We’re super excited to announce the launch of our latest Women’s Football Fandom Insights Report.

Our in-depth study brings together more than 1,100 views from across the women’s football landscape and delves into the evolving habits, concerns and values of women’s football fans. The report offers a unique perspective on everything from game consumption to player and brand interactions. 

Key Findings from the 2024 Report 

Consumption Habits 

• Long-distance Loyalty:  32% of women’s football fans commute up to 90 minutes to attend matches, with 30% having travelled abroad last season to support their favourite teams. 

• Streaming Dilemma:  While 75% of fans are against paywalls, two-thirds would pay for women’s football streaming services if free access were discontinued. 

• Watch-along Popularity:  96% of fans are eager to attend watch-alongs to enjoy matches with fellow supporters. 

• Top Platforms:  Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube rank as the top three platforms for fans to engage with women’s football content, with player-related content (94%) being the most popular, followed by news (80%) and entertainment (76%). 

Fan Connection to Clubs, Players and Brands 

• Influence of Female Players:  68% of fans share that brand partnerships and endorsements featuring female players influence their spending habits. 

• Skill Debate:  A notable 96% of female fans believe women players are as skilful as their male counterparts, while 67% of male fans agree. 

• Brand Responsibility:  Over a third (36%) of female fans feel that brands are not doing enough to support women’s football clubs. 

LGBTQ+ and Female Fan Safety 

• Inclusive Spaces:  77% of LGBTQ+ fans and 74% of female fans want to see more LGBTQ+ and women-only spaces in football. 

• Safety at Matches:  A staggering 96% of LGBTQ+ fans and 99% of female fans feel safe at women’s football games, in stark contrast to men’s matches where only 70% of LGBTQ+ and 84% of female fans feel the same. 

Activism and Support for Women’s Football 

• Call for Action:  86% of fans believe there isn’t enough support for struggling women’s clubs, and 49% express concern about the future of the women’s game. 

Excitement for the 2025 UEFA Women’s European Championship 

• Anticipation Grows: 100% of women’s football fans are excited for the 2025 UEFA Women’s Euros, with 27% already having planned their trips (*asked in August 2024). Brands supporting the tournament will see a reputational boost, with 92% of female fans and 58% of male fans viewing them more favourably. 

You can download a full copy of the report from the ‘Insights’ page on our website.

As the start of the Women’s Super League (WSL) season is now upon us, there’s a lot of new changes on the horizon that fans will have to adjust to. Whether it’s new players, new managers, new ownership, new kits or new teams, the WSL is not standing still.

We recap the biggest changes coming to the WSL for 2024-25 before the league kicks off tomorrow night, when defending champions Chelsea take on Aston Villa.

The Eagles have landed

As one bird flies the nest another takes its place. Replacing the Robins (Bristol City) in the WSL are the Eagles (Crystal Palace), who earned promotion from the Women’s Championship last season.

The south London club won the Championship by one point after a nail-biting run-in that saw four teams in contention (Palace, Charlton, Sunderland and Southampton) almost down to the last day.

Their task of remaining in the WSL, however, will likely not prove any easier – as Bristol City experienced last season. The Robins barely managed to bob above the relegation zone before they were back in the Championship just one season on from promotion.

Palace manager, Laura Kaminski seems up to the challenge and has recruited well, making 14 signings over the summer. Notably 32-year-old forward Katie Stengel brings extensive experience in the WSL (Liverpool: 2022-23) and abroad, while loans for 19-year-old defender Brooke Aspin (from Bristol City), 21-year-old Jorja Fox (Chelsea) and 18-year-old forward Poppy Pritchard (from Manchester City) offer recognised talent.

Palace remain without their star striker, 23-year-old Elise Hughes, who scored 20 goals in 26 appearances last season, after she ruptured her ACL in the penultimate game of the season.

