GROWING THE WOMEN’S GAME THE RISE OF WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
men’s game and by making choices that can help us stand out in an inflated world where the uniqueness of our sport can be successful. Even just a few months ago, no one would have imagined seeing a crowd of almost 40,000 (39,454) at the Stadio Olimpico for a Women’s Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona – the highest attendance ever for a professional women’s match in Italy. In 2018, the first season of our women’s team, we had barely 300 fans in the stands. Last season our stadium, the Tre Fontane, had the highest attendance in Serie A, both during the regular season and in the Scudetto play-offs, when we had an average crowd of 2,000 getting behind us. The four biggest attendances in Serie A were all played at our home ground. We have a group of hardcore fans who have been there since our very first match, and the rest
are mainly families and Roma fans who watch the men’s team too. This sport has the power to appeal to millions of people and the potential to become a resource for Italian football as a whole in future. Thanks to the hard work of every department at Roma and to our fans too, Roma-Barcelona showed us how a club like ours can improve the visibility of women’s football. During that match I think we had the chance to reach well beyond our fans, managing to appeal to new partners as well as older ones. We set up an outstanding half time show with Noemi, a well known Italian singer and a huge Roma fan, creating a unique atmosphere and a great event. Roma-Barcelona gave us the opportunity to amaze new people who had an exciting night both from the sporting and the entertainment sides. We’re very proud of what we achieved, of course the challenge now is to keep this standard.” n
16
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator