Arsenal moved top of the Women’s Super League with a 4-0 thrashing of north London rivals Tottenham in front of a record-breaking crowd for the women’s top flight in England of 47,367 at the Emirates.
The popularity of the women’s game in England received a huge boost with the Lionesses’ victory at Euro 2022 on home soil.
One of England’s heroes Beth Mead opened the scoring before the prolific Vivianne Miedema struck twice either side of Rafaelle Souza’s goal.
The crowd topped the previous record of 38,262, set in November 2019 in the reverse fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
However, in contrast to that match and some other record-breaking crowds for women’s matches in other European leagues and the Champions League, tickets at the Emirates were not given away for free.
“I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I don’t think we should compare attendance figures with giveaway tickets and sold tickets,” said Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall.
“I don’t think it’s fair when you’re doing that comparison.
“If you give away tickets, it’s something else. When you sell tickets, that’s how you run a football club.”