Doucet at the wheel

Perhaps the most significant change of them all. 2024-25 will mark the first season that the WSL and Women’s Championship are under the new ownership of the Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL).

Announced on 15th August 2024, the WPLL (formerly known as NewCo) will assume responsibility for the two leagues from the FA. Each club competing in the WSL and Championship will be a shareholder.

Led by CEO Nikki Doucet, the WPLL has set out their aim as “building the most distinctive, competitive and entertaining women’s football club competition in the world”.

How exactly they will achieve this is yet to be seen but it could be the most important story to emerge from this season’s WSL.

FA Player: This stream has ended

When the WSL enters a period of nostalgia for the #Barclayswomen, the FA Player will be brought up with a wistful fondness for the buffering, log-on struggles and singular camera angles that accompanied its use.

The circling dots in the centre of your screen will become synonymous with Toni Duggan screamers and Fran Kirby skipping past the opposition before celebrating with arms aloft in Chelsea blue.

But as the FA cedes ownership to the WPLL, the FA Player is also consigned to history with games and highlights instead available on the far more user-friendly YouTube.

It’s a step into the present for women’s football and brings the added benefit of making the WSL and Championship far more accessible to the casual fan.

Fresh faces in the dugout

Chelsea have been left with big shoes to fill in the form of seven-time WSL winner Emma Hayes. They have gone a long way to finding a suitable successor, welcoming three-time Champions League-winning, former Lyon manager Sonia Bompastor to Kingsmeadow.

It is an accolade that always evaded her predecessor, but Bompastor has won the UWCL once as manager at Lyon, and twice as a player.

She is one of four fresh faces that will feature on WSL touchlines from the outset this season as Aston Villa, Leicester City and Brighton and Hove Albion also welcomed new managers this summer.

Robert de Pauw joins Villa from Dutch pro side FC Twente following the departure of another WSL stalwart in Carla Ward. Amandine Miquel heads to Leicester from Premier Ligue side Reims while Dario Vidosic joins Brighton from Melbourne City.

WSL Departees

Departures are not just confined to the manager’s office. The WSL will also have to acclimatise to the absence of stalwarts on the field too.

West Ham United, Manchester United and Manchester City have all bid adieu to their captains (Mackenzie Arnold, Katie Zelem and Steph Houghton respectively).

Houghton announced her retirement from football back in March while ever-present United captain Zelem and 30-year-old goalkeeper Arnold both moved to the NWSL.

United will also be without another key presence as Mary Earps departs to PSG leaving them two Lionesses lighter heading into 2024-25. Not only has Earps produced some tremendous stops for United, but her candid speeches and campaigning mean she might be most missed as a visible role model each weekend.

United’s Manchester rivals also saw a host of changes as the WSL will be without stalwart Demi Stokes, who moved to Newcastle United. Fellow Lionesses Esme Morgan and Ellie Roebuck have also left, joining Washington Spirit and Barcelona, respectively.

Welch waves goodbye

Departures do not just have to be associated to a club to be just as seismic. Rebecca Welch has blown full-time on her career in refereeing having become a well-known face in the WSL.

Alongside refereeing the WSL, Welch became the first woman to referee in the English Football League, the men’s FA Cup third round, the Sky Bet Championship and the Premier League.

She will now take up a senior role at the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), but will undoubtedly be missed in the WSL for her refereeing and lengthy debates with Arsenal’s Katie McCabe…

It’s been a BIG summer of global football – Euro’s qualification, some incredible WSL x Aus x NWSL collabs and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Now we’re moments away from the first stages of the UEFA Women’s Champions League first stages and the start of the WSL on 20th September…

It’s set to be the most well-attended WSL campaign in history with big ambitions to beat the 717,721 people who turned up for clubs last season.

So, whilst we have a brief moment, let’s get organised and figure out where we need to be and when to catch a bit of the main stadium action…

Arsenal: The Emirates

It’s always a vibe at the Emirates and it’s pretty much always a sell-out. Last season, Arsenal secured back-to-back sellouts and made history by encouraging 60,160 fans to their 1-0 win against Manchester United (Feb 2024). The Gunners average league attendance was an 31,428.

