Switzerland were the toast of the continent this summer as hosts of the Women’s European Championship. The national team reached the quarter-finals for the first time and a total of 623,088 were in attendance at the 31 matches, a tournament record. The hope within Switzerland was for a boost at club level similar to what England experienced three years previously. Those heights have not been reached, but there has been a definite bump.
According to Switzerland’s football association, their Women’s Super League has enjoyed a 62% increase in attendances this season, with an average attendance of 787. While that does not compare with the huge spike England’s Women’s Super League had after Euro 2022 – an average attendance increase of 172% the following season – it is still encouraging.
Grasshopper, currently second in the Swiss WSL, had an average attendance of 300 last season; that is up to 450 for this campaign. Thun, bottom of the Swiss WSL, have more than doubled their average attendance, from 156 to 326. Basel, who sit sixth, have experienced a big increase in the amount of season tickets sold, from 300 last season to 800 this. However, the number of supporters attending games there remains roughly the same.
Basel’s women’s sporting director, Fabian Sanginés, says the club are trying different things in order to encourage fans to buy tickets, including offering free popcorn to children. It has had a positive effect but, for Sanginés, it is crucial progress at domestic level goes beyond gimmicks. “When a country applies to host a Euros they need to have a plan,” he says. “The legacy programme here is about trying to ensure we increase certain standards in the youth and also get financial help for them.
“Everyone had a huge hype about the Euros, but hype is for a certain amount of time and we don’t want to be the hype; we want to be sustainable and long term.”
There has also been an increase in interest in the national team. At their first home game after Euro 2025, a 1-0 win over Canada in Lucerne in October achieved via Alayah Pilgrim’s goal, there were 10,025 in attendance, Switzerland’s second-highest attendance for the year outside the tournament.
“We are seeing a steady increase in interest and attendance figures for our matches,” says the Swiss FA. “The attendance figures for the match against Canada in Lucerne are part of this positive trend. We will now be looking at ways of improving the fan experience for the World Cup qualifiers in order to continue to make use of the rise in interest for women’s football.”
What, then, needs to be done to ensure attendances keep growing at club level? ”We saw at the Euros, it was so nice. The atmosphere was super friendly, super welcoming,” says Sanginés. “But then a lot of those people 1763040128 stay at home on a Saturday afternoon. So this is something for society; when you say you want to support you should actually go out and support. People need to go to the matches.
“It’s the same for the companies. If you have been a sponsor for the Euros now might also be the time to be sponsoring a local club. This is what keeps us running and improving.”
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