

Atlético played FC Barcelona in front of 3,800 four weeks ago, but could set a world record attendance this Sunday.
Picture Alberto Molina

In January, Athletic Bilbao attracted another huge attendance of 48,121 for their Copa de la Reina match against Atlético at San Mamés and last May, the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Arsenal was witnessed by 45,423 fans, a third record crowd in succession since the English showpiece was moved to Wembley.

Yet this figure is more than ten times the largest attendance for a FA WSL match, set when 4,096 watched Manchester City host Chelsea in 2016 and since the move back to a winter season, English league crowds show no sign of reaching five figures in the foreseeable future.

When Chelsea moved their Champions League match against VfL Wolfsburg to Stamford Bridge in 2016, they attracted only 3,783 fans, a mere 454 more than they did the following season against the same opposition at a sold-out Kingsmeadow.

Only four weeks ago, Atlético hosted Barcelona in the Copa de la Reina at their Estadio Cerro del Espino in front of 3,800 rojiblanco fans. The decision to move tomorrow’s La Liga match from the club’s training complex to their main stadium has led to a fifteen-fold increase in attendance. So where is Spain succeeding where WSL clubs continue to fall short?

As Alvaro Pascual, from Atlético’s Department of Communication and Marketing explained:

“Since the tickets went on sale on February 18, the club has made its best efforts to promote the match in the best way possible.

“We’ve published videos of players from our men’s first team encouraging the fans to attend the match at the Metropolitano and the players from our women’s team have carried out several autograph sessions at the club’s official stores and during tours of the stadium in order to promote the game”.

Atlético Femenino players have been meeting fans to generate interest in their La Liga match at the Metropolitano Picture – @AtletiFemenino

Atlético captain, Amanda Sampedro added:

“I hope Sunday is a party for everyone and, above all, the three points remain in the Wanda”.

Women’s international football is no stranger to large crowds. A world record 90,185 saw the United States beat China in the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final in Pasadena and an Olympic record 80,203 were at Wembley when the US defeated Japan to win the Gold Medal Match in 2012.

Over 600,000 tickets have been sold so far for the Women’s World Cup with the final and both semi-finals at Lyon’s 59,186-capacity Parc OL sold out.

Largest women’s football attendances

90,185 United States (5)0-0(4) China Rose Bowl, Pasadena 10/07/1999

80,203 United States 2-1 Japan Wembley Stadium, London 09/08/2012

78,792 United States 3-0 Denmark Giants Stadium, East Rutherford 19/06/1999

76,489 United States 2-1 China Sanford Stadium, Athens, Georgia 01/08/1996

73,680 Germany 2-1 Canada Olympiastadion, Berlin 26/06/2011

Largest women’s club football attendances

53,000 Dick, Kerr Ladies FC 4-0 St. Helen’s FC Goodison Park, Liverpool 26/12/1920

51,211 Monterrey 2-2 Tigres UANL Estadio BBVA, Monterrey 05/05/2018

50,212 FFC Frankfurt 0-2 Olympique Lyonnais Olympiastadion, Munich 17/05/2012

48,212 Athletic Club 0-2 Atlético de Madrid San Mamés, Bilbao 30/01/2019