If that wasn’t incredible enough, Arsenal now hold the top three highest attended WSL games in history: 59,042 (Arsenal v Chelsea in Dec 2023) and 54,115 (Arsenal v Liverpool in October 2023).

This season, they’ve promised us 11 games at the Emirates; eight WSL and three more depending on UEFA Women’s Champions League progression. Meadow Park (4,500 capacity) will only host three home games against Crystal Palace, Leicester City and West Ham.

• Manchester City: 22 September
• Everton: 06 October
• Chelsea: 12 October
• Brighton: 10 November
• Aston Villa: 08 December
• Spurs: 16 February
• Liverpool: 23 March
• Manchester United: 11 May

Aston Villa: Villa Park

In a historic move for the women’s side, Villa announced this summer that Villa Park will now host all of their WSL home games; a significant increase compared to the five played there during the last campaign.

The remaining home fixtures, including the Adobe Women’s FA Cup and FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup ties, will be played at Walsall’s Poundland Bescot Stadium.

• Tottenham: 29 September
• Leicester: 13 October
• Liverpool: 3 November
• Crystal Palace: 17 November
• West Ham: 15 December
• Manchester City: 26 January
• Chelsea: 2 February
• Everton: 2 March
• Manchester United: 23 March
• Arsenal: 27 April
• Brighton: 11 May

Brighton: American Express Stadium

No main stadium fixtures announced yet. All the women’s games will take place at the Broadfield Stadium.

Chelsea: Stamford Bridge

Chelsea will play three home games at Stamford Bridge. The rest of their fixtures will be hosted at the much-loved Kingsmeadow. Despite having a capacity of only 4,850, it’s the perfect place to still get that up close and personal feel, sitting meters away from Lauren James and new manager Sonia Bompastor.

Last season, the UWCL semi-final second-leg against Barcelona was played in front of a sellout crowd (39,398) at the Bridge. The Blues will be looking to beat that this year and we expect more UWCL fixtures to be announced depending on how the club get on in Europe.

• Manchester City: 17 November
• Arsenal: 26 January
• Liverpool: 11 May

Crystal Palace: Selhurst Park

The Eagles have landed in the WSL for the first time in the club’s history and they have quite the list of top tier fixtures to show case at Selhurst Park.

Last season, they made club history by selling over 5,566 tickets to watch them lift the Women’s Championship trophy. This year, with fixtures like this, we have no doubt another record will be smashed.

• Chelsea: 27 September
• Manchester City: 03 November
• Arsenal: 30 March

Everton: Goodison Park

Only one fixture has been announced at Goodison Park and what a fixture it is – just the Mersyside Derby – one of the most fiercely competitive red and blue fixtures in the WSL.

• Liverpool: 16 November

Leicester: King Power Stadium

These guys are main stadium OG’s. The women’s side have used the King Power Stadium as their home ground since 2021. This season is no different – all 11 WSL home games will feature here. We love to see it.

• Arsenal: 29 September
• Crystal Palace: 6 October
• Everton: 20 October
• Manchester United: 17 November
• Chelsea: 15 December
• Liverpool: 26 January
• Aston Villa: 16 February
• Brighton: 23 March
• Tottenham (30 March)
• Manchester City (27 April)
• West Ham (11 May)

Liverpool: Anfield

Three fixtures will be played at Anfield this season. But fans will have double the fun this year as the club confirmed they’d signed a ten-year lease to relocate from Prenton Park to the 18,000-capacity Totally Wicked Stadium in St Helens.

• Manchester City: 13 October
• Manchester United: 16 March
• Everton: 4 May

Manchester City

City will host three WSL games at the Etihad Stadium. Their remaining fixtures will be played at the 7,000-capacity Joie Stadium across the road which sits within City’s elite training ground facility.

