A couple of months ago, Arsenal Women beat the mighty Barcelona Femeni to win the Champions League with one of the all-time great Arsenal performances. It was a special day in the history of our club.
There are so many good things happening on the women’s side of the club that they would never fit in one article. Wondering what to focus on for this piece, I found myself reading this typically excellent (highly recommended) post https://arseblog.news/2025/06/arsenal-women-and-emirates-stadium-is-a-significant-success-story/ from the inimitable Tim Stillman. He has done so much to report on the Arsenal women’s team, and his huge efforts (and the wonderful quality of his output) have enabled me to engage and to grow my own fandom, so it is only right to say at the outset a huge thank you to him and to everyone at Arseblog who has contributed to what I consider (from my limited knowledge) to be the best coverage of a women’s team in the country.
So, having acknowledged that I am standing on the shoulders of giants, and that so many great pieces have already been written about our recent success, I am simply going to offer a personal view of how my relationship to our women’s team has developed, and hope I turn up some interesting nuggets along the way.
The Times, They Are A-Changin’
When I was a kid, I knew nothing about ‘Arsenal Ladies’, as they began. Gradually, although I could not quite say when, I became aware that we had a women’s team and that they were the best. I was glad of that, and wished Vic Akers’ side well, but took little further interest. Kelly Smith was probably the first player I could actually have named, even recognised. By the time we won our first Champions League, in 2007, I was interested enough to check the BBC website as the second leg of the final played out. After the men’s team had lost their own final the year before, I liked the idea of the women scooping up some of the glory we had missed out on. I was proud that we had such a good women’s team and wanted them to win. But I never actually watched them play. Unless you went to the games, it wasn’t an option.
Things kept evolving. The world kept changing. More money was invested in women’s football; still a fraction of the men’s game, but enough to provide some security to players who could start to take football seriously as a profession. The standard of play went up and up. A few years ago, The Arsenal, always at the forefront of the women’s game, began to play a few matches at the Emirates. I was interested and went along when I could.
The first time I saw Arsenal Women play their counterparts from Barcelona was in December 2021 at the Emirates Stadium. I had taken along a female friend of mine (Leyton Orient fan) who has played the game in local leagues for over twenty years and who I knew would enjoy the experience and appreciate the football. In the end however, very little of the football that we both ended up admiring so much came from the Arsenal.
Instead, Barcelona produced a masterclass, running away 4-0 winners as we chased their shadows all evening. As we left the stadium, my friend had seen enough from the Spanish side to opine “Well, they’re a bit good.” Indeed, they were. We had catching up to do.
Apparently, there were 12,232 fans in attendance to witness that dismantling of a decent Arsenal team. That felt like a pretty good turnout but only six months later stadiums were full up and down the country as we were swept away by the Lionesses, who triumphed in Euro 2022 to bring football home. Chloe Kelly’s winning goal and iconic celebration was a moment of pure sporting adrenaline that was roared on by record numbers of viewers. Women’s football had arrived. The public cared.
Arsenal, as always, showed the way, capitalising on the mood in England to pull thousands to the Emirates on matchdays. I went when I could, and I loved it. But we were no longer the pre-eminent team, our dominance broken by richer clubs in variant shades of blue.
Cut to Lisbon. Two months ago, we returned to the pinnacle of the women’s game. In a remarkable fifteen game campaign, we overcame Europe’s best to win the Champions League for a second time. This time the final was broadcast live around the world. I’d spent the season watching the players, I knew the team, how we played, how tough the opposition were. And I knew that we were The Arsenal and that no group of players could do more justice to what that means than those that took to the field that day. I was already proud of them before a ball was kicked, but then something special happened.
I felt that game. It mattered. I kicked every ball and every nerve in my body was jangling. We stood firm. We played some good stuff. We scored a goal. I went nuts. And then, after an eternity, the final whistle went, and I found tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, and I had to keep pumping my first and shouting ‘YES. YEEEESSSS!’ just to let some of the emotion out. This was my team, and we had won.
