With just over a month until the start of the new WSL season, women’s football is riding on the crest of a wave.

With the World Cup reaching record viewing figures and the U.S women’s league already breaking attendance records, this looks set to continue domestically.

This weekend, Arsenal Women’s team reached a peak attendance of 28,500. In a doubleheader with the men’s game against Lyon, Arsenal Women lost narrowly against Bayern Munich in the Emirates Cup, with many of their World Cup stars yet to return. 

This saw the first of the season’s women’s games due to be played in Premier League stadiums and provides a positive outlook for attendance at women’s matches.

On the opening day of the WSL season, Man City are playing Man Utd at the Etihad in what is promising to be a fantastic Manchester derby. With tickets costing only £7 or free for children, this is the first time City have played at the Etihad since 2014 despite their domination of the women’s game in recent years.

On Sunday 8 September, Chelsea will play their opening fixture against Spurs at Stamford Bridge. Tickets were free and the game sold out in four days. Chelsea is another team full of World Cup stars and this has surely contributed to the selling out of this fixture.

The opening weekend of the WSL sees an international break in Premier League fixtures and therefore provides a great opportunity for fans to attend women’s games. Furthermore, there are three televised WSL opening weekend games. The Manchester derby is being shown on BT Sport. The day after Chelsea vs Spurs is live on the BBC red button and Arsenal vs West Ham on BT Sport.

This trend isn’t just confined to opening fixtures. In November Spurs will be hosting the north London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

Women’s football is building on the momentum of the world cup and with high attendances already predicted, it is likely to be a fantastic start to the new season.