In October, the Football Association announced new targets for crowd sizes in the women’s game by 2024, with an aim of 6,000 fans per match in the WSL and an average of 1,000 in the Championship.
Bristol City, who were relegated from the WSL in 2021, have averaged 394 fans for their nine league matches at their usual home of the High Performance Centre.
The fixture against Liverpool, however, was the second time they have played at Ashton Gate. In November, 3,053 people watched them beat Blackburn Rovers 3-0.
“We made a decision, we thought two games at Ashton Gate this season was right. We’re going to do three next year and we’re looking to build slowly,” Bristol City chief financial officer and board director Gavin Marshall said.
“We announced those games very early, went on sale very early and threw a lot of resources into promoting them, but also using the power of our sporting group.”
City women are part of a wider Bristol Sport franchise, also home to the Bristol Bears men’s and women’s rugby teams and the Bristol Flyers’ basketball teams. Being able to cross-promote the Liverpool match via their other teams has proved massively advantageous.
“We’ve really been one club and we’ve pushed that message across this season. We’ve had outstanding support from the top in terms of the men’s club.
“Nigel Pearson was there [against Liverpool], he’s attended many games, he’s been very supportive – not just attending games but through the week with training. That’s really helped.”
It was noticeable how many fans remained after the full-time whistle at Ashton Gate and how the players spent time talking to them, taking photos and signing autographs, something that is continually encouraged to get more people into the sport.
Marshall said there has been a “real step change” in engagement with the women’s team from fans, not least because of their success on the pitch – Bristol City’s tally of 39 goals is the second highest in the league.
“The team have played very attacking football, we’ve got a very young homegrown team – 50% of the squad came through our academy,” Marshall said.
“I think people really feel, more so than previous years, a real affinity with the team in terms of enjoying watching them play and feeling like they represent the community.”