Is women's football still growing?
The Athletic FC Podcast
The Athletic
4.0 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 4 September 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Record attendances at the Euros? Check.
65k in London to celebrate the Lionesses? Check.
Rising attendances for the WSL? Not last season.
So is women's football still growing?
Plus, Nikki Doucet, chief executive of the Women’s Professional League - who took control of the WSL in 2024, joins us ahead of the start of the new season.
Host: Ayo Akinwolere
With: Charlotte Harpur, Megan Feringa and Nikki Doucet
Executive Producer: Abi Paterson
Producers: Guy Clarke and Paul Iliffe
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the Athletic FC podcast, proudly sponsored by Betfair, the home of Safe Sub. |
| 0:06.9 | Football's back and with so many teams chasing Glory at home and in Europe, using the squad |
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| 0:37.0 | This episode of the Athletic FC is brought to you by TNT Sports, your destination for football's not normal moments. |
| 0:43.4 | Whether it's the Premier League or you weigh for Champions League or the men's and women's FA Cup every match day brings drama, excitement and brilliance that simply cannot be explained. |
| 0:52.0 | What do we mean? |
| 0:52.9 | It's Cole Palmer with ice in his veins |
| 0:54.7 | scoring a last-minute winner. It's a trademark lung-busting box-to-box run by Declam Rice. |
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| 1:12.2 | So forget normal because normal's boring. |
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| 1:22.6 | With the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Emirates, FA Cup |
| 1:26.5 | and Adobe Women's |
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... |
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