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Leicester City Women to play eight matches at King Power Stadium in debut WSL campaign

Leicester City Women to play eight matches at King Power Stadium in debut WSL campaign - GETTY IMAGES
Leicester City Women to play eight matches at King Power Stadium in debut WSL campaign - GETTY IMAGES

Newly-promoted Leicester City will play the majority of their Women’s Super League home matches this season at their men’s team’s King Power Stadium home.

Leicester won the Women’s Championship title last season to join the WSL for the first time. Their first WSL game at the King Power will be against Manchester United on September 12, after opening their campaign with a trip to Aston Villa on September 4.

The club will use Burton’s Pirelli Stadium when fixtures clash with Leicester’s men’s side’s schedule. A total of eight WSL games are currently scheduled to be held at the King Power out of a possible 11 this term, with the other three set to be played at Burton.

Ahead of Leicester’s move, it was already confirmed that four other men’s Premier League grounds will be used for matches on the opening weekend of the WSL campaign.

Goodison Park will see Everton host Manchester City on September 4 - in the first WSL game to be shown live on a network BBC channel (BBC One) - on the same day Spurs welcome Birmingham City to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

On September 5, Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal will face defending champions Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium, while Brighton’ will host West Ham at the Amex Stadium.

Leicester will not be alone in sharing their ground with their men’s side. Reading currently share the Madejski Stadium permanently, while Birmingham City Women will use their men’s team’s St Andrew’s ground this term while they search for a long-term venue of their own, after enduring problems with the pitch at Solihull Moors last season.

Leicester had previously played their home games at local side Quorn FC’s Farley Way Stadium, which has an artificial pitch, since 2017. But that venue only has minimal seating, with most attendees standing.

Leicester also took a significant step forward in terms of facilities last winter when they moved to train at the club’s Belvoir Drive training complex, where their men’s side had been training when they won the Premier League title in 2016. The men moved into a new £100m training ground on Christmas Eve last year.