• Tottenham Hotspur: 10 November
• Manchester United: 19 January
• Chelsea: 23 March

Manchester United

Yaaanited have three fixtures in the diary for Old Trafford with the remaining games being played at Leigh Sports Village. There have been rumours recently of the women’s side moving permanently to a re-developed OT in the future, with their men’s team re-homing to a new nearby stadium but we’ll wait to see if there’s any legs in this…

In the meantime, United have sensibly chosen two mid/low-table fixtures against the Hammers and Palace, where they’ll be expecting to secure wins but they couldn’t miss the Manchester derby now and with City burned by a near-miss with the title, that last fixture will be spicy as hell.

• West Ham: 21 September
• Crystal Palace: 16 February
• Manchester City: 04 May

Spurs: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

It’s an important season for the club. A million miles away from once being seen as the WSL newbies (entering the league in 2020), they’re strong mid-table warriors with an eye on top four and a love for disruption.

They finished last year strong with a history-making FA Cup run which took them to Wembley in May (defeated 4-0 by Manchester United).

They’re not messing around with the main stadium fixtures this year – just the three biggest and the best opposition to showcase how far they’ve come, with all their remaining games to played at Brisbane Road (capacity of 9,721).

• Arsenal: 17 November
• Manchester United: 2 February
• Chelsea: 4 May

West Ham: London Stadium

No main stadium fixtures have been announced yet. All the women’s games will take place at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.

Amid increasing concerns over the safety and sustainability of crowd interactions at women’s football, Chelsea announced their players will no longer engage in post-match selfies and autographs at their home ground (Kingsmeadow).

While women’s football has traditionally offered a strong connection between fans and players, the growth of crowds has led to concerns over the practicality of such close interaction – with reports of some fans being injured by others as they attempt to interact with players at the end of games.

The problem has already reared its head in pre-season as swathes of Arsenal fans were seen filling the walkway before the end of their friendly match with Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium.

It is a sight that has become increasingly familiar in stadiums hosting women’s football across the UK and beyond in recent years.

Chelsea cited safety issues stating: “There were occasions last season that led to concerns about the safety and security of both supporters and players, largely due to the rising numbers who are seeking signatures and selfies before and after games.”

The club have instead said they will hold events specifically organised for fan meet and greets with players.

It is a problem the whole of the WSL is grappling with as Manchester City have opted to introduce an ‘Autograph Alley’ post-match where ‘randomly selected fans’ are granted access to player selfies and autographs.

It might not have been what Women’s Professional Leagues’ CEO Nikki Doucet envisaged when referencing a drive towards engaging a ‘Taylor Swift demographic of fans’, but perhaps a selfie with City strikers Lauren Hemp or Bunny Shaw will become the new ‘22 hat’.

Meanwhile, fellow WSL big-hitters Arsenal and Manchester United have opted not to introduce restrictions. However, both will predominantly play at better-equipped stadiums for fan-distancing in the Emirates and Leigh Sports Village next season.

Neither club will deter fans from rushing to the front, blocking exit routes and the views of spectators behind them, with ‘Can I have your shirt signs?’ and Sharpies at the ready.

It is a trend bringing accusations of entitlement, as the Lionesses experienced after their match against Scotland at the Stadium of Light in September last year. Fans were seen chanting “get off the bus” as the team coach departed the ground.

Cardboard signs expectant of shirts, boots and autographs have become an all too familiar sight in the stands, with players such as former Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps known to have spent up to an hour answering requests.

Earps, in fact, has responded to criticism online labelling her “too busy and important” to stop to greet the poster’s daughter. The reality is, with crowd sizes pushing 60,000 in the WSL players do not have the capacity to greet each individual, nor should fans expect it.

