Are main stadiums the right place for women's football?

Where WSL teams play their football continues to be a hot topic and every club approaches things differently.

This usually includes a groundsharing element - either with their men's team, with an EFL team or another sport entirely. For many, this includes both.

But each season, we see incremental shifts in where women's teams play. Over the last six months, Sky Sports have been looking at what the future could hold, including:

Manchester United and Liverpool groundshare with rugby teams, while Tottenham, West Ham, Brighton and London City Lionesses all play at lower league club grounds.

Everton and Man City also have their own designated stadiums that they do not share with another senior team.

Most of these also play a handful of games at the club’s main ground. These are usually marquee matches against those in the top four or local rivals to entice fans, with more space for both serious and casual supporters to attend.

For example, Liverpool often play the Merseyside derby at Anfield and attract a big crowd, while Manchester City and Chelsea hosted each other at the Etihad and Stamford Bridge respectively last season.

London City do not have a men's club ground to fall back on, but have to have another option in case the Copperjax Community Stadium is unavailable.

This happened in March. Due to fixtures being changed, they played their home WSL fixture against Chelsea at The Den, rather than at Bromley.

This was not well received by some Millwall Lionesses fans - the club's women's team - due to the history between the two. They accused London City of "stealing" Millwall's position in the women's game, leading the EFL club to apologise.

They added they had no further plans to host London City beyond the Chelsea fixture, and would reinvest any revenue into Millwall Lionesses.

Across London, West Ham have not played a game at the London Stadium since 2019, which has been a contentious point among some players in recent years.

However, they face a unique challenge in that the club do not own the stadium and the current concession agreement in place only covers men's matches, friendlies and some youth games.

Should the women's team play there, there would need to be a large hosting charge - which is significantly higher than the men’s matches - something that the women’s budget would not be able to accommodate.

That being said, the Hammers have enjoyed a record-breaking season at the Chigwell Construction Stadium in recent history, adding to the notion that smaller grounds, played at consistently, can be vital.

Arsenal play all of their WSL games at the Emirates Stadium, along with Champions League knockout fixtures, but still play cup games and Champions League league phase matches at Meadow Park - another two-way share.

But the Gunners have honed in on their unique fan culture, setting up the 'Block by Block' initiative, consulting supporters on how the Emirates can look and feel like home for the women's team.

Different fans have been invited to attend sessions, contributing to murals, flags and music. Arsenal players have also been included.

And by far and away, they have the highest attendance in the WSL with an average of over 33,000.

But playing at the Emirates does come with logistical challenges, especially when the men’s team are also used to going deep in competitions - both teams have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season.

From the football calendar to staffing to grounds work, to have the women's team also play full-time at the Emirates would be a precarious balancing act, and is likely a key factor behind the continued use of Borehamwood.

However, three WSL teams are already full-time residents at their club's main ground. Two are newly promoted this season - Charlton at The Valley and Birmingham at St Andrew's - with Aston Villa playing all of their games at Villa Park.

Aston Villa head coach Natalia Arroyo told Sky Sports : "It's a privilege and it's still special, even if it's our every day when we play home.

"We need to do our best to excite the fans to come to us. Today it was 3,000, let's see if tomorrow it can be 3,001 and tomorrow 4,000 so that we can really create this atmosphere at Villa Park.

"If we are winning, scoring goals and playing exciting football, people will come.

"I know the club is investing in having different things to do around the game to bring people back, so what we feel we can do, we are trying to do."

Sharing the same ground does present a ‘one club’ mentality, that the women's teams are integrated into the fabric of a club and are important to its future.

Interestingly, over 50 per cent of WSL2 teams also play at their club’s main stadium.

Some might suggest that having a permanent home at the club’s main ground is the ultimate goal. It offers space for far more fans than smaller grounds, and with the right marketing and matches, can attract impressive crowds - Arsenal have proven that can happen on a regular basis.

In April, Chelsea announced they would be playing all of their WSL matches at Stamford Bridge from the 2026/27 season.

They had played all of their Champions League matches at the ground last term, but have now moved away from their Kingsmeadow home.

The ground in Kingston, south West London, was the first stadium owned solely by a women's club, and they had played there for almost a decade.

Since Chelsea moved to Kingsmeadow (2017/18) in the WSL: P80, W69 D6, L5 with an 86.3 per cent win percentage and average 2.7 points per game Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the WSL: P15, W13, D1, L1 with an 86.7 per cent win percentage and average of 2.7 points per game.

Up until November 2020, Chelsea had shared with AFC Wimbledon, before the League One club moved to Plough Lane. The Blues will now play their Champions League league phase and home domestic cup games from this season at the Dons' ground, with Kingsmeadow - which had been exclusively used for the women's team - used in other capacities.

"Even if we already as a club achieve a lot, we still have room for improvement and being able to offer the best experience for the fans, but also for the players. They want to play in the biggest stadiums. The Bridge is a really historic stadium where we created already a lot of memories."

While it is a bold statement of intent, there are certainly parallels with Arsenal, as the Blues look to cultivate the same atmosphere their rivals have done in their successful move to the Emirates.

As has been established though, a key argument for WSL teams remaining at smaller grounds is making them sell-outs and generating noisy home support.

That is something Chelsea have had at Kingsmeadow, which has given them a massive advantage. How that will translate to Stamford Bridge remains to be seen. A lot of work has to be done to make it a success.

Something that Chelsea might look to do is not opening the whole ground, but this also comes with pitfalls.

Only parts of Villa Park are used for their WSL teams and the atmosphere generated is not as intense as other stadiums.