WSL’S ‘MISSED OPPORTUNITY’ AS NORTH LONDON DERBY RELEGATED TO LEAGUE ONE STADIUM
A week since Arsenal welcomed more than 56,537 fans to the Emirates against Chelsea, the decision to schedule a north London derby at the 9,271-seat Brisbane Road was surprising to say the least. It was partly vindicated by the fact this was far from a classic.
This fixture last year drew a crowd of 28,852 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Chris Eubank Jnr’s fight with Conor Benn on Saturday night meant the latest instalment of this rivalry was staged at Spurs women’s regular home stadium, which they share with League One side Leyton Orient.
Days after WSL Football unveiled new guidelines for clubs to build or upgrade venues for their women’s teams, some members of the media had to sit in seats in the ground’s empty south stand without access to plug sockets.
This season’s Women’s Super League fixtures had already been released by the time the Benn-Eubank fight was confirmed, but Tottenham had not outlined which of their home games would be staged at the club’s main stadium.
Spurs will play three matches next year at the main arena against Chelsea, Everton and Manchester United, but given the growing rivalry with Arsenal, some supporters vented their frustration.
“The Spurs fanbase is growing and the results have been really good recently, so it’s a missed opportunity not to have this match at the main ground,” said Lindsey Davy, a lifelong Spurs fan who travelled from Lincolnshire to Leyton for the game with her daughter, Zara. “The Manchester derby was at the Etihad yesterday. It seems a little unfair to prioritise boxing, especially if it was the night before and not even the same day.”
Brisbane Road at least offered a lively atmosphere – and drew the club’s largest attendance for a women’s match, 6,788 – but it failed to fuel both sides in an evenly matched contest. Arsenal had a flurry of chances, including Stina Blackstenius’s angled drive and Kyra Cooney-Cross’s whipped effort which drifted wide in the first half, before the introduction of Olivia Smith, their £1m summer signing from Liverpool, sharpened the visitors’ attack after the break.
After slipping to a 3-2 defeat against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last week and equalising late on to draw 1-1 in a controversial game against Chelsea, this was another display where Arsenal lacked a clinical edge in front of goal. “We’re not getting the wins we want and a club like Arsenal needs to win,” said Renee Slegers, the Arsenal manager. “It’s a frustrating period, but we still see enough to keep on building and there’s things we can do to turn it around for us.”
Tottenham are regular pushovers in this duel – they have won just one of their 12 matches against Arsenal – but look a different beast under new manager Martin Ho, who warned his side had more to give. “If we want more fans to come and watch our games every weekend we have to put in performances like that,” Ho said. “The fans aren’t going to ask for perfection, they’ll ask for a team that plays for the badge. These performances have to be the minimum.”
Ho was full of praise for keeper Lize Kop, who made a series of fine saves to keep her side in an increasingly frenetic contest as Spurs’ well-drilled defence resisted waves of Arsenal pressure. Alessia Russo and Mariona Caldentey skied efforts late on, but the hosts offered little going forward as the spoils were shared.
Elsewhere, Chelsea dropped points for the third time this season after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to winless Liverpool, although by avoiding defeat, the reigning league champions set a WSL record of 34 matches unbeaten.
2025-11-16T18:35:44Z
