‘Immensely proud’: the years of work behind sold-out Women’s FA Cup final

T he fervour and excitement of the crowds milling around a packed Olympic Way. The music from Boxpark Wembley reverberating around as fans of all ages gather in the fan zones and beyond, full of anticipation for the 90 minutes ahead. These scenes, rare less than a decade ago, are now customary in women’s football as the sport continues to go from strength to strength.

Another landmark will be reached, another record broken with Sunday’s Women’s FA Cup final. For the third time this season, Wembley will be sold out for a women’s game. Chelsea and Manchester United will walk out in front of about 90,000 fans, almost double the previous record for the final, set last year.

This feat comes a year ahead of the target set by the Football Association in 2020. “We are immensely proud to have achieved this sell-out,” says Marzena Bogdanowicz, the FA’s head of marketing for women’s football. “[It’s been] a team effort across the whole of the FA and also the two finalists, who have showcased the importance of the fixture and the occasion to their fans.”

Building such an audience has not happened overnight. It is the result of years of work done both at FA and club level to understand the best strategy to market the sport. Since bringing the final to Wembley in 2015, attendances have been building, helped by England’s success on the international stage.

“A home Euros with sold-out matches, even before the tournament began, allowed us to build from a base of some previous successes,” says Bogdanowicz. “The incredible achievement of the Lionesses was then a major catalyst in the incredible interest we are currently seeing.

“We were confident internally that we’d see a shift in perception and engagement following the tournament