Winning is a funny thing in football. Most teams don’t win trophies, and it isn’t what matters most to fans, despite the impression social media gives. Of course, we want to win, but only a few teams have a realistic chance of winning their league; the rest just try to get through a season without a relegation scrap. Winning trophies is not a prerequisite for our support.
We all want different things from our teams, but I think a common thread is that we want to care, and that means that we want our teams to do things worth caring about. For some, that means simply how well they play or how successful they are. Fans may be willing to ignore all sorts of difficult questions if their team is winning. You don’t have to look far in the men’s game to find examples of that.
But, for others, we want teams we can connect with. People who represent values that align with our own. We want to be proud of them. For me, that is important. However, there is no doubt that winning matters. When your team wins on the biggest stages it provides validation for how you feel about them. This is professional sport, and it is only when you win that everyone else pays attention to what a special group you are. The good qualities that fans see every week become visible to the wider public, the plaudits flood in and the good times roll.
I have never previously felt the same level of intense emotion at a women’s game as I did that CL final victory. It surpassed even the Lioness’ triumph. It was up there with the best days of the Wenger years. You cannot fake that feeling and it doesn’t come along often. It is the high point in the life of a fan, the rush we dream about, an intoxicating mix of elation and vindication. That performance gave me the ultimate footballing fix, and I loved it. It will go down with Anfield ’89 as a game when every man and his dog had written us off and yet, against all the odds, we believed, we fought, we won.
It is an experience that I have thought about often in the time since, surprised by how deeply I felt it. It marked an overt realisation that something has happened that I thought was impossible – I care about another team in the same way that I care about Arsenal. Except, of course, that team is Arsenal too!
What it means to support the club has shifted for me. In a way that I cannot neither fake nor deny, I have become a fan of the Arsenal women in their own right.
Even after a season of watching every game I could, it is still new to me to recognise how much I care, how seriously invested I am. I can also see that I support the two teams in subtly different ways, although in a sense, I find the entwined strands of my support incredibly complimentary of each other. I am fulfilled in a slightly different way by both teams and the way I engage with them, and I am getting even more from my Arsenal fandom. And I am very glad and grateful for that.
It’s About The People
For the second part of this piece, I’d like to look at some of what makes Arsenal women so special, and for me it is the community of fans that I want to highlight.
If you have been lucky enough to get to the Emirates for a women’s game and a men’s game any time recently then you will have had no trouble recognising the different vibes. The women’s team has a hardcore following of fans who travel home and away to games, sing vociferously and have songs for every player. But most of the fans on an Emirates Stadium matchday don’t know many of the words. Me included!
The atmosphere is far more chilled out than at men’s games. There are more kids around, and there is often a sense of celebration in the air; a different crowd bring a different vibe. I like to think that Arsenal is always a welcoming place on a matchday, whichever team is playing, but there is no doubting that the women’s games have an overt air of inclusion that extends to people of all ages, genders, sexualities, races, religions and any other group you can think of. Seeing all these people come together for the Arsenal is pretty special, and if you haven’t been then I can’t recommend it enough.
Inside the stadium, the atmosphere is quieter. Lots of people chat to each other as they watch the game, perhaps more like the crowds at cricket or another slower game, pausing to cheer when there is some action, but not necessarily generating energy for the team to feed off of in the same way. There is a sense of encouragement and goodwill, rather than the vociferous (potentially alcohol enhanced) baying and chanting that crackles through the best men’s games. It’s probably less natural to start a chant about the onanistic activities of the officials when you’re surrounded by seven-year-olds who, quite literally, don’t know the words. The referee’s a what, daddy?
However, when The Arsenal score and ‘Freed From Desire’ plays out in the stadium the whole place starts dancing and cheering, scarves get swung, and it is hard to get the smile off your face. It’s pretty special. Na na na na na na na, na na na, na na!
