We’ve made the Etihad feel like home, says Hemp

Lauren Hemp says Gareth Taylor’s side have made the Etihad Stadium feel like ‘home’ thanks to the sky blue faithful’s passionate support.

Manchester City return to the arena on Friday 8 November when looking horns with Tottenham Hotspur at 19:30 (UK) in what is the first of three Barclays Women’s Super League fixtures to be held there this term.

It represents our women’s team’s fourth-ever league fixture at the Etihad with the previous three, each against Manchester United, played in front of phenomenal numbers.

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A total of 31,213 witnessed a 1-0 win for the Blues in 2019 before a record 44,259 packed into the stadium for our 1-1 draw with Marc Skinner’s side in 2022.

Then, last season, just over 40,000 saw Taylor’s team record a 3-1 victory over our cross-city rivals in March.

And Hemp says City are relishing the opportunity to showcase our talents in front of fantastic supporters once again.

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“We know the amount of fans who turn up and they’re always the loudest,” she declared.

“That always makes it feel like home. Stepping out at the Etihad, we’ve done it a number of times now so people know what it’s like.

“It feels like home for everyone, and we make it our own home as well. That’s great and I feel we won’t have any trouble doing that this season.

“The support they give us is noticed by everyone. It’s incredible. When we need them, they’re always there in their thousands supporting us.

“At times when it’s coming to the end of the match and you hear the crowd behind you it pushes us on even more. Anyone wanting to come out to that game,  I advise everyone to.

“We’ll put on a good show and hopefully see as many of you there as possible. The fans mean so much to us as a Club, hopefully they can see that in the ways we try to say thank you.

“It’s a support that definitely doesn’t go unnoticed.”

So far in 2024/25, City have played our away league encounters with Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium and Anfield respectively.

Just over 41,000 supporters were in attendance in north London, meanwhile 17,484 fans witnessed our dramatic 2-1 win on Merseyside.

And Hemp believes the continued commitment to playing in large capacity stadiums is important to the growth of the women’s game.

She added: “It’s massive [to be paying in these stadiums].

“Women’s football is growing in the right direction and it has continued to grow rapidly over the last few years especially.

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“It’s so important we’re able to play stadiums like this. There’s lots of games happening at different stadiums this season of the men’s grounds. It’s great to be able to do that and long may it continue.”