LIVERPOOL hasn’t quite taken to women’s football like they have in North and South-West London. Perhaps Arsenal have invested more or they have been more successful in marketing their team, but the crowds for Liverpool’s two games at Anfield have averaged 16,000 and they were against Manchester City and Manchester United. Moreover, the Liverpool derby at Goodison attracted just 9,000 people.
On Friday March 14, Liverpool hosted United hoping to secure their first win at Anfield. The stadium was only partially used, the Kop end and the Kenny Dalglish stand and a crowd of 15,596 paid the very exceptional ticket prices (£ 10 full price, £ 5 concessions) to see Liverpool take on United. A large percentage of the crowd seemed to be young women and girls and there was even the odd baby wondering what the hell they were doing at a chilly football stadium with its noisy soundtrack.
Talking of sounds, the club had laid on a DJ to pound-out thumping beats that seemed to be ignored by most of the people in attendance. In all seriousness, the product should not need additions like this, but women’s football is using all methods – there was also a light show, the latest trend in pre-match entertainment – to develop some momentum. Once this was out of the way, the overriding noise was high-decibel cheering, the type that used to characterise an England schoolboy international at old Wembley. One peculiar habit was the jeering when a corner was being taken or play was stopped after a foul. Admittedly, this was far more agreeable than the missile-throwing antics that currently take place in men’s football, but it did raise a smile from some spectators more used to watching Arne Slot’s team.
When the crowd felt Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty after a foul, there were outbreaks of “penalty… penalty”. It was all very polite and unlike what we have become accustomed to expecting in the heated environment of a football match.
Manchester United arrived at Anfield in second place and had been beaten just once, needless to say by Chelsea. Included in their ranks was Ella Toone, a member of England’s Euro 2022-winning side. The 25 year-old scored England’s first goal in the final and has been capped 55 times. She was a target for some good-natured booing at time and had a quiet game against Liverpool before being substituted.
The game took time to get going and it was very obvious that both sides were not in the same class as Chelsea or Arsenal. They both had restricted power and there were a couple of occasions where players seemed to run out of steam before reaching the crucial area of the pitch. It was easy to see why Chelsea often steamroller their opponents. There was no shortage of endeavour, however, and in Olivia Smith, Liverpool had the outstanding player.
The 20-year-old Canadian joined Liverpool in July 2024 from Sporting Lisbon and appears to be confident and skilful. She opened the scoring in the 42nd minute with a determined run to the byline and then sent a low shot across United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce and into the net. Three minutes later, Japan international Fuka Nagano shot home her first goal for the club after Smith had started a move deep in her own half. Smith added a third from the penalty spot in the 67th minute and disappointing United pulled one back a minute from the end through Maya Le Tissier.
United dropped to third while Liverpool put on a good show for their crowd. Most would have gone away talking about the contribution of Olivia Smith, who really does look like a star in the making.