2023 has been a historic year for women’s football. Attendances have hit record breaking numbers, and the growth of the game has been on a fast-rising trajectory that will continue into 2024. But before the game pushes on into next year, let’s break down 2023 and look at some of the incredible moments that the game has given us.
Starting at the beginning of January, we have the WSL transfer window. There were 140 deals completed, including some household names moving around. Bethany England was sold from Chelsea to Tottenham Hotspurs. Jordan Nobbs made the heartbreaking move for gooners from Arsenal to Aston Villa. Pelova, Queiroz and Kühl all arrived at Arsenal, whilst Matilda’s star Lydia Williams left PSG for Brighton. It’s inevitable that the growth of the game is reflected in the transfer periods, and this was true when Arsenal made a rejected bid of £500,000 for United’s Alessia Russo. With stats like attendances growing, this bid is the start of us seeing transfer fees growing alongside.
Skipping forward to April, we had the Women’s finalissima. England welcomed Brazil to Wembley stadium, backed by a crowd of 83,132 fans. A seamless interaction between Georgia Stanway and Lucy Bronze enabled Ella Toone to score in the 23rd minute. The Lionesses managed to hold Brazil off with Mary Earps saving some near shots until the 3rd minute of extra time when Andressa Alves scored a breakthrough, ensuring her team a second chance in penalties. But when it all came down to it, England kept their cool and edged to glory, winning 4-2. Chloe Kelly, who seems to have a habit now of scoring winners at Wembley, was the owner of the decisive penalty. Another trophy, another big win at Wembley in front of a statement home crowd continues to build on the impact from the Euros 2022 win.
July marked the start of the highly anticipated FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. This tournament came with a message, loud and clear to everyone; Women’s football has arrived and isn’t stopping here. Of the 64 total games, a staggering 1,977,824 fans attended in person. Once again, this is a new record. The emergence of underdogs was also a conversation topic on everyone’s lips, and no one wanted to miss a game. Arguably one of the biggest plot twists of the summer was the show of the United States worse run ever in the competition. They lost 4-5 to Sweden on penalties, in the round of sixteen, leaving the tournament at the earliest stage in their history. Eight countries made their world stage debut, Hati, the Republic of Ireland, Morocco, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Vietnam, and Zambia. Out of these debutantes, Morocco got the furthest, playing into the round of sixteen only to unfortunately find defeat by France 4-Nil.
The Women’s World Cup came to an end in August, keeping all the drama and excitement till the very last second in the final. England and Spain battled it out with Olga Carmona edging Spain to a 1 Nil win.
Throughout this tournament Lioness Lucy Bronze became the England player with the most World Cup starts. On Spain’s side, eight of the nine Barcelona players on the international side became the first female players to win both the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA World Cup in the same year. When discussing individual achievements during the tournament, there were many accolades given out. When looking at the two final teams, Mary Earps won the golden glove award, for England. For Spain, Aitana Bonmati won the Golden Ball, whilst Jennifer Hermoso won the Silver Ball. Salma Paralluelo took away the award for young player of the tournament whilst also becoming the first woman to win the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the FIFA U-20 World Cup and the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The recent returning star of Spain, became the first woman to have won the World Cup, Champions League and the Ballon d’Or.
Moving forward to October, we had the infamous Ballon d’Or awards. History was made as Katie McCabe became the first Irish woman to be nominated for the award, and in the final run, finished 22nd. Spanish superstar Aitana Bonmatí won the Ballon d’Or Féminin award for 2023.
In November, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 5 Nil in El Clasico in front of the biggest home attendance in the league with 38,707 fans. This game also marked Barcelona’s 67th straight home win. We should also be proud to note that November was when Rebecca Welch was the first women to act as a fourth official in the Premier League. Slightly out of structure but skipping momentarily to December, Welch also has now claimed the achievement of being the first woman to take charge of a Premier League match with Fulham vs Burnley.
December was a busy month for achievements but personally for me, two stand as more crucial for conversation. The first being the legend, the icon herself, Mary Earps. Becoming the second female footballer to pick up the award, only a year after international teammate Beth Mead, she was named BCC Sports Personality of the year. The award is voted for by the public, emphasizing again the growth and visibility that women’s footballers now have. The second talking point that I want to mention is the breaking of yet another Barclays WSL attendance record.
The Emirates welcomed an enthusiastic crowd of 59,042 to watch Arsenal vs Chelsea. No one can argue that Arsenal isn’t the leading team in the WSL for attendances. Their marketing team have hacked it and everyone else is looking to follow suit. Apart from it being a great game (not if you’re a Chelsea fan!) and Arsenal winning 4-1, the atmosphere was buzzing in the stadium and nearly everywhere you walked, you could hear a chant. The day itself truly showed the growth of women’s football and the level that we’re at. From queues outside to seeing fans – of all ages – on the train, it was a monumental day for women’s football and the game shows no sign of stopping anytime soon
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