‘When you give us a stage, we can perform as female footballers’

It was a football match fit for a movie...

until the final two minutes of extra-time. Arsenal Women’s Champions League run had ended in heart-breaking fashion at the Emirates Stadium on May 1, 2023, when the heroics of the injury-stricken Gunners were not enough to defeat Wolfsburg, who scored to win in the 119th minute of the European semi-final. Now, just over a year later and with the pain of defeat lessened, the loss has become something of a win in the hearts of both fans and players.

For Arsenal’s Katie McCabe, the determination of a team ‘with nothing left to give who still gave everything’, will forever hold a special place in her heart. Speaking with Metro from near her home in St Albans, the Republic of Ireland captain recalls a conversation with teammate and Sweden international Stina Blackenstius. ‘We were in the treatment room and the masseurs asked what the best game we played together was.

Both of us felt it was Wolfsburg, which is weird because it was a loss,’ McCabe tells Metro. ‘But to have the support of 60,000 people behind us, cheering us on, helping us come back after extra time – it didn’t feel like a loss. ‘It was an incredible time for the club but also for women’s football in general.

The game set a massive precedent through the Women’s Super League (WSL) in terms of attendances, and [the importance of] women’s teams playing big stadiums. ‘When you give us a stage like that, we can perform as female footballers. And that�.