“It will keep growing the game”: Everton forward hopes record Goodison Park attendance will boost crowds

The Toffees smashed their Women’s Super League (WSL) attendance record at Goodison Park on Friday evening as 22,161 fans watched an entertaining 1-1 draw with Merseyside rivals Liverpool.

It was Everton Women’s first appearance at Goodison since September 2021 and it started perfectly when skipper Gabby George handed her side the lead midway through the first half, however, Katie Stendal’s leveller just before the break ensured Liverpool would take a share of the spoils.

And despite the disappointment of not completing a derby double over Liverpool, Danish forward Sorensen - now into her third season with the club - was delighted with her first experience of a vocal Goodison crowd and how it is helping grow the women’s game on Merseyside.

“We could hear the fans all the way through the game” said Sorensen. “Women’s football is growing all the time and that is being proven almost every single week in there being a lot of fans who want to come and see us.

“Hopefully there is a lot that want to come to Walton Hall Park also after this game. You can see when we play at big stadiums, a lot of fans are coming. I think it is really important and it will keep growing the game.”

Brian Sorensen’s side came into the game on the back of a disappointing run of four games without a win or a goal but the Dane, one of Everton’s stand out players on the night, felt her side showed signs of improvement in the game.

“It was quite an equal game. I think we had some good moments where we controlled the game but when you look at the chances they had, in the end it was probably a fair result.

“Football is about scoring goals and that is something we need to build on and do. I think up until the end phase, it looked really good today in a lot of moments. We know it will come, but scoring goals is about timing, creating bigger opportunties and things like that are what we are working on”.

The result leaves Everton in sixth place ahead of next week’s home clash with relegation threatened Tottenham Hotspur.