How Arsenal Women's Is Changing Fan Culture in the WSL
With the launch of a new supporter-led project, the North London club is the blueprint for women’s sports culture in England.
If you ask anyone who got into women’s football within the last few years what club they support, they’re more than likely an Arsenal fan. After England won the Women’s European Cup for the first time in 2022, a huge surge of interest in women’s football changed the sport forever. Suddenly, 5,000 capacity stadiums and a lack of television coverage wasn’t enough for the Women’s Super League. Suddenly, everyone wanted the autographs of Alessia Russo and Leah Williamson.
Every club in England seized the opportunity, using the momentum from the Euros to grow their fanbases and ensure the moment didn’t pass them by. None so much as Arsenal, though. The North London club benefited from a large cohort of players winning the Euros, including some of the tournament’s best players in Beth Mead and Williamson, as well as decades of success behind them. However, the exponential growth of Arsenal Women’s fanbase following the summer of ‘22 was the result of years and years of building their own culture of inclusion. Anyone can be an Arsenal fan, whether they’ve been a Gunner their whole life or they just started following the club last week.
To celebrate these milestones in the club’s history, the 2025/26 season has been a testament to all the work that came before kick-off. 17,000 season tickets is a gargantuan number, and one that many women’s teams in England can only imagine. To mark the occasion, the club introduced “Block by Block,” its largest supporter-led consultation project.
The project is the beginning of a new chapter at Arsenal Women, placing the matchday experience in the fans’ hands. Consultations with fans from each block of the Emirates have been held throughout the season to make the stadium feel like home for the women’s team as much as it does for the men’s side.
In conjunction with Arsenal-supporting artists and creators, the fans have created new flags, music sets, a hand-stitched tifo and a mural dedicated to lifelong fan Maria Petri, who passed away in 2022. When spelled out, it might not seem like much, but those aspects are inherent to Arsenal Women and their dedicated fanbase, and make a huge difference on a matchday.
Farah Chowdhury, Chair of the Arsenal Women Supporters’ Club, said, “Arsenal Women’s culture didn’t start with a campaign. It started with the people who stood, sang, painted, designed, or simply showed up. ‘Block by Block’ is about giving back to that and building forward together.”
For most clubs, playing in the main stadium is a one-off experience, happening only a few times a season. Watching Manchester United Women play at Old Trafford or Liverpool Women at Anfield can often feel disengaged, with players and fans surrounded by flags and memorabilia dedicated to the men’s team. That disconnect no longer exists for Arsenal Women.
Renée Slegers, Arsenal Women’s head coach, said, “The energy, belief and connection shared between our players and our supporters is so important to what we want to achieve. We have come so far, but there are so many more memories we want to create together. Emirates Stadium is our home and we want every supporter to feel pride and connection when they come here.”
The “One Club” mentality at Arsenal has allowed them to progress at a far faster rate than their peers across the country. Investing not only financially, but culturally in the women’s team has seen them grow into one of the most prominent women’s sports teams in the world. To be relevant is one thing, but to stay relevant is another challenge in and of itself. That is where the supporter culture the club has built shines through.
You can see the passion of the fanbase every week on a matchday, and online from supporters around the world. Building a fanbase as engaged and active as Arsenal’s is not an easy task, but the work that has gone on behind the scenes for decades is finally reflected in ticket sales and sold-out stadiums.
Lifelong Arsenal fan Daphne Wilson said, “I’ve been watching the women’s team since I was young. It’s so refreshing seeing how far they have come, and I love being able to celebrate in a packed Emirates on the weekend. This truly is the best club in the league to be a fan of right now, and the effort being put in to give fans the match experience they want is amazing.”
Arsenal has proven that investment in the women’s game can only be seen as a positive. “Block by Block” is just the start for Arsenal Women’s still-growing fanbase. The club has created a blueprint for a happy, healthy and steadily increasing supporter culture. Whether or not the rest of the league is ready to catch up is the question.
