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The screen shows the number of spectators who went through the turnstiles.
A milestone for women's football

A milestone for women's football

More than 60,000 spectators packed into the Wanda Metropolitano stadium to watch the Atlético-Barcelona game, establishing a new world record

AMADOR GÓMEZ

Friday, 22 March 2019, 15:51

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There are still many steps that need to be taken to bring women's sport in line with men's, but progress is happening quickly. Women's football in particular has a growing following, so much so, that last Sunday 17 March more than 60,000 people went to watch the Atlético de Madrid game against Barcelona, setting a new world record crowd for a women's club football game.

Admission to Atlético's Wanda Metropolitano stadium was free to season ticket holders, and tickets for the general public ranged from five to 15 euros. This helped fill 60,739 of the 67,829 seats in the stadium. Fans witnessed a great game although victory went to the visitors as Barcelona won 0-2. The real triumph, though, was for women's football.

In January, 48,121 fans flocked to San Mamés to watch the quarter-final match of the Copa de la Reina (Queen's Cup) between Athletic Club Bilbao and Atlético de Madrid, setting the previous record.

With six matchdays left of the championship, affordable ticket prices and mounting excitement led to the match attracting so many spectators.

It's taken nearly a hundred years for women's football to start attracting crowds to beat a staggering record set in Liverpool in 1920. Back then 53,000 people packed into Goodison Park to watch Dick Kerr's Ladies play against St Helen's Ladies.

The record of number of spectators to watch a women's football match in the World Cup was set in 1999 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, when more than 90,000 people watched China and the USA battle it out in the final.

In October 2006 Atlético and Barcelona women's teams met for the first time, with only 400 fans. Almost 13 years later a world record has been broken and women's sport is well on its way into the limelight.

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