Breakthrough of Women's Football: Smashing Ceilings and Scoring Goals

Women’s football is becoming increasingly popular across the world. There is a growing interest in international tournaments, causing a spike in the popularity of women's football at club level. 

This growing popularity was evidenced in the 2023 Women’s World Cup final, as England’s Lionesses were narrowly defeated by Spain. In both countries, viewership records were broken. 

In the UK, the BBC announced a peak audience of 12 million viewers for the final, higher than the men’s Wimbledon final, which had a peak audience of 11.3 million. In Spain, the final attracted the highest-ever TV audience for a women’s game, peaking at 7.4 million viewers. 

To show the growth of women’s football, we’ve looked at several different factors, including attendance in the Women’s Super League, Google search data, and Instagram followings.

Arsenal’s average home attendance grew over 300% in just one season, more than any other Women's team

Following the triumph of the 2022 Women’s Euros, where England were crowned champions in front of 87,000 fans at Wembley, we wanted to see the impact this success had on the Women’s Super League attendance. We’ve looked at the average home attendance during the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons and calculated the percentage increase. 

Arsenal WFC - 332% increase in attendance

Taking the top spot is Arsenal, with a 332% increase in average home attendance. Arsenal play their games at Meadow Park, which they share with their youth teams and Boreham Wood FC. However, Arsenal played three games at the Emirates Stadium last season, attracting over 40,000 fans each time. Arsenal’s support has grown massively in recent years, and the club announced that five games will be played at the Emirates during the 2023/24 season as they look to win their first league title since 2019. 

Manchester City WFC - 275% increase in attendance

Manchester City takes second place with an increase in average home attendance of 275%. Manchester City play their games at the Academy Stadium, which is shared with the club’s youth teams, and has a maximum attendance of 7,000. When playing here, the Citizens’ highest attendance recorded was 5,200, coinciding with a 2-0 win against Chelsea. However, the highest attendance recorded over the season was in the Manchester derby, played at the City of Manchester Stadium, where more than 44,000 fans turned up to watch. 

Everton FC - 192% increase in attendance

Our top three is completed by Everton, with a 192% increase in attendance. Everton had one of the lowest average home attendances in the WSL last season, with just under 3,000. However, this figure has almost tripled compared to the previous season. This increase was partly due to the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, which attracted over 22,000 fans. When playing at their usual home stadium, Walton Hall Park, Everton’s highest attendance was against Manchester United, with just over 1,700 people in the stands.

Searches for CJ Bott increased by 20,000%, more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues.

The World Cup is an excellent opportunity for players to showcase their talents. We’ve looked into the players in the English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German leagues who have played more than 1,000 minutes for their club to find out which players had the highest increase in Google searches. 

CJ Bott - 20,082%  year-on-year increase in Google searches

With a year-on-year increase in Google searches of 20,082%, CJ Bott takes the top spot. 

Bott made New Zealand’s World Cup squad for the third consecutive tournament. Nevertheless, despite her country hosting the tournament, alongside Australia, New Zealand could not advance past the group stages, finishing third in their group. The 28-year-old plays her club football at Leicester City, where she recently signed a new contract, extending her stay until the end of the 24/25 season. 

Maëlle Lakrar - 19,186% year-on-year increase in Google searches

Maëlle Lakrar takes second place, with a year-on-year increase in Google searches of just over 19,000%. The defender made her World Cup debut in Australia in a 0-0 draw to Jamaica. In the final game of the group stages, Lakrar’s equalising goal against Panama was the first of six that France would go on to score as they secured their place in the knockout stages. 

Alba Redondo - 6,862% year-on-year increase in Google searches

Our top three is completed by Alba Redondo, with a year-on-year increase in Google searches of 6,862%. The Spanish international was on the bench for all of Spain’s group stage games. Despite this, her two goals against Zambia as a substitute were enough to prove why she should be starting. Redondo would go on to start each of Spain’s games in the knockout stages, including the final, where Spain were crowned champions. Redondo ended her first World Cup with three goals, seven appearances, and a World Cup medal.

