You may not have heard of the Women’s International Champions Cup. Indeed, you may never hear of it again.
But it’s being staged in Portland, Oregon, with Chelsea Women flying out to the west coast of the States to play European title-holders Lyon.
Meanwhile the local side in Portland play a Mexican team, with the winners slugging it out at the weekend to supposedly determine who’s the best team in the world.
Unfortunately, time differences mean that the games take place in the small hours of the morning for potential UK audiences.
Whether this is ideal preparation for the season is debatable, but after the Blues return they do have a couple of friendlies lined up against Man City and Spurs, both at Kingsmeadow, with tickets now on sale.
Chelsea play City on Friday 26 August at 7pm, then play Tottenham on Sunday 28 August, with tickets for a fiver (£3 for U20s or over 65s).
The surge of interest in the women’s game following England’s Euros success is something Chelsea want to build on, with the Blues’ marketing department working to sell season tickets and seats for individual matches.
Staging the first full, proper Women’s Super League game of the new campaign on 11 September at the 42,000-seat Stamford Bridge, rather than the 3,000-seat Kingsmeadow, shows real intent.
But it will be the bread-and-butter games in the smaller stadium, including the league and FA Cup fixtures, that will reveal whether the national wave of passion for the game has translated into local support.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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