The Lionesses expose one of Wembley's biggest challenges
Our national stadium is the home of English football - but not for the Lionesses. And that's to the benefit of women's football
By the end of 2025 Oasis and the two England national teams will have played exactly the same number of times at Wembley in the calendar year (seven). That’s four for Thomas Tuchel’s team and three for the Lionesses.
Financially the FA, the owner and operator of Wembley, won’t be too worried about the optics of that - particularly given there were an amazing 250k pints served to the 80k fans at each sold-out Wembley gig.
Wembley can host up to 54 events with 60k+ attendees annually, in agreement with Brent Council. A maximum of 25 of these can be football games. Football events bring with them more trouble, traffic, policing etc.
This has put the FA in a sticky situation with the Lionesses, given their growth in popularity and interest and the historic positioning as Wembley as the home of English football.
***STAT TIME***
Of the games the Lionesses have played and will play on home soil between 2017 and 2025 (57), only one in five will have been played at Wembley. The men’s team will actually play exactly the same amount of games on home soil in that period, however 52 of those (91%) will have been at Wembley.
Were you surprised that over the weekend just gone, the Lionesses played their first game back in England since winning the Euros, against the iconic Brazil, at…
…the Etihad Stadium in Manchester?
You shouldn’t be, although ironically a sport most popular in the north of England took over Wembley that day, England getting thrashed by Australia in the rugby league Ashes.
Wembley as the “home of English football” is definitely true for the men’s team, not the Lionesses.
I actually think this is a good tactic, even if it’s a decision probably made primarily out of pragmatism of what events can/should/don’t have to be hosted in tightly-packed Wembley calendar.
Ultimately, it allows the Lionesses to tour the country, giving greater and wider access to a team that’s captured the public’s imagination since Covid. At stadia big and small.
Then you have tentpole games at Wembley that are different. Bigger events. Scarcer.
***STAT TIME AGAIN***
Across Lionesses games played on home soil since 2017, occupancy (how full the stadium is as a percentage of total capacity) is almost identical for games played at Wembley (71.2%) and games played outside of Wembley (70.7%).
For me, this means the balance of games to date has been just about right. Room for growth, clearly, but the FA is packing out Lionesses games across the country at stadia of a variety of sizes at broadly the same rate.
Another time I’ll dig deeper and look at regional variations, if there’s interest.
It also gives support to a theory I made on the Expected Goals podcast with Adrian Jacob a couple of weeks ago, though this is clearly not apples vs apples.
When looking at “under-par” WSL attendances for last season and the start of this season, one of my arguments is that it’s partly because, after Covid, teams had great success with the tactic of hosting the majority of games in smaller stadia, with a handful of games put on at the main stadia.
These main stadia games were marketed as big events showcasing women’s football in a way you’d never seen before. A North London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium having been couped up indoors for so long? Yes please.
Since then, WSL clubs have moved more and more (in many cases all) league games to main stadia and the uniqueness of those games – partly due to the ability to market each one as such – has slowly eroded.
Arsenal, whose attendances account for roughly a third of WSL attendances, made the Emirates the official home of both the men’s teams ahead of the 2024/25 season, but have seen their average league attendances at the Emirates fall every season since 2022/23.
This season is tracking the same way.
Source: Expected Goals
Like I say, Lionesses games and WSL games are apples vs pears. The former get major, organic mainstream media coverage for fewer events. WSL clubs are equally as hamstrung about where they host games, and there’s loads more of them.
Try and get already incredible lean marketing teams to come up with a unique marketing strategy for every WSL and cup game.
But women’s football is still in start-up stage, and in start-up stage it’s all about audience growth. Getting someone to watch a football game live, particularly as a kid, is one of the most effective ways to create and maintain a lifelong affiliation.
The FA say the success of the Lionesses is the primary driver of growth in women’s football generally in England (debate for another time).
It’s definitely one, and they’re doing a great job of it. Doing things differently in a complex set of circumstances.
Really enjoyed this article!