KATIE MCCABE AND her Arsenal side could play in front of an historic sell-out crowd at the Emirates Stadium in Monday’s Uefa Women’s Champions League semi-final return leg.
The Gunners welcome Wolfsburg to London after last weekend’s 2-2 draw, with the winners advancing to the 3 June final against Barcelona in Eindhoven. Barca booked their decider spot after a 2-1 aggregate win over Chelsea.
Arsenal announced this morning that Monday’s showdown [KO 5.45pm, live on DAZN Youtube channel] was “only 3,000 tickets away from a sell-out”.
ONLY 3,000 TICKETS AWAY FROM A SELL-OUT! 👏
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) April 28, 2023
A Champions League semi-final. A historic night at Emirates Stadium ✨
Get tickets while you still can! 👇
The capacity of the Emirates is 60,704. The women’s team’s highest attendance there so far has been 47,367, the Women’s Super League’s record set in last September’s North London derby win over Tottenham Hotspur.
McCabe, who is captaining the team in the absence of injured duo Kim Little and Leah Williamson, spoke about the prospect of a Emirates sell-out today.
“When I first signed for Arsenal seven-and-a-half years ago, a couple of hundred would have been pretty cool at Meadow Park,” the Republic of Ireland skipper said in a promotional video posted on Arsenal’s Twitter account.
“The fact that we are on the verge of potentially selling out the Emirates for a semi-final of the Champions League is incredible.
“We want you, the fans, to come and support us, get behind us and cheer us on against Wolfsburg. Get your tickets, we want to see you there. Yiz are gonna be our 12th player on the night.”
💬 “When I first signed for Arsenal, a couple of hundred would’ve been pretty cool at Meadow Park.”
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) April 28, 2023
Now we’re on the verge of selling out Emirates Stadium, @Katie_McCabe11 ❤️
Stamford Bridge currently holds the record for the highest Women’s Champions League crowd in the UK after 27,697 supporters watched Chelsea’s semi-final first-leg against Barcelona last weekend.
A crowd of 91,648 attended Barcelona’s 2022 semi-final clash with Wolfsburg at Nou Camp, while 72,262 fans watched their draw against Chelsea at the same venue last night.
Meanwhile, McCabe’s Ireland could play in front of an 83,500 sell-out crowd in their World Cup opener against Australia in Sydney this summer.
She’s one of several Irish internationals whose preparations for their first-ever major tournament may be impacted amidst a simmering club v country row.
In other Ireland WNT news, The 42 understands a documentary is in the works ahead of this summer’s World Cup.
