'Football fans are savage' - Vivianne Miedema bemoans 'toxic' culture that has developed as women's football increases in popularity

Women's football has become increasingly popular around the world as it attracts further investment and bigger crowds, with an incredible 59,042 people in attendance to see her team beat Chelsea in the Women's Super League last week. While many insist the women's game is very different in comparison to the men's, the Arsenal star fears the fan cultures are starting to share one too many similarities.

“If you play in an almost sold-out stadium last Sunday, it’s one of the best feelings as players,” Miedema said to The Times. “The big negative coming from that is people have opinions. As players you try to close off from it, but you’re never going to fully because you’ve got people around you that see [the abuse]. Football fans are savage. There’s no respect. There’s no nuance.

“We always keep shouting: 'We don’t want to turn the women’s game into the men’s game', but I think with how we’re going about things, we’re starting to really quickly turn into that, which I personally think is toxic, and I don’t think we need."

Miedema only recently returned to action for the Gunners. She started for Arsenal for the first time since December 2022 following her recovery from an ACL injury last weekend. The Netherlands forward had regularly been a substitute since her return in late October but this marked her first start for the Gunners in over 12 months.

Women's football is only likely to continue to grow, and Miedema may be forced to have to get used to increased attention and scrutiny. The Dutch star will next be in action with the Gunners when they take on their north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, December 16.