The Women’s El Clasico is set to take place this week with the match drawing attention as fans will hope it may break records for the highest attended Women’s Football match in history.
Back in 2019, the record was finally broken for the highest attended football match in Women’s club history. Atletico Madrid took on Barcelona at the Wanda Metropolitano in front of a magnificent 60,000 plus people.
The rise in Women’s football has continued to grow and while Barcelona’s men may be struggling along in La Liga, the same can most definitely not be said for their women who’s staggering success is bringing in fans at a phenomenal rate.
When Barcelona Women play, they usually play at the 6,000 seater Johan Cruyff Stadium. However, Real Madrid will travel to the Camp Nou to take on their rivals in the El Clasico - a stadium with a 99,354 capacity.
Not only will this encourage more spectators to the game, but with the Women’s Euros taking place this summer, the increase in attendance at league games will hopefully mean that England will host nations to full stadiums when the tournament kicks off later in the year.
The women may still be a long way off from being able to play every match at their male counterparts’ ground, but the fact that they are able to do so in increasingly frequent occasions highlights the rapidity of the growth in support for Women’s football.
5. Dick Kerr’s Ladies v St Helen’s Ladies, December 1920, 53,000
This record stood until that famous Olympic match in 2012. Soon after the success of this historic match, the Football Association said: “the game of football is quite unsuitable for females and ought not to be encouraged.” The ban on Women’s football lasted 50 years but has come on leaps and bounds since it was allowed to resume. | Getty Images
6. USA v Japan, 2015, 53,341
In the World Cup final four years prior, the US were once again present and beat Japan 5-2 in one of the most exciting finals of all time. In 2011, the US lost on penalties to the Japanese but this time, Carli Lloyd scored a hat-trick in the first 16 minutes to help her nation on the way to their trophy. | Getty Images
7. USA vs Netherlands, July 2019, 57,900
The funding and support the US gives to Women’s football is highly indicative of how they manage to take up three of these top 10 highest attendance spots. The final of the 2019 Women’s World Cup saw the US show off just how good they are at football. They managed to prevail over a strong Dutch team to win 2-0 thanks to goals from Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle. This was the US’s second consecutive World Cup. | Getty Images
8. Atlético de Madrid v Barcelona, 2019, 60, 739
The Wanda Metropolitano was the host of the biggest ever attendance for a club women’s football match. Asisat Oshoala and Toni Duggan scored twice for Barcelona as they beat their hosts 2-0 in front of a crowd of over 60,000. This week, La Liga will hope to break their own record once more. | AFP via Getty Images