Walk up Hayes Lane on a matchday, and you’ll clock someone’s dog wearing a London City scarf – because London City Lionesses are one of the only WSL clubs whose ground actually welcomes dogs. Cute, and pretty rare at this level of football.
We were invited down to the final match of their first-ever WSL season yesterday – a 2-1 win over Aston Villa at home. And if you’re yet to pick a WSL team to give your everything to – we all know you’re into women’s football, even if you’ve never been into football – this might be the team worth getting behind next season.
Who are the London City Lionesses?
For anyone new to the club, London City Lionesses are a women’s professional football team based in Bromley, playing their home games at the CopperJax Community Stadium. They were founded in 2019 after splitting from Millwall Lionesses to become a fully independent women’s club – no men’s team attached, no academy hand-me-downs. They spent six seasons in the Championship before winning promotion last year, making 2025/26 their first-ever campaign in the Women’s Super League and the first time an independent women’s club has played in England’s top flight. Owned by Korean American businesswoman Michele Kang since December 2023, they’re now backed by what’s potentially the most serious investment operation in women’s football anywhere in the world.
More on her in a minute.
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Hayes Lane: the London City Lionesses stadium
The CopperJax Community Stadium – still known by most people as Hayes Lane – is a proper old-school ground in the London Borough of Bromley, shared with League Two club Bromley FC. It holds 6,100 after the East Stand was rebuilt in October 2025. You’re close. You can see faces. You can hear the players talk to each other.
There’s safe standing if you want noise, family seating if you don’t, and a dedicated alcohol-free family block. The club’s part of the WSL’s alcohol-in-the-stands trial this season, so you can have a pint at your seat in most areas if that’s your thing.
What a London City Lionesses matchday is like
Turnstiles open 90 minutes before kick-off and the club has leaned hard into making the build-up its own event. Free fan zone, live music, games, giveaways, a London City photobooth. For families, there’s a kids’ zone with foam fingers, face painting, a virtual penalty shootout, colouring pages, and an arts-and-crafts table. A brass band plays during the match, which brings a really fun atmosphere.
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If you went to an Arsenal women’s game five years ago, before the Emirates sellouts and the queue for tickets and the league title talk – that’s the energy here. Small ground. Loud crowd. A very wholesome feel and the sense that you’re early to something that’s about to be very big.
The grounds have Broomfields Bar & Kitchen, which runs from morning until evening on matchdays, plus on-site vendors with options for most diets.
And as we mentioned in the intro – yes, you can bring your dog. Hayes Lane is one of the very few grounds at this level that’s dog-friendly. There’s a small but devoted contingent of regulars who bring their dogs in club colours, and they have full rein of the place. Bring yours. Get them a scarf. This is the energy.
The squad and the post-match access
The squad assembled this season has been the talk of the WSL. The club made 16 signings ahead of their top-flight debut, including former Manchester United midfielder Katie Zelem, ex-Manchester City defender Alanna Kennedy, Barcelona defender Jana Fernandez (a 15-time major trophy winner with the Spanish giants), and a world-record deadline-day signing of Grace Geyoro from Paris Saint-Germain. Nikita Parris is there. Danielle van de Donk is back in the WSL. They’re not messing around, and there are rumours flying around for next season too.
Post-match, the players come back out, sign footballs and throw them into the crowd. Select fans get an interview experience with players in the bars after home matches. This sort of access was really lovely to see, and it’s already been priced out of the men’s game and will be priced out of the women’s game too if the WSL keeps growing the way it is. Right now, it’s still here – get yourself in early.
Reasons to back London City Lionesses
Right now, London City Lionesses occupies a wholesome corner of WSL football. The ground is family-sized at 6,100, the matchday is dog-friendly and kid-friendly, the players sign mini balls and throw them into the crowd after the final whistle, and bundle tickets started at £6 this season. You can still rock up, get a seat near the action. That window doesn’t stay open forever – season ticket sales for next year are already moving at more than double last year’s pace.
And there’s serious weight behind the warmth. The club is owned by Korean American businesswoman Michele Kang, who’s also behind NWSL side Washington Spirit and French giants OL Lyonnes – the most decorated club in women’s football history. She’s pledged $55 million to U.S. Soccer’s women’s and girls’ programmes, put $50 million into a research hub dedicated to training female athletes as females, and is one of the most vocal global advocates for equal pay. London City is independent – the only women’s only club in England’s top two tiers without a men’s team attached – and one of the most ambitious projects in the women’s game anywhere.
Final thoughts
The 2025/26 WSL season ended yesterday with London City sending their inaugural top-flight campaign out on a win. The next home game is in August, when 2026/27 kicks off.
Early bird season tickets are on sale now, and this is genuinely the window worth jumping on. Adults pay £8 a game, and kids pay £4 a game across the season, with Zone 1 reserved seating from £135 for adults, £99 for 65+ and 18-24s, and £67 for under-18s. Get a Junior with you and the family maths starts to look very friendly very fast. The early bird window closes on 30 June, after which general sale prices kick in – so if you’re going to do it, do it before the end of the month.
Full pricing, fixture list and family area info at londoncitylionesses.com.
Get in early. You’ll be glad you did.
Nonchalant x
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This article was written by one of our creative team writers here at Nonchalant Magazine.
