Barriers Broken?
In the second leg of the UEFA Women’s Champions League between Barcelona and Real Madrid, the women’s game was taken to new heights. Camp Nou shattered the record that was originally held by the famous 1999 World Cup Final when the USWNT announced their arrival to the world. 91,553 people came out to watch FC Barcelona Femení put on a show in the second half, demonstrating that the women’s game is evolving on the surface.
C/O: Sky Sports/Getty Images
Just seeing this many people come out and support women’s soccer is truly miraculous. These attendance numbers obliterated the past record for a women’s club soccer game in 2019. In March of 2019, 60,739 people attended the Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona match at the Wanda Metropolitano. The game had all the fireworks that a Champions League match would. Real Madrid had lost the first leg 3-1, but came out and secured a 2-1 lead to cut the aggregate to just one goal. Spanish international Claudia Zornoza netted an absolute cracker of a goal from near half field, catching goalkeeper Sandra Pañosoff sleeping off her line.
FC Barcelona Femení would go on to use its relentless attack to score four unanswered goals, and advance to the Champions League semifinal against Wolfsburg. Manager Jonatan Giráldez Costas and company are searching for their second straight Champions League title. It could become just the sixth team to win the largest competition in club football more than one time.
Most largely attended women’s football matches are international matches. Five out of the seven largest crowds for a women’s football match are international contests, including four that featured the USWNT. This is a huge step in the right direction for a sport that many chose to block out or ignore. Despite this historic attendance, the problems of the popularity and coverage of women’s football are still present. The average attendance for a Women’s Super League match in England is about 2,282 per match, but for a men’s Premier League match it is more than 17 times of a match in the WSL would be at 39,597.
C/O: Getty Images
This unforgettable Champions League match is just blocking the true problems that this sport encounters each day. In reality, people will only remember the attendance numbers and the people that showed out at Camp Nou on March 30, 2022. There will be no analysis of how women’s football is doing in terms of attendance on a day-to-day basis. The culture in our society needs to change into one that is more inclusive in order to embrace all sports for not one but both genders. How could 17 times more people attend a men’s sporting event than a women’s match? The excuses are abundant, but the answers in reality are non-existent. Every historic women’s sporting breakthrough, while it is no doubt a positive, will always hide the true reality of what life actually is.
It is truly magnificent to see these Barcelona women change the narrative of women’s soccer. The evolution of the sport in the past two or three seasons around Europe has much to do with Barcelona. While this record-setting game in retrospect looks groundbreaking, will it actually change the culture of our society today of only covering, and following the men’s version of that sport? The NWSL, WSL, and W-League still struggle in the attendance category of things, and after this Barcelona, Real Madrid spectacle, an outsider may think there are limited to no problems, but in real life this match only emphasizes them.
People from all over the soccer world have tunnel vision when it comes to the game. Their club’s men’s team is always their number one focus, and the women’s team is virtually an afterthought. Attendance as a whole matters, support is significant, and women’s teams from around the world need to be given more attention than they are currently. Barcelona continues to be the trailblazers in expanding the popularity of women’s football, but there is still so much work to be done if any sort of equality wants to be reached in the near future.
The biggest flaw in today’s society is trying to compare the men’s game to the women’s game. They are both entirely different in their own right. When people finally embrace the differences, then the women’s game will soar to new heights. The acknowledgment of the game is no question improving. In a study done by several professors in the UK including Keith Perry, they state, “Whereas women’s sport has been previously neglected by the media, we have provided some evidence of change in this regard. As demonstrated here, the media are now reporting on a variety of aspects of women’s football and, significantly, on women’s football when the sport is not being played.” The intention and improvement within the sport are slowly developing, but the work to be done to reach the desired point is far greater than many perceive it to be be.
