Arsenal Move UWCL League Phase Matches Away From Emirates Stadium

European champions Arsenal will play all of their Women’s Super League games at the Emirates Stadium but have opted not to play there in the Champions League group stage.

For the first time next season, each of the eleven home matches in the league will be played at their 60,704-capacity stadium in North London, a move that the club hailed as “reaffirming N5 as the main home of Arsenal Women.”

However, the number of matches the club have proposed to stage at the Emirates Stadium has not changed since last season. Then, they committed to stage eight WSL games there, plus their three group stage matches in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, should they earn a place there through the qualification rounds.

Had they failed to qualify they would have shifted to playing all of their league matches at the Emirates Stadium. The difference is now – having won the Champions League and qualified directly into the new “League Phase” of next season’s competition – they have opted to play their more glamorous European ties at the smaller Meadow Park stadium in Borehamwood, with a capacity of just over 4,000. One of those Champions League home games will be against a top-ranked opponent – FC Barcelona, Lyon, FC Bayern or VfL Wolfsburg.

It is likely that the disappointing four-figure crowds recorded during the group stage last season at the Emirates Stadium (5,613 against Vålerenga and 9,963 against Juventus) played a major part in the club’s thinking. When a sizeable crowd was expected for the decisive group stage match against German champions FC Bayern, the club were embarrassingly forced to move the game to Borehamwood after an unforeseen stadium clash with the Arsenal men’s team.

The late night midweek kick-offs and the unpredictability of scheduling ties in a Champions League competition which offers two potential dates for each round, has made the logistics of fitting these matches in and around the men’s team commitments increasingly problematic as both teams have become more successful.

The club said the decision to play European group games at Borehamwood had been taken “following engagement and feedback from supporters, and significant investment in the facilities”. These plans will be subject to scheduling with fixtures for both the Premier League and WSL 2025/26 seasons to be confirmed later this summer. All other home games, including those in the Women’s FA Cup and League Cup will also be played at Meadow Park.

For the first time, Arsenal will introduce a full Emirates Stadium Season Ticket for the women’s team allowing supporters to reserve their seat for every WSL home game at the ground. Supporters will also have the option to purchase a ‘Six Game Bundle’, giving them opportunity to attend six select league matches at a discounted rate. The exact fixtures incorporated into this will be confirmed later this summer, after the 2025/26 WSL fixtures have been released. Both of these will go on general sale from July 4 but interested supporters can register their interest here.

The club claim they sold over 415,000 tickets over the course of last season across 23 home games in all competitions, an increase of 20% on the previous campaign. Nevertheless, despite playing more league games at the Emirates Stadium last season, average attendances fell from 29,957 during the 2023/24 campaign to 28,808.

The six matches at the Emirates Stadium in 2023/24 pulled in an average of 52,028 including a Women’s Super League all-time record attendance of 60,160 for the visit of Manchester United in February 2024. An increased nine league games at the Emirates Stadium last season produced a lower average gate of 34,110.

Overall, since their first match at the Emirates Stadium in 2007, Arsenal Women have won 24 of their 36 matches there, drawing four and losing eight. However, since coach Renée Slegers took charge of the team in October, Arsenal have increasingly turned the ground into a fortress, winning all eight of their home games in the WSL (six at the Emirates Stadium, two at Meadow Park), scoring 36 goals.

Slegers said “I’m so proud of the journey we’ve been on with our supporters this season. From Borehamwood to the Emirates, on the road to every WSL and European destination we visited, and of course all the way to Lisbon, they’ve shown up and we’ve fuelled each other to an historic season for our club.”

“For us, this is just the beginning, and bringing every WSL match to the Emirates is another step for more supporters to be part of this special journey. We’ll come back next season, with fire in our hearts, more determined, more ambitious, and more together than ever.”

A spokesperson for the Arsenal Women’s Supporters Club said “we are delighted to hear that all WSL home games will be played at Emirates Stadium next season. This allows more people than ever to experience a WSL matchday and help Arsenal to build on the success we achieved in Lisbon.”

“We are also excited that Meadow Park will still be used for cup games. We’ve experienced some great times at Meadow Park and look forward to cheering on the team from the North Bank next season.”