Three matches on the opening weekend of the Women’s Super League will be played at clubs’ main stadiums.

Spurs will contest the first game of the WSL season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, taking on Birmingham City on September 4th. Arsenal will then play defending champions Chelsea at the Emirates on September 5th, with Brighton & Hove Albion set to take on West Ham at the Amex on the same day.

Spurs have played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in each of the two previous WSL seasons, hosting Arsenal both times. They will also play their North London rivals on Sunday as part of a pre-season double-header with the men’s team.

Arsenal played a pre-season friendly against Chelsea at the Emirates last weekend, and announced they would also be welcoming Tottenham Hotspur to the stadium for the North London Derby next March.

“We’re delighted to announce that we will play at least two competitive women’s fixtures at Emirates Stadium this coming season,” said Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham.

“These games provides us with an exciting opportunity to showcase our world-class talent to more people than ever before; both through the matches at Emirates Stadium and also as a result of the new WSL broadcast deal, which will give high-quality access to live matches to huge audiences around the world.”

Arsenal and Spurs played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last season

Brighton last played at the Amex in November 2019 when a crowd of 4,130 watched them beat Birmingham City 3-0.

“We have only had a couple of games at Crawley with supporters present in the last 18 months so to be able to have a big crowd in at the Amex for the first game of the new season will be brilliant,” said Brighton manager Hope Powell.

“We look forward to welcoming them back and to seeing as many Albion fans there as possible to get behind the team and making it a memorable occasion for the club.”

Brighton have previously played WSL matches at the Amex

The WSL season is scheduled to get underway on September 4th. There are three other fixtures set to be played on the opening weekend, including Manchester United against Reading, Everton against Manchester City, and Aston Villa against Leicester City.

As the WSL season came to an end in May, fans urged clubs to host more women’s games at their main stadiums. With the Arsenal men’s team missing out on Champions League football, fans of the Gunners urged the club to let the women’s side play European matches at the Emirates. It is yet to be seen whether this transpires.