Aiming for Scottish sport record crowd!
Women’s rugby has been growing along with women’s sport in general over the last few years and we want to celebrate this by elevating the Scotland Women international experience for players and fans alike. This is why we’re Making Moves and bringing the biggest game of the year – Scotland v England – to Scottish Gas Murrayfield. To celebrate the women’s game in Scotland, and as part of the stadium’s 100th birthday celebrations, we’re inviting rugby fans from all over the world to come and watch Scotland’s national team to play in what we hope will be in front of the biggest ever crowd for a standalone women’s sporting event in Scotland!
What they said…
Scotland captain, Rachel Malcolm:
“We are incredibly excited to play this match at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. We have all dreamed that one day our fan base would grow to the point where we would have the opportunity to run out, cheered on by our supporters, on this iconic pitch. We always talk about leaving the shirt in a better place, and the fact that young girls playing in the National Youth Cup Finals can now look around and think, ‘One day, I want to run out here for Scotland Women,’ is so special. It shows how far we have come and how many ways we can inspire the next generation. There have been some incredible trailblazers before us, and right now it’s our turn to make moves and keep pushing things forward with Scottish Rugby.”
Head of Women and Girls’ Strategy, Gemma Fay:
“We launched our Women & Girls strategy in 2022. By 2024 we had already achieved our target of 7,000 fans when we played England in a sold-out Hive Stadium. Our next target had to be a new record crowd and that has to be in Scottish Gas Murrayfield. The growth in fans, combined with increase in girls and women participation to over 9,000, we know that now is the time to make the move with our women’s national team. We are extremely excited that moving forward we are able to provide fans and players alike the opportunity to experience match days in either Hive Stadium or Scottish Gas Murrayfield and of course, that first match in the main bowl had to be England in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations.”
Growing crowds
Scotland Women have played in the main Murrayfield bowl before, including a double header in 2002 where the team included Scotland’s highest capped player, Donna Kennedy. The latest was on a snowy Monday afternoon in front of a few guests when Scotland played England in the 2020 Women’s Six Nations following a rescheduling thanks to Storm Ciara from the day before. Hive Stadium has been the home to Scotland Women since 2021. In that time, their fanbase has expanded, and in 2024 they reached a capacity crowd of 7,774 against England, marking a record attendance for the women’s national team
Francesca McGhie scored a hat-trick of tries in Scotland’s opening WRWC game against Wales