I have another friend who has never been a football fan but over the years my Arsenal fanaticism has intrigued her and gradually drawn her in. She still is not bothered about watching the men’s team, even if she is pleased when they win, but she has started making it a habit to attend women’s games because it is such a good afternoon out. This season, she took a ragtag crew of workmates, friends and even her mum to watch us beat Spurs 5-0. None of them had any allegiance to Arsenal, none of them had even been to a live football match before, but they all went, and they all had a brilliant day. Even from afar, I was so chuffed about this. This sort of thing is simply not possible at a men’s game.
Even non-fans are turning up and starting to see Arsenal as a positive and inspirational institution. Which is exactly what we are. The Arsenal Foundation is incredible, the club do so much leading charity and community work, and the women’s team is plugged right into the heart of that. My friend gets updates from the Gay Gooners Instagram account and it’s a simple way to be part of a growing community, all brought together by football and The Arsenal. How good is that?
The availability of tickets and the craic on offer is drawing and engaging a whole new set of people who would not have access to tickets for the men’s games and who probably wouldn’t want them anyway. Something new and exciting is developing on matchdays at the Emirates. There is an energy about the women’s team that is joyful and vibrant but based on the highest standards of professionalism and quality within the entire staff. They are a special group, led by a special manager and backed by the club. And they are drawing in new fans and old to experience football in a way that is fresh, energised and downright fun.
The football played by the team is fantastic, top players all playing for each other, and they are great to watch. I see them on TV far more than at the stadium, but you can still hear the travelling gooners regularly out sing the home fans. Even if you live on the other side of the world, you can feel the energy the team and the fans transmit, the bond between them somehow more intimate than in the men’s game.
I shall be cheering on Rene Slegers’ team next year, I cannot wait to see how we do in our efforts to bring home the WSL after too many years. And I’ll be thrilled to see us defend our European crown.
There were 10,000 people outside the Emirates to see the Champions League trophy hoisted, against the backdrop of a banner featuring the last team to do it, which rightfully adorns the side of the stadium. There are many more fans around the world who support from afar, inspired by what this team and this club stand for.
Even as Champions of Europe, this still feels like the start of the journey.
Whatever the final destination, I can’t wait to be along for the ride, and I can’t wait to share it with you all.
Until next time, ‘holics.
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GSD
I’m so glad we asked you to cover this subject . You’ve done a wonderful job . I have followed the ladies with increasing interest although I’ve only been to one ladies game. It was the ladies NLD at the Toilet Bowl just before Covid . I went with my daughter and the grandkids . I warned them not to wear any colours and to be very circumspect if Arsenal scored . The atmosphere was actually extremely friendly- Gooners and Spuds together and exchanging banter and having fun. It was brilliant.
The football was excellent and I made a note to watch a game at the Emirates . I’ve tended to do that on the box but I would certainly like to go more often . I have many friends who have started going to games so they can take their children to watch Arsenal and they’ve become regulars. And there is little conning of the ref and attempts to get players booked . And we have a terrific team – we are European champions you know ! Their games really matter to me .
Thanks Dino, that’s a great piece and really captures the way the game has grown over the last few years.
That was a heartwarming read, Dino. Bravo.
One club, two teams is well put.
I saw Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo have been nominated for the PFA Player of the Year awards so well done to them individually too.
I noticed Declan Rice was nominated on the mens side and must admit I wouldn’t have given him the award even at Arsenal 😄 but of course now I hope he wins! Difficult to see Salah not getting it though.
Not much other news on The Arsenal front though, and we might be in for more tumbleweed until next week.
Great stuff, GSD! A real joy to read this article.
Thanks for a very enjoyable read, GSD. I think many of the regular ‘Holics are following your trajectory but most haven’t progressed as far as you clearly have. The Arsenal Women have been great to watch this season and I got the opportunity to see them live against Liverpool, thanks to Ollie. I hear that all their home games will be played at the Emirates next season so there will be plenty more opportunities. Their run in the WCL was inspirational Davina v Goliath stuff and their triumph in the final will no doubt boost attendances even further. Here’s to another superb season!
