Another milestone in women's soccer was reached on Sunday when a record Super League crowd of 38,262 saw champions Arsenal, coached by Australian coach Joe Montemurro, win 2-0 at Tottenham Hotspur.
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Total attendances on a packed day of top-flight women's games in England was almost 75,000 - with 23,500 at on hand to watch Everton defeat Liverpool 1-0 in the first Merseyside derby to be played at Anfield.
The record crowd who flocked to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, hosting its first women's game since opening in April, eclipsed the previous WSL best of 31,213 for the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium on the season's opening weekend.
The numbers highlight the effort to capitalise on the England team's run to the World Cup semi-finals this year.
Another revealing statistic came at Kingsmeadow where 4,790 watched Manchester United go down 1-0 to hosts Chelsea - who will officially add Matildas star Sam Kerr to their squad when the European transfer window opens in January.
The crowd was a record for a WSL match at a non-Premier League stadium, perhaps showing that table-topping Chelsea are leading the women's game in more ways than one.
Attendance figures are an important barometer of the popularity of the women's game, especially as after just six rounds in the WSL more people have attended matches this season (119,000) than in the whole of the last campaign (92,000).
But Montemurro was keen to stress that competitiveness on the pitch should be the focus.
"We can talk about playing in big stadiums on a regular basis but the reality is that one-off occasions do bring the crowd," he said.
"I just think let's fill up Meadow Park, let's make that our home, let's lock people out because they can't get in.
"But I think football has always got to be the winner.
"Good football. A good game of football, good occasions - the crowds will come."
While the number of WSL games at bigger stadia are increasing, some players believe that the fact they remain special occasions and are being staged during an international break in the men's game needs to change.
"If I'm honest it shouldn't be a moment. It should be something that hopefully becomes the norm," Spurs coach Karen Hills told a news conference.
"You want to see these women playing in big stadiums, you want to see these big crowds come along, and so hopefully it won't just be an occasion, it will be the norm of women's football."
Australian Associated Press
