Rapid rise of women’s football

AFC Bournemouth women hit four past Portishead Town as a record-breaking crowd of 6,300 watched on at the Vitality Stadium.

The rise of women’s football is prominent within Bournemouth as we saw the crowd more than doubling since the last time the Cherries played at the Vitality earlier in 2023.

This growth isn’t just something seen in Bournemouth as we’ve seen statistics show the women’s Super League attendances increasing by 200% since England’s triumph in the Euros in 2022, making women’s football one of the fastest growing sports in the UK.

The investment into the AFC Bournemouth women’s team from Bill Foley was described by goal scorer from Sunday, Gemma McGuiness, as “without a doubt the main reason for it” when asked about the rapid growth in the women’s side.

She added: “There’s a lot more that I don’t know going on in the background, it’s all the way down to the volunteers, local communities and businesses supporting the club and women in particular.”

She said “it’s about building from the ground up and looking at the academy and developing squads and insuring they’re getting the best resources and opportunities.”

Just having chances to start playing from such a young age is such a big step in improving the quality and therefore interest in women’s football.

Gemma said: “Now the option is there for younger players to see exactly what they have to do and the more this is exposed the better.”

Bournemouth fans Ted Miles and Luca Moore went to see the game against Portishead Town and shared their thoughts on giving the women’s game a chance.

Ted said: “It’s obvious to see the quality always improving in the women’s game just from looking at the bigger picture and watching world cup and super league games, the improvement is clear but coming here today is also to support the Cherries and my local club.”

Luca added: “What a start to the season the girls have had. It’s great to see and I look forward to see them climbing the leagues.”