All WSL and Championship matches to be held at main stadia for first time

Every match across the top two tiers of English women’s football will be played at the home side’s main stadium for the first time on the weekend of November 16-17.

The Amex Stadium, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Stamford Bridge, Villa Park, King Power Stadium and Goodison Park will host matches in the Women’s Super League, while Maiden Castle Sports Park, Bramall Lane, St James’ Park, the Valley and Ewood Park will hold the Women’s Championship fixtures.

It marks the first time since the Women’s Championship’s formation in 2014 that all fixtures on a matchweek have been hosted in each clubs’ main stadia.

On Saturday November 17, the Women’s Professional Game, the company responsible for running the WSL and Championship, will also be hosting a ‘ground-hop day’ in London, encouraging fans to attend the north London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (1:45pm GMT kick off) before going to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea face Manchester City (5:30pm).

WSL and Championship matches being held at main stadia has become more common each season, initially as one-off matches every year but increasingly as a regular occurrence. Arsenal and Aston Villa both announced ahead of the 2024-25 campaign that the Emirates and Villa Park would become their main homes for the coming season, while Leicester City have played all their WSL home games at the King Power Stadium since their promotion to the top flight in 2021.

The Football Association’s (FA) annual Women’s Football Weekend has traditionally been when WSL and Championship matches have been hosted en masse in main stadia, taking advantage of the international break in the men’s calendar.

Ten of the 12 Women’s Football Weekend fixtures in 2023-24 were played at main stadia, while five WSL matches and four Championship matches were across the 2022-23 Women’s Football Weekend.

Saturday 16 November 

Brighton & Hove Albion v West Ham United (American Express Stadium) – 12.30pm

Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) – 1.45pm

Chelsea v Manchester City (Stamford Bridge) – 5.30pm

Durham v London City Lionesses (Maiden Castle Sports Park) – 12pm

Sheffield United v Sunderland (Bramall Lane) – 1pm

Newcastle United v Southampton (St James’ Park) – 2pm

Charlton Athletic v Bristol City (The Valley) – 2pm

Blackburn Rovers v Portsmouth (Ewood Park) – 2pm

Sunday 17 November

Aston Villa v Crystal Palace (Villa Park) – 2pm

Leicester City v Manchester United (King Power Stadium) – 3pm

Everton v Liverpool (Goodison Park) – 3pm

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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