Arsenal have finally confirmed that their Women’s Champions League match against Bayern Munich will be played at Meadow Park, after a scheduling clash with the men’s team.
After a clash with Arsenal’s League Cup quarter-final tie against Crystal Palace, the Arsenal Women have been forced to relocate their Women’s Champions League tie against Bayern Munich from the Emirates Stadium to Meadow Park.
Arsenal’s official club website confirmed the change on Monday, writing that the match will still be played on Wednesday, December 18th at 20:00 GMT, but it will now take place at Meadow Park in Borehamwood.
The Gunners had already sold thousands of tickets for the fixture at the Emirates Stadium, and they’ve confirmed that supporters will be refunded the cost of that ticket.
Fans who had purchased tickets will then get a 24-hour priority access window to buy a ticket for the new Meadow Park game. Arsenal are also offering either a complimentary ticket to a future WSL game or a £20 retail voucher to those who had already bought tickets.
Understandably, many fans are still frustrated. This game was scheduled in first, and it’s very possible many who had booked to attend at the Emirates now won’t be able to at Meadow Park.
But the logistics of fitting both games in made it difficult to see an alternative.
Palace have a derby game against Brighton the previous Sunday, a fixture which has been selected for TV coverage.
If the League Cup game was scheduled for the Thursday, that would give both clubs less than 48 hours to prepare for their Premier League clash on Saturday.
But if the game took place on Tuesday, Palace would only have two days to recover from the Brighton game.
That also wouldn’t have solved the clash with the women’s game, as UEFA rules require Arsenal to give their opponents the chance to use the stadium the day before the game. Bayern wouldn’t be able to use the stadium if the Arsenal men were playing against Crystal Palace that day.
The only reasonable alternative solution was that the men give up home advantage and stadium revenue to reverse their League Cup fixture and play at Selhurst Park instead. That appears to have been a bridge too far for the club.