Lionesses set for record crowds in Arnold Clark Cup as England look to cash in on Euros
This year’s edition of the Arnold Clark Cup will break attendance records as women’s football cashes in on last year’s Lionesses Euros win.
The competition – an invitational hosted by England’s women and this year attended by the Lionesses, South Korea, Italy and Belgium – is expected to see over 20,000 attend the opening double header at Stadium MK tomorrow.
Moreover, the third round of games – at Bristol City’s Ashton Gate – is already sold out meaning the tournament which saw an attendance high for England of 14,463 last year will already break that record twice this year. Matchday two at Coventry City’s stadium in the West Midlands is selling well, too.
Household Lionesses
“What the Euro’s did was create a sense of FOMO [fear of missing out] around women’s football in this country and we’re seeing that being played out now ahead of the World Cup,” Charlotte Thomson, head of women’s football at Copa90, told Morning Wire “Some of the Lionesses are now household names and we are seeing their personalities outside of football; fans are starting to see who the players are and what they’re like.
“The Euros was a major event and it has had an impact on women’s football: attendances at WSL games are higher, transfers are getting more publicity and fans are learning more and more about [the likes of] Leah Williamson, Alessia Russo and of course Chloe Kelly.”
England are looking to challenge the United States for the best annual invitational competition. And though the States have more high-ranked sides in the SheBelieves Cup, England are showing that the fallout from the Euros is nothing but positive.
And in a World Cup year, that awareness is key to ensure fans follow the Lionesses in what is an awkwardly placed event given the time zones.
A huge criticism of last year was the poor attendance of the matches that did not involve England – the peak attendance for these was around 850 and the low point was less than 200 fans for Spain’s win over Canada.
The tournament has lessened the time gap between kick-offs and a natural increase in fan knowledge to overseas teams will hopefully boost the attendances.
“There’s no magic wand with these sorts of things, is there,” Thomson adds. “With the Euros it wasn’t until later down the line when the fixtures that didn’t involve England started to get decent attendances.
“Non-England games aren’t going to perform as well because some fans don’t have the knowledge of other teams yet. They’ve made the kickoffs closer together and made more of a fuss around it and that should improve attendances.”