Not only does this put an unreasonable expectation on the players, but it also means they cannot proceed with post-match media obligations or the recovery plans required of elite athletes – recovery which feels even more important now given the increasingly demanding match schedules the players contend with.

Criticism can also often be found tinged with misogyny as players are expected to show their gratitude to the fans for supporting them, as though they have not just exerted themselves for 90 minutes for the crowd’s entertainment.

Of course, for many years, smaller attendances did enable personal interactions and fan relationships with players. Such accessibility became a key attraction of the women’s game with new fans pulled in just as much by personality as well as play.

The boom in crowds since the 2022 European Championship means the days of a gaggle of six or seven people standing by the tunnel after a match are long gone.

Now, women’s football must confront the uncomfortable reality that with a change in attendance, there must also be a change in behaviour.

As Chelsea and Manchester City lead the way on restrictions, it could well spark more teams into similar action across the league and abroad.

While no fan should believe in their own preordained right to ‘meet and greet’ their idol, women’s football also prides itself on inclusivity and must be careful not to alienate those fans drawn in by personality.

Change always takes time to adjust to, and clubs will have to balance pleasing fans, new and old, while most importantly protecting the safety of their players.

On Sunday, Premièr Ligue side Paris St. Germain (PSG) were crowned winners of the inaugural Perth International Football Cup after defeating Manchester City 1-0 in the final at HBF Park. 

The tournament represented a celebration of women’s football on the international stage as European teams demonstrated their marketability worldwide during this pre-season. 

Three Women’s Super League (WSL) teams, Leicester City, West Ham United and Manchester City, travelled to Australia’s west coast, but it was the French side who clinched the title with an 88^th minute penalty – taken by 23-year-old midfielder Jennifer Echegini after Kerstin Casparij tripped Tara Elimibi-Gilbert in the box. 

Manchester City, however, can take heart from their performance against last season’s Champions League semi-finalists and were perhaps unlucky not to get more from the game after Bunny Shaw was denied a strong penalty shout in the first-half.  

The Citizens came up against 33-year-old goalkeeper Katarzyna Kiedrzynek whose heroic performance was everything you might expect from a No.1 defending their starting shirt from Mary Earps. No mean feat given Earps’ recent credentials – 2023 World Cup runner up, 2022 European Championship winner and FIFA Best Goalkeeper 2022 & 2023 to name a few.

Though PSG were victorious, they failed to over-awe in either of their games, only beating West Ham 1-0 through 23-year-old striker Romee Leuchter’s goal in the 23^rd minute. 

The oft-repeated line that pre-season is about little more than fitness must be a caveat in all cases but, for West Ham fans, the tournament will certainly have caused some concern. 

The East London club fell to a 5-2 defeat to WSL rivals Leicester City in the third/fourth play-off match and, as a result, finished bottom of the pack. It could have looked far worse had 30-year-old striker Viviane Asseyi’s late brace not salvaged what was a 5-0 scoreline until the 90^th minute.  

For Leicester, and new manager Amandine Miquel, the tournament gave plenty to be hopeful about. The Foxes held Man City to a 0-0 draw, only losing on penalties, before triumphing over West Ham. 

It was an opportunity for all clubs to show off new faces with the tournament rife with debutants. City’s new keeper Japan international Ayaka Yamashita impressed in their penalty shootout victory over Leicester, while marquee signing Vivianne Miedema scored the winning spot-kick. 

Among a number of other summer signings, Earps made her debut for PSG, and midfielder Chantelle Swaby and goalkeeper Kinga Szemik made their first starts for Leicester and West Ham, respectively.  

In many ways, the pre-season tour was not just an exercise in football preparation but in showcasing European football on a different continent – and it succeeded.  

The added draw of Matildas in each of the WSL sides (midfielder Katrina Gorry, striker Mary Fowler, defenders Alanna Kennedy and Courtney Nevin) attracted sizeable crowds for pre-season friendlies with over 15,000 in attendance for Sunday’s final between City and PSG. 

