West Ham Women broke their club attendance record as they hosted London rivals Arsenal on Sunday evening at Chigwell Construction Stadium, with 2,832 fans turning out to watch the Hammers hold the Gunners to a plucky goalless draw.
Paul Konchesky's side started the London derby brightly and imposed plenty of threats on the counter through Honoka Hayashi, Kirsty Smith and Emma Snerle, while a penalty appeal for Dagny Brynjarsdottir being brought down in the box was contentiously waved away.
But it was Mackenzie Arnold between the sticks, along with an unassailable backline in Risa Shimizu, Grace Fisk, Hawa Cissoko and Smith, who kept a frustrated Arsenal at bay until the final whistle to earn West Ham their first-ever WSL point against the Gunners and a first league point since 11 December.
And the night's record 2,832 spectators dwarf the club’s hither-to attendance record this season of 2,104 spectators for the Hammers’ league clash against Manchester United, in which Konchesky's fell to a 2-0 defeat.
Following the rollicking success of the Lionesses’ Euro2022 campaign and a record 87,192 fans in attendance for the Wembley finale, there was much anticipation around the increase in gate receipts to be relished by women’s clubs up and down the country but particularly in the WSL.
A new league record attendance was set in September when 47,367 spectators turned out to watch Arsenal beat north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium, while other clubs have consistently set new personal records for crowds as league attendances shot up 200% over the season thus far, according to FA Director of the Women’s Professional Game Kelly Simmons.
The increase in appetite has also seen women’s clubs host matches at their corresponding men’s team’s stadiums due to an insatiable demand for tickets. West Ham’s upcoming away clash to United is set to be played at Old Trafford, where the Red Devils coolly dispatched Aston Villa 5-0 earlier in the season in front of a then-club record crowd of 30,000.
Nevertheless, clubs lower down the WSL totem pole have conspicuously failed to garner the same consistent gargantuan numbers as behemoths Arsenal, Chelsea and United. Barring West Ham’s match against United earlier in the season, the club registered an average of 1,182 spectators per match.
Indeed, West Ham have registered the second-lowest average attendance record this season at 1,336, eclipsed only by Everton’s average record of 1,069. Top four clubs Chelsea, United, City and Arsenal all boast an average attendance record of over 10,000.
Konchesky voiced his delight at the record crowd and hoped such attendances will continue as the season progresses, not least with the Conti Cup semi-final against Chelsea on Thursday.
"I said to the girls before the game, what a chance and opportunity we've got under the lights at home with the biggest crowd we've ever had," he told the club website post match. "The fans were fantastic - they really were our twelfth player tonight.
"It would be fantastic if they can all come and support us again like they did this evening. Those who watched us tonight were able to see what we are about and hopefully we can go one step further in the Conti Cup on Thursday."
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