Arsenal Women’s Champions League game against Bayern Munich has been moved to Meadow Park to avoid an Emirates Stadium scheduling clash with the men’s team.
UEFA has granted “special dispensation” for Arsenal to play the fixture at the 4,500-capacity stadium, home to sixth-tier Boreham Wood, due to the “unique combination of factors that required a new venue”. Meadow Park’s facilities do not meet UEFA’s stadium infrastructure regulations, which come into force from the group stages of the competition onwards.
The English Football League (EFL) announced the dates for the Carabao Cup quarter finals earlier this month, with Arsenal’s tie against Crystal Palace slated for Wednesday, December 18 — the same day as the women’s match against Bayern.
Both games were due to be played at the Emirates after Arsenal stated in May that they would play eight of their 11 Women’s Super League (WSL) games and all three of their Champions League group fixtures at the north London stadium. Tickets for Arsenal’s match against Bayern had been on sale since September.
Following the EFL’s announcement, Arsenal confirmed that they were “liaising” with UEFA and further details about the Bayern game would be forthcoming.
Now the game will be played on the same date but at a different venue. Supporters who had purchased tickets for the Women’s Champions League fixture at the Emirates will receive a full refund, and new tickets will be available from Tuesday November 26 on a first-come, first-served basis.
Arsenal Women have played fixtures at the Emirates with increasing regularity in recent years. Before the Emirates was announced as their primary home ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, Meadow Park had been their home stadium as part of a ground share with Boreham Wood.
Why did the women’s game have to be moved?
From a men’s fixture scheduling perspective, Tottenham Hotspur are hosting Manchester United in the Carabao Cup on Thursday, December 19. Policing rules around crowding dictate that Arsenal and Spurs cannot play at home on the same night, which ruled out pushing the match back a day.
Arsenal have also been scheduled to face Palace on Saturday, December 21 in the late afternoon UK broadcast slot, which was announced on October 15.
Moving the Carabao Cup game forward a day to Tuesday, December 17 was considered, but was unrealistic given that Palace travel to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, December 15, which would have given them just one day between matches. As a result, Wednesday, December 18 emerged as the only day for the men’s fixture to be played.
The Champions League game is also Arsenal and Bayern’s final match before their winter breaks, with the pair not playing until mid-January and early February respectively. That, it seems, made it easier to reschedule their fixture.
(Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
