Chelsea Women matchwinner Maren Mjelde has called for more opportunities to play in front of big crowds in England, after admitting PSG Feminine's raucous ‘ultras’ made them “feel small” in last night’s dramatic Champions League tie.
The Blues were playing in front of crowd of around 13,200 — including a hardcore group of around 500 shirtless, flare-brandishing fans — in Paris.
The popularity of the women’s game is growing throughout Europe and Juventus Women beat Fiorentina in front of a crowd of nearly 40,000 last weekend, while the match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona this month attracted a world-record attendance of 60,739.
Chelsea, meanwhile, continue to play at 2,265-capacity Kingsmeadow — the home of Kingstonian FC — and Mjelde would like an opportunity to entertain bigger audiences. Despite that, there are currently no plans to switch the home leg of the semi-final to Stamford Bridge.
“This is what we want to play in front of,” said the Norwegian. “PSG have amazing supporters. So do we, but they have a lot more of them. It’s cool. We want to play in front of great crowds too.
“When they scored their first goal they got louder. After the second goal they got even louder! Compared to them, we felt small.
“It’s a good experience to play in front of such a crowd. Hopefully, it’s going to develop in England also.
“We have a good league now with really good teams so, hopefully, it’s going to get more popular like other countries.
“I’m just happy to see popularity getting bigger in the whole of Europe.
“I’ve played in front of a bigger crowd in my career, but not one as noisy as this.
“I’ve been out for six months with an injury and playing in the Champions League was my goal this year, to come back for that. I feels really good to finally be fit.
“I have been dreaming of playing in it every day in the gym and during rehab.”
