Remember 2024: A year packed with women's football
- Gaby Harman-Craddock
- Dec 30, 2024
- 5 min read
By Gaby Harman-Craddock (30/12/2024)
As 2024 reaches its final minutes, we want to reflect on the key moments from the
women’s game. This year, we have been lucky enough to see the growth of women’s football continue exponentially and, here at Constancy, it is our goal to help this continue. Trophies have been lifted, and records have been broken; here are our top picks for the women’s football highlights of 2024!
Attendance Records
When Arsenal hosted Manchester United at home at the start of the year, a
whopping 60,160 fans showed up to watch and support the game. The Gunners
have to be commemorated for their commitment to uplifting their women’s team.
Before the start of the 24/25 season, the club announced that even more of their
home games will be played at the Emirates Stadium. This is a brilliant signifier of how much the support for the game has grown. The team appears to have outgrown their place in Meadow Park, which has a capacity of 4,500. No matter who you supported, when it was announced the Gunners fixture against the Red Devils had set a new record for attendance at a WSL game, fans, were delighted to see the number of people going to games on the up.
Manchester United and their trip to Wembley
Manchester United Women celebrated their first ever FA Cup win at Wembley this
spring, their first silverware since winning the Championship back in 2019. A wonder strike from number 7 Ella Toone opened the scoring at the end of the first half. Rachel Williams then kicked off the second half with a goal, before Lucía García scored 2 goals within 20 minutes with the match finishing 4-0 against Tottenham Hotspur.
The celebrations began for the Reds, with captain (Before she departed the club joining the NWSL in the summer) Katie Zelem lifting the trophy in front of 76,000 fans. It was manager Marc Skinner’s first trophy with United and, despite doubts from fans, he told the BBC that the win had “to be the impetus and
springboard for us to know that we can deliver success for this fantastic club.”
Chelsea and their 7th WSL title
At a sunny Old Trafford, Emma Hayes’ Chelsea side lifted the 23/24 season WSL
trophy. It was their 7th ever league win, and their 5th in a row. Hayes’ swansong to her incredibly successful and dominant WSL side before jetting off to coach the USNWT. The Blues’ world record-breaking January signing Mayra Ramirez had a hand in all many of the goals during the 6-0 win and has continued to
demonstrate her value as a player to the team. The match also waved goodbye to
club legends Fran Kirby and Maren Mjelde , the only way the Blues know how to, by lifting a trophy with game-changing coach Hayes.
Barcelona: Dominating the Champions League
Barcelona’s nail-biting face off with previous winners Lyon saw them crowned 23/24 Champions League winners for the second year in a row. World-renowned Alexia Putellas was brought off the bench as a late substitute and secured her team’s 2-0 victory in added time.
A record crowd of over 50,000 fans attended the final in Bilbao, with 40,000 of those estimated to have been supporting the eventual winners. Despite their global dominance, this was no easy feat for the Spanish side, as Lyon had pipped them to the post in 2 previous Champions League finals, once in 2019 and again in 2022. One of the victors’ star players, Bonmatí was named player of the season also her second consecutive year with 6 goals and 6 assists throughout the campaign.
Qualifying for Euro 2025
This summer, the Lionesses secured their place in the 2025 Women’s Euros in
Switzerland. The current title holders fought their way out of the “group of death”,
which included some of the world’s best teams such as France and Sweden. Sarina Wiegman’s side drew 0-0 when playing Sweden away, earning the 1 point that meant they qualified from their group, narrowly avoiding the play-offs. The Lionesses did not perform as expected throughout these qualifiers, as reigning champions, but nevertheless, England will be in Switzerland next summer to try and defend their title.
We also witnessed some history during these qualifiers. The world witnessed an incredible moment when Wales qualified for their first ever international tournament. Head coach Rhian Wilkinson said, “This team found a way, [and] they never broke for each other, they stayed strong.”
Constancy Football goes live!
Okay, we might be a bit biased with this one. Starting this page with this amazing
team has certainly been a highlight of our 2024, and we hope you’ve enjoyed
watching our journey begin too. Since jumping onto Instagram in the summer, and launching our website in October, we have been non-stop making content to promote and celebrate the women’s game. Here’s to more growth in the new year.
Emma Hayes, dominating the game.
Fresh from her aforementioned WSL win, Hayes took her new stateside team back
across the Atlantic to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The US were undefeated throughout the tournament and collected their gold medals after a
1-0 victory against Brazil. It was Mallory Swanson’s ball that found the back of the net in the 57th minute. It appears that Hayes’ dominance in the game continues on an international scale, and we can’t wait to see what she achieves in 2025.
Barbra Banda Named BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year.
Orlando Pride and Zambia striker Barbra Banda was awarded the BBC Women’s
Footballer of the Year title towards the end of 2024. Banda rose to fame after
representing her country in not just 2 Olympic Games, but also the 2023 FIFA
Women’s World Cup. After scoring 4 goals in Paris, Banda became Africa’s all-time
Olympic goal scorer. It was her epic performances on many international stages that saw her named the 10th winner of the BBC award.
Banda told the BBC that she was “shocked and surprised to have this award by [her] side.”
“My teammates have been pushing for me to be where I am right now and to have this trophy. I love scoring goals - I think it has not been easy but hard work and consistency has really helped me. Being the second African to win it, it’s a very big achievement for me,” Banda continued.
What a year for the women’s game. Thank you to everyone who has joined us in
2024, we hope you’ve enjoyed watching these memorable moments as much as we have. We can’t wait to cover all the action 2025 has to offer, both on and off the
pitch.
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