LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 01: The LED board shows the official match attendance at „54,115“ during … [+] the Barclays Women’s Super League match between Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC at Emirates Stadium on October 01, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Marc Atkins – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
The FA via Getty ImagesJust 42 days after the Women’s World Cup final, the new Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) season began in front of a league record crowd at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal lost to Liverpool.
The Merseyside team who finished seventh out of twelve teams in their first season following promotion into the WSL last season did not win a single game away from home last season. Despite that, a goal early in the second half from former Angel City striker Miri Taylor inflicted a third successive league defeat upon Arsenal. Having lost their last two games of the previous campaign, it is the first time since May 2014 that Arsenal have lost three league games in a row.
After announcing ticket sales of over 50,000 earlier this week, the crowd of 54,115 was announced late in the second half, beating the previous WSL record of 47,367 set by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium just over a year ago when they entertained North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Ten years ago, the-then defending league champions Arsenal also opened their WSL season against Liverpool in a one-off match at the main club stadium, the 60,704-capacity Emirates Stadium. The match, a humbling 0-4 defeat for the home side, was watched by a paltry 2,017 spectators and the idea of playing women’s matches regulary at the ground seemed non-sensical.
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 7: The teams line up ahead of the FA WSL Continental Cup match between … [+] Arsenal Ladies FC and Liverpool Ladies FC at Emirates Stadium on May 7, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Jan Kruger – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
The FA via Getty ImagesAfter three 40,000 plus crowds for the women’s team in the league last season – in addition to a 60,063 sell-out for the UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final against VfL Wolfsburg – Arsenal has already committed to staging five of their eleven home league matches at the Emirates Stadium in this campaign. The idea of them playing every match at the ground does not seems so far-fetched any more.
Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall believes that day is coming. „I think it’s part of the club’s longer-term plans to move more and more games to Emirates Stadium and, of course, in order to do so, we need to have the interest there. So it’s great to see that we have that.“
„We want consistency. I think we are moving away from the idea that it’s a one-off to sell out the big stadium. What we want for the sustainability and the growth of the game is to have consistency in selling out big stadiums. That’s the next step for women’s football. That’s the next step for the WSL“
When Arsenal set that previous league record attendance at the Emirates Stadium last September, they defeated Spurs 4-0 with the opening goal scored by Beth Mead. Within two months, Mead, the top scorer and Player of the Tournament for England at last summer’s UEFA Women’s Euro, had become the first of five key Arsenal players to succumb to the dreaded rupture of her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
After not being selected for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, it has taken Mead almost ten months to return to first-team action. Today, 316 days after her fateful injury at the Emirates Stadium against Manchester United, she was not named in the matchday squad.
Speaking to Arsenal.com ahead of the game, Mead said „it has been a long old road since November when I first did my knee, so to feel a bit normal as a footballer on a pitch again has been really nice for me. I am chomping at the bit to get on that pitch! I’ve worked hard to get to this point, so I can’t wait for the season to get going.“
Her replacement in the team Canadian Cloé Lacasse, nominally a forward, was employed as a right wing-back in an attacking formation. After initial success, opponents Liverpool pinned her back into an unfamiliar defensive position blunting Arsenal’s attack for the remainder of the first half.
Three minutes into the second half, Matt Beard’s side, who pulled off a similar shock result on the opening weekend of last season defeating champions Chelsea, took a shock lead. Missy Bo Kearns combined with new signing Marie Höbinger down the right and when Kearns cut the ball back, former Arsenal youth-team player Miri Taylor slotted the ball home.
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 01: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Miri Taylor of Liverpool Women … [+] celebrating scoring the opening goal during the Barclays Women’s Super League match between Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC at Emirates Stadium on October 01, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool FC via Getty ImagesThere was also a league debut for Alessia Russo after her much-vaunted transfer to Arsenal in the close season from Manchester United. Last season, Russo scored the winning goals for her former club, both home and away, against Arsenal to help Manchester United finish above them in the league. However, today, she was unable to find the net and was substituted in the 73rd minute on a frustrating afternoon for The Gunners.
On Friday, she will return to Leigh Sports Village to play away to Manchester United in a match in which she is sure to receive a hostile reception from the home supporters. After losing all six points to their northern rivals last season, that match, selected by Sky Sports for live television coverage, will be seen as a pivotal indicator of Arsenal’s title aspirations as they both seek to dethrone Chelsea, WSL champions for the past four seasons.