As Australia continues to see domestic women’s football grow after the success of last summer’s World Cup, undoubtedly it will become a familiar trip for European teams looking for a more global pre-season in future. 

Astutely, amid mandatory zoo trips to hug koalas, the clubs also took the opportunity to spread the buzz around the Perth Cup with local sides. Most prominently, Man City visited A-League side Perth Glory while Kristie Mewis fittingly visited her fiancee’s eponymous sports centre, the Sam Kerr Football Centre. 

Leicester City took part in a bracelet exchange with local Sorrento FC U12’s and U13’s, while there was also a fan event on Friday arranged for the tournament itself.  

In taking advantage of the growing international interest, the European sides can grow their global brand image as a women’s club and attract fans willing to invest around the globe.  

It is another sign of the steps being taken in the women’s game with Arsenal and Chelsea also having successful trips stateside to face NWSL teams in the USA.  

While ending a perennial debate over whether the NWSL or WSL is the better league might have been a useful byproduct of Arsenal and Chelsea’s respective victories over Washington Spirit and Gotham FC, more importantly, it is indicative of the increasing global attraction of the WSL. 

Owing to the success of this summer’s international forays, we can expect to see the international pre-season tour become a firm fixture of the women’s calendar as the WSL realises its true global market value. And maybe even see the Australian and NWSL teams venture over here…

A new structure has been announced for the elite women’s game

Today the legal ownership of the Women’s Super League and Women’ Championship transferred from The Football Association to the Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL)

What you need to know:

• WPLL’s vision is ‘to become the global leader in women’s football. The aim is to be pioneers in the sport, setting ambitious goals and pushing boundaries to elevate the game’.

• Going forwards, each WSL & WC club will be shareholders in the WPLL for the first time.

• The company will be headed by CEO Nikki Doucet, with board members and other senior hires yet to be announced. Dawn Airey will Chair the WPLL Board.

• The WPLL will be supported by the Premier League through a co-operation & funding agreement including a £20million interest-free loan.

• The Premier League will also offer ‘extensive knowledge sharing across broadcasting, commercial and football operations’

What don’t we know?

• The TV broadcast deal was rolled over this year and the WPLL will have to negotiate a new longer-term deal for the 2025/26 season and beyond.

• Games not broadcast by Sky/BBC will be shown on YouTube this year (as opposed to the FA player). We’ll have to wait to see how this format does!

• Whether any other external investment will be made into the WPLL.

• How the WPLL will make decisions. Each club has voting rights, but all the clubs are in very different positions financially, in terms of their ambitions and the models within which they operate – so finding a consensus could be challenging.

It’s an exciting and transitional time for women’s football and this is the first step into a new era.

Today marks a new era for She’s A Baller. 

It’s been a whirlwind few months of reflection, learning and creating a strategy to take SAB to the next level. 

We are a company run by women’s football players, consumers, fans and experts. We know women’s football inside out and that’s why we’ve become the UK’s largest independent publisher of women’s football content. Our beautiful audience is engaged and supportive.

That’s why, going forwards, our priority is to deliver more content across more platforms that is entertaining, intelligent, thought-provoking, diverse and original. 

From today, you’ll notice a subtle new feel to our social media platforms. We’ve also launched this website providing articles and news, women’s football job postings AND we’re lifting back the curtain – you’ll find more information about our team and how to get in touch!

There’s more – we’ve also created a linktree on our Instagram and LinkedIn to make accessing our content easier AND coming soon…we’re launching a SAB YouTube channel. You’re not going to want to miss the first episode…

Alongside our social media platforms, we’re also a creative agency working with global brands such as Puma, EA Sports, Adidas and eBay to bring their beautiful ideas and concepts to life. You can find more about this on our website.

From myself and the SAB Team, thank you for love and support and being part of our journey. We’re excited to take you with us on this new adventure.

From Chloe & The SAB Team