One question. Why was their name was changed from ‘Ladies’ to ‘Women’? Did we sign a right scrubber?
bath@7: https://www.arsenal.com/news/important-update-our-womens-team
Welcome to the modern world, over hyped though it may be…
Wonderful piece Dino. I have revelled in the women’s team successes and have been to a couple of games. Separately my daughter (living in London) goes regularly and loves it. Quite apart from the football, one of my favourite moments of the season was Katie McCabe reprising LJW in the post CL celebrations!
In other news, Ornstein is reporting that we are close to signing Brentford’s Christian Norgaard to add depth to our midfield as Partey will be leaving on a free (and Jorghino has already left). We are all expecting Zubimendi on July 1. This strikes me as a very good deal. Prem experienced player to back up Rice, Zubi, Merino et al.
https://x.com/david_ornstein/status/1937813801857913136?s=61&t=cVFjCyGkt4y-Ne45LtfqkQ
Looks like a deal to sign Norgaard is complete which suggests Partey will definitely be leaving . A PL hardened midfielder for £9million basic is a decent coup and I’ve always felt he was a very competitive midfielder .
Kepa and Zubi are also sorted so we can now concentrate on other areas. Apparently some people are suggesting we need a striker ? Surely not ! 😀
It’s good to see a couple of our old boys, Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Omari Hutchinson, in the England squad that has reached the U-21 Euros final, alongside, of course, current Gooner Ethan Nwaneri. BNC is at Genoa in Serie A and Hutchinson with Ipswich, at least for now. It is difficult to argue that they would be in Arteta’s starting XI if they had stayed.
Looks like Norgaard will be joining. I honestly haven’t thought about him much but as an experienced PL midfield anchor he seems a useful addition to the squad especially as TP5 is by all accounts leaving. I doubt he is at Partey’s level, more a Moneny type I guess
or perhaps even his legendary countryman John Jensen…..once of this parish and now, when I just googled him, still young at 60 years old.
Matt,
I think you will find Norgaard provides much better value than John Jensen! Although we did win some trophies when he was at the club. I also expect him to be at a slightly higher level than Elneny wh9 did serve us well. With a midfield roster of Rice , Zubimendi, Merino and Havertz (and MLS possibly) we have to e realistic about what we need in back-up terms and what we can pay. The fee looks very reasonable albeit he is 31 .
I don’t know many Brentford fans but a Gooner who lives close to the ground and sees them a lot texted that he was ‘ brilliant’. That seems slightly OTT but encouraging
Cheers all. I really enjoyed writing that. I’m so proud of the team and the club. Let’s hope we can win another league title soon. Its been too long!
The same thing is true for the men!
I’m more than happy with Norgaard. Very sensible business. Ditto Kepa. Zubimendi is fantastic business. Big Gabi and now MLS have signed new deals. So far, we’re having an excellent window. Obviously, we need a couple more big incomings (LW and striker) but I’m sure we’ll get them.
Personally, I’m heavily in favour of Sesko. Gyokeres did not score a single header last season, which is a huge red flag for me. He’s a good finisher and I expect he’ll continue to score goals at his new club but I don’t see how he’d fit into our team. 15 goals from the new guy next year would be plenty, so I’d rather go for someone with world class potential who might improve on that total every year. Anyway, I’ll back either of them or anyone else we end up signing, but I wanted to put that on the record!
I see Norgaard as more of a replacement for Jorginho than Partey. Zubimendi will be that.
https://www.arsenal.com/news/myles-lewis-skelly-signs-new-contract
I love him.
Bravo for your excellently personalized account of the Arsenal women’s upward trajectory, GSD. Give the women a bigger international TV contract and even I may get to see them play on occasion!
Thank you GSD for a worthy recapitulation of a memorable season for the Arsenal women’s team.
@bt8: DAZN US streams much of the Women’s CL live and free. You can catch them on the DAZN YouTube channel as well.
