The English women's football league, the Women's Super League (WSL), starts this Sunday. One of his teams, Arsenal, hopes to fill the 60,000 seats at the Emirates in their match against Liverpool. On the same day, Aston Villa host Manchester United at a sold-out Villa Park, while the champions, Chelsea, make their debut against Tottenham at the majestic Stamford Bridge. If Bristol City joins in, two thirds of the day will be played in the main stadiums!
The World Cup and the great role of the Lionesses have sparked the fever for women's football in England. According to sports commentators, there are up to four teams who can challenge Chelsea for the title this year. So competition increases, public interest grows, income rises and there is more money to sign. Barcelona player and world champion Laia Codina has just arrived at Arsenal.
It is also likely that the Spanish Women's League will arouse more anticipation than in the past. Because of the world championship achieved by the national team and because the players have won a lot of sympathy with their cause against inequality and masculinity in sport. It can be taken for granted that the big teams will open their stadiums to their footballers. Real Madrid could make the jump to the new Bernabéu with the hook of its World Cup players Olga Carmona or Teresa Abelleira.
It is in this context that a paradoxical circumstance occurs today. Barça, current European champion, base of the national team, a dream team with a double planetary attendance record (91,648 and 91,553 spectators), starts the League playing its matches in a stadium, the Johan Cruyff, where only 6,000 people.
It is true that the Camp Nou is in the demolition phase and there are still no scheduled dates at the Olympic Stadium, now it is the men's section. But perhaps this wave should have been taken advantage of to start the F League in Montjuïc, where it is planned to play the important matches. It would have meant a message of firmness for the rivals and recognition for the champions. The competition this year seems fierce and you should not lower your ambition.
The club and the city have become global benchmarks in the women's football revolution due to the sold out Camp Nou, the Champions League and the screening of Alexia Putellas' double Ballon d'Or. In men's football, the franchise players who provide income to the clubs are praised. Well, the benefit of having two stars of this level, idols for young people all over the planet, is also obvious. As obvious as the risk of losing this advantage to other clubs and cities with more determination.
Because the uncertainty about the future of this Barça goes beyond capacity. The departure of the manager responsible for the virtuous cycle, Markel Zubizarreta, projects doubts that the club has not yet dispelled. In leagues like the English one, there is more money to sign and Barcelona - a ruined club - today is a showcase full of stars pending, in several cases, renewal. Not to mention the possible discomfort among some players who have seen how their management supported them late and coldly in the Rubiales case. Or that the specter of the Negreira case clouds the horizon. It's reasonable to worry.
In any case, the club cannot succumb to the temptation to slow down and disinvest or stagnate. On the contrary, it must devote even more resources to retaining and attracting talent. We are talking about budgets that are modest when compared to the magnitudes of men's football (the women's annual investment of 12 million is a fifth of what it will cost to sign the young promise Vitor Roque), but it is a very large outlay profitable in terms of prestige.
For their part, Barcelona and its institutions, which in times of reputational crisis embraced Leo Messi's Barça to promote the city brand, must continue to provide facilities so that Alexia, Aitana Bonmatí and company are references of a city innovative and progressive.
