Chelsea manager Emma Hayes is 'absolutely certain' that women’s football has broken beyond the small stadia it currently plies its trade within and has called for “more ambition” to be applied amid mounting concerns that the women’s game is flagrantly selling itself cheap.
Hayes returned to the touchline after a six-week absence following her emergency hysterectomy in September. She watched on as her side cruised to a 3-0 WSL victory over Tottenham Hotspur at a near sold-out Stamford Bridge to extend their winning run to nine matches in all competitions and fire them to top of the table over Arsenal and Manchester United.
The atmosphere at the Bridge was electric from the off, celebrating not only Hayes' return but also the 30th birthday of Chelsea Women and a decade under Hayes, in which the Blues have claimed 11 trophies and successive league titles.
And as a blistering first half resulted in a slew of goals from Sam Kerr, Erin Cuthbert and Guro Reiten, fans only cranked up the celebratory ante and beseeched for more. Despite failing to cap off their dominant display with more goals in the second half, the crowd were duly entertained by the performance from the Blues.
And Hayes believes that the display marked just the latest episode in the rapid growth of women’s football in England and the need to facilitate that growth with monetary enterprise.
“We'd like to be here more,” Hayes said in her postmatch press conference. “I think we all know that solving the conundrum in the women's game around what do we do from small stadia, you know, is there a medium-term plan to go medium-sized stadiums before eventually everybody comes home to the large stadium? I don't know.”
“But I'm absolutely certain we're all outgrowing our small stadiums, that I'm sure off.
“I also think it's important that there is a business cost to playing," she added.
"I think one of the biggest things that perhaps we don't talk enough about is how cheap women's football is. I really believe we have to increase the overall pricing structure if we're to play more in these places because there is a cost implication of doing it.”
Chelsea currently play at Kingsmeadow and while the team have made the stadium a particularly daunting fortress for the opposition, the ticket prices are hardly eye-watering, with their upcoming Champions League group stage clash against Real Madrid costing just £9 for a general sale ticket.
“And I think the audiences are there, not for every game [here], but certainly for maybe eight games or 12 games a year. But we have to be more ambitious for ourselves. Because is it too cheap to watch women's football? I think it is, especially for the top games.”
Chelsea’s victory over Spurs at Stamford Bridge fired the reigning champions to top of the WSL table. The Blues return to action on Wednesday with their Champions League clash against Real Madrid.
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