Sampdoria Women had the biggest increase in Google searches, with an 820% year-on-year increase

Interest in international tournaments can often translate into an increased interest in the game at club level. That’s why we’ve looked into Google search data to determine the year-on-year percentage increase for clubs in the top division of England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. 

Sampdoria Women - 820% increase in Google searches

Sampdoria takes the top spot with a year-on-year increase in Google searches of 820%. Despite the 2022/23 Serie A Femminile season being the 56th of top-level women’s football in Italy, it was the first season that the league was fully professional. Sampdoria Women was founded in 2021 after buying the Serie A licence of Florentia San Gimignano SSD and finished last season in 8th place. 

Granada Femenino - 306% increase in Google searches

In second place is Granada, with a year-on-year increase in Google searches of 306%. After finishing fifth in the Primera Federacion Femenina, the second tier of women’s football in Spain, Granada secured their spot in the top flight through the playoffs, beating Deportivo 2-1 on aggregate. 

UD Granadilla Tenerife - 177% increase in Google searches

Completing our top three is UD Granadilla Tenerife with a 177% year-on-year increase in Google searches. Granadilla Tenerife has been a regular in the top division of Spanish football since they were promoted in 2015. Their highest finish was in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, where they consecutively finished in fourth place. Granadilla Tenerife finished the 2022/23 season in seventh place, with a 1-0 win away from home against Real Madrid the highlight of the season. 

Mary Earps gained 30% of her Instagram followers during the Women’s World Cup, more than any other Lioness

Mary Earps -- Mikolaj Barbanell//shutterstock

Despite falling short at the final hurdle, the Lionesses did their country proud, and the Women’s World Cup was another fantastic advert for what women’s football has to offer. To show the impact of the World Cup on attracting more fans, we looked at the number of followers gained for each player throughout the tournament, and determined what percentage of their current followers were acquired over the course of the World Cup. On average, each Lioness had gained almost 60,000 Instagram followers by the end of the World Cup. 

Mary Earps - 30.54% of followers gained in the last 30 days

England’s number one takes the top spot, gaining 30% of her followers in the last 30 days. Mary Earps was one of the key figures throughout England’s run to the final. The goalkeeper won the Golden Glove award after keeping three clean sheets and conceding just four goals during the tournament. 

Jess Carter - 22.09% of followers gained in the last 30 days

In second place, gaining 22.09% of her followers over the last month, is Jess Carter. The defender played six out of the seven games during the tournament and was a key figure in England’s solid defence, helping the team keep two clean sheets and even registering an assist. Carter plays her club football for Chelsea, who were crowned Women’s Super League winners at the end of the 2022/23 season. 

Lauren James - 20.85% of followers gained in the last 30 days

Our top three is completed by Lauren James, who gained 20.85% of her followers in the last 30 days. Lauren James’ tournament was filled with highs and lows. Her performance against China in the group stages was one of the best individual performances of the tournament, where she registered three assists and a goal in a 6-1 victory. However, in the round of 16, she was sent off for violent conduct, which meant she was suspended for the quarter-final and semi-final. 

Methodology

We used World Football to find the average home attendance in the Women’s Super League for the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons. Only clubs involved in both seasons were included. 

For our search data, we used FBref to create a seeding list of players from the top division of English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian leagues who have played more than 1,000 minutes for their club during the 2022/23 season. 

We also used FBref to create a seeding list of each of the teams in the top division of English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian leagues. We used teams that will be competing in these leagues during the 2023/24 season. 

Once we had our seeding list, we then used Keyword Planner to find the year-on-year increases in global Google searches for each player and team. 

We then used Social Blade to find the number of Instagram followers each player in the England Women’s World Cup squad had gained over the last 30 days. We then used their total Instagram followers to work out the percentage of their total that was gained over the last 30 days. This data was collected on 22/08/2023, showing figures accurate as of the 21.08.2022. Katie Robinson was removed due to incomplete data.