THE average

attendance this sea-son across the whole of WSL1 is 1,027. That's a 30 per cent increase on last season and almost double average attendances of the previous three seasons. Those figures indicate strong growth, bearing in mind the the all-conquering Arsenal Ladies side of the preceding decade averaged gates of around 350.

The inception of the FAWSL summer league in 2011 was a major boost to the game: the facilities, infrastructure and standard of play have significantly improved. But if the game is to reality progress. Twitter and TV fans need to become regular matchday spectators.

Fuller stadia are so much more appealing to broadcasters, and broadcast sport is so much more appealing to sponsors. Gates of 1,000 will not sustain fully professional teams in the long term.