SG Adventures: A journey around the WSL episode 1
“Champions of Europe/ The only in the land/ We’ll sing it in the North Bank/ And through to the East Stand!”
Sunday marked the start of a new series for the Sports Gazette. Over the next year, writers Julia and Laura will visit a home game for every WSL team. What a cracker to get us going as Arsenal beat Chelsea 4-1 in front of a record-breaking crowd of 59,042 at the Emirates.
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Festivities began at The Coronet pub at 10 AM. The early kick-off wasn’t going to slow the indulging of Arsenal – and a handful of Chelsea – fans. Once Arsenal and Chelsea chants started around 11:15 AM, it was time for the supporters to make the short walk to the stadium. Even the rain could not dampen the spirits of these fans.
The Arsenal Women’s Supporters group arrived at the stadium about an hour before kick-off, so the lines were almost nonexistent. However, as kick-off came and went, the stadium was only about a third full.
A nearby fan mentioned the large back-logs of people stuck in queue at the entrances. It took until around the 15th minute for the stadium to fill completely – at which point the game was already tied 1-1.
Besides this slight hiccup, it was an afternoon to leave the Arsenal fans buzzing.
Following the early exchange of goals, it was Arsenal’s superior pressing and tenacity that left the hosts the more dominant of teams in the first-half.
It was a dominance that paid off as Beth Mead, Amanda Ilestedt and Alessia Russo put Arsenal 3-1 up at the break. A penalty in the second-half rounded off the Gunners’ shock routing of Chelsea at 4-1.
Gooners we ❤️ you!!! What a performance!!! pic.twitter.com/Eoqr1iSqGt
— Arsenal Women Supporters Club (@ArsenalWomenSC) December 10, 2023
There was plenty for the Arsenal fans to celebrate. And celebrate they did, with rousing stadium chants of ‘Ars-en-al! Ars-en-al!’ and an ‘atmosphere block’ that could be heard throughout.
The full Chelsea away end, meanwhile, contributed to the atmosphere with some strong booing of Katie McCabe, but were quickly drowned out by the retaliatory cheers of the home crowd.
The newbie neutral perspective
After an hour-long journey on the Overground and a bus, I (Julia) walked into The Coronet. I was struck by how lively the atmosphere was despite the fact that it was only about 10:15 AM on a Sunday. Not only was this my first ever supporters group gathering, it was also my first WSL game. What a first game to choose – it was the best sporting atmosphere I’ve been in for quite some time.
I grabbed a drink and started chatting with as many groups as possible. A common theme was how quickly the supporters group grew and how it’s only getting bigger and better. Many only started attending women’s games in the past year or two – with some originally attending pregame gatherings alone but finding fast friends who they now see week in and week out.
Multiple groups mentioned attending almost every home and away match – even someone who lives in the Netherlands! Now that’s some impressive commitment.
The thing that sticks with me most is how many fans mentioned that the Arsenal Women Supporters Club “feels like a family” and that it’s “so much more than just 90 minutes.” What positive sentiments from men and women football fans to juxtapose the onslaught of sexism on Twitter this past week.
Despite not being an Arsenal (or Chelsea) fan, I find myself wanting to go back. What a rare pocket of society to find such inclusiveness – in a pub no less! It’s just a large group of friends talking about football. There’s really nothing better.
The red and white through and through perspective
I found my way into football through Arsenal Women (then Ladies) back in 2007, watching the FA Cup Final between the Gunners and Charlton Athletic. As such, I make no claim to have approached this game as a neutral.
It was somewhat poetic, then, that the game we start this series with should end 4-1 to the Arsenal, just as that Cup Final had 16 years ago, when I was five.
The buzz, however, was no different. It could have been the enormity of the challenge posed by four-time WSL winners, Chelsea, or just going back to experience the atmosphere that has been slowly nourished and sustained at Arsenal.
The game did, however, mark my first ‘fan meet-up’ and it did not disappoint. A whole pub was awash with red shirts and instead of reading ‘Saka 7’ or ‘Saliba 2’ on their backs’, they read ‘Miedema 11’ and ‘Russo 23’.
Instead of ‘Saka and Emile Smith-Roowwweee’ ringing around the venue, it was chants of ‘We’ve got McCabe’ that filled the air.
It might have been five-year-old Laura’s heaven. Hearing the stadium fill with ‘North London Forever before Beth Mead ran out in red and white was certainly 21-year-old Laura’s heaven.
Having attended Champions League matches against Barcelona, Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich over the past couple of years where each match at the Emirates grew fuller and fuller, to see 59,000 at the ground was proof of the enduring progress.
“We worked with the club to create a section in Block 2 and they actually came up with the name ‘The Atmosphere Section’. That’s where a lot of the supporters club and Red and White group sit and there is not a moment of silence, the singing never stops.
The atmosphere is great and we’re basically behind the dugout. I know Jonas [Eidevall] has said in interviews about the supporters being like having an extra player,” Arsenal Women Supporters Club secretary Rachel reported.
The ‘Atmosphere Section’ made sure chanting was continuous throughout the match and Arsenal certainly benefited from a ‘12th man’.
Yelling ‘Get in!’ in reaction to a goal when I watched Arsenal back in 2012 at Carlton Town’s 2,000 capacity stadium would have got you noticed. Celebrating on Sunday, I could barely hear my own voice above the roar of the crowd.
To be an unashamedly passionate supporter of Arsenal Women’s Football Club was totally joyous. As any football fan will attest, to be able to do so in the company of 56,000 others all there for the same reason was liberating.
A fanbase that has got it right, long may the noise and crowds continue to grow. Come on you Gunners.