Sky will have cameras in the dressing rooms and in-game interviews with subbed players next season. PL TV coverage is becoming increasingly American. It will be a locker room, not a dressing room, and a sideline, not a touchline, before we know it. And who then will remember why the touchline is called the touchline?
Ned, this has been the case in France for decades (canal+ brought that I think), so not sure Americanism is involved there, although….).
Remember you’re live on air. So how do you feel about being substituted? Fuck off and leave me alone.
@13 better than John Jensen!! Surely not 🙂 the donkey’s donkey.
Ollie@20: I did not know that. Do they work well?
The FT’s Simon Kuper has an interview with Ian Graham, ‘Pool’s former director of research, about the future of data analysis in football. One reveal is that his team persuaded Klopp to change his mind about signing Julian Brandt and to buy Mo Salah instead, but not about buying Darwin Nunez instead of Alexander Isak:
https://www.ft.com/content/c8b3bba3-6051-43eb-b176-6cefa4d9b9f5
The other reveal is that data analysis is much less used in the PL than one imagines.
I am so used to it I hardly pay attention now, so I guess yes, Ned.
Obviously it’s not going to be full on ‘interviews’ like post-match, just a quick question or two.
Judging from some reactions, you get the impression some people expect players/managers going to have in-depths long interviews during matches or at half-time.
As for dressing room stuff, it is more rare though, but I expect the same (I may be wrong), for it to be just occasional and obviously vetted by clubs/managers. Also I think over here it has been essentially post-match, not sure I have seen much half-time dressing room footage, to be fair.
‘Having access’ doesn’t mean ‘anything goes’.
Ollie@25: Intruiguing. Sky says cameras will be banned from dressing rooms during team talks, although I can think of one or two managers whose half-time team talks might be quite entertaining, if less so for those on the end of them.
Excellent piece. All you “forgot” to mention is that you do support the Women whenever you are able, though you have not seen them since their last match v ManU at the Emirates with your Dad and your Sister at your side to cheer them on.
Ned & Ollie — if I may, I think the attempt to create more and more sensational moments of throwaway opinions is very much in tune with our times, and the prevalent cultural modalities, including the mass addiction to the dopamine hits of social media.
More and more people spend countless hours watching other people explaining their movies for them in a few minutes of extreme opinions so that they can form opinions without having to actually spend a couple of hours of concentrated cognitive attention; what a football manager has said in interview generates 100 times more internet traffic than a cogent tactical analysis of the game; entrenched geopolitical opinions are formed based on some comedian’s clever quip.
Maybe the deep existential fear of being rendered irrelevant to ourselves, another predominant thought that circulates in the subterranean tunnels of our culture, by technologies like generative AI stems from a vague recognition of the fragility and gullibility of our own minds.
Millions waiting salivatingly for a moment of indiscretion from a tiring and disappointed player was always inevitable. We, the dying breed, keep waiting in inarticulate hope (packaged safely in humor, derision, knowing cynicism) that something or someone will reverse these trends, but the proverbial genie is out of the bottle …
Dr F@28: Sadly, you are right. And not just out of the bottle, but livestreaming on TikTok…
GSD – a great piece of writing and a very enjoyable read.
I’m going to be completely honest here and say that until this season I have taken little or no interest in the women’s game, and that’s because my memories of it at Boreham Wood several years ago are of a slow game played in acres of space that failed to live up to the men’s game in any way.
I have watched the ladies on TV several times this past season though and I have to say it has changed beyond all recognition. I got quite involved in a couple of WSL games and a couple of CL ties although I missed the final ! Sadly !
I really like your evaluation of what the women’s game, the crowds, the players and staff are all about. The basic qualities of the people. They are a likeable bunch and that definitely enhances the pleasure of them winning. My interest is still at a very early stage. But growing. Cheers !
Ned, will the TV cameras be in the women’s changing rooms too 🤣🤞🏻
Trev@31: Tsk! Tsk!
>>>>>>>