Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall has insisted the club cannot fall into a sense of complacency following the news that more matches are set to played at the Emirates Stadium next season, refuting the notion that recent success in attendances comes free of charge.
The Gunners recently set a new record for women’s football after 60,063 people attended their Champions League semi-final second-leg against Wolfsburg, marking the largest crowd to attend a women’s club match in the country.
The match represented the eighth time this season the women’s side featured at the Emirates, with over 240,000 tickets purchased in total as attendance records were regularly smashed.
And the club announced plans earlier this month to stage five WSL matches at the men’s ground next season after only three of this season's eight arrived in the league, with clashes against Manchester United, Spurs and Chelsea switched from the women's home ground of Meadow Park.
But despite big crowds becoming a hallmark of Arsenal women’s season and within the WSL, Eidevall maintained that the club cannot “ever relax” in their bid to draw more fans to matches.
“I don’t think you can ever relax and think that things will take care of themselves,” he said. “It is the same with the performances on the pitch. I think the reason why we’ve had such good crowds and attendances this season is a combination of a team of players, the main attraction for people to come to the stadium, but it’s also the whole club.
“There are lots of people working behind the scenes with advertising, making people aware of the game. There are really good strategies of getting people through the doors and that has to continue as well.
“It’s not something that has come to the club for free, getting all those people to the Emirates and it’s not in the future either,” he added.
“Everyone needs to continue working very hard, being committed to it, and together, if we do that, I’m sure that we can get some great attendances next season but only if we work together and as hard as we did this season.”
The club are set to continue hosting all of Arsenal Women’s Champions League matches at the Emirates next season, dependent on a top-three finish from Eidevall’s side.
Arsenal currently sit third in the table level on points with Manchester City with a game in hand. Victory over Everton on Wednesday night would tighten the Gunners’ grasp on the final European place as they edge into the final two weekends of the season.
