Following record-breaking television audiences for England at the Women’s World Cup, research has revealed a big rise in fans of the women’s game and a large increase in pitch bookings by women’s teams.

The FA Women’s Super League season kicks off on Saturday and, according to the WSL sponsors Barclays and a YouGov poll, an impressive third of adults consider themselves interested in the women’s game, while 69% of those believe women’s football deserves the same profile as the men’s game and 28% of people who followed the World Cup are becoming fans of women’s football.

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Kelly Smith said the research shows the women’s game is ready to step away from being defined by the men’s game and “can stand on its own”.

“I do think that is down to the last couple of tournaments,” the former England and Arsenal striker said. “Making it accessible for everyone has been huge, so the women’s game can be proud of what is has achieved. But it must continue to evolve and develop.

“Women need to be respected and given the same platform to perform. By doing this the quality gets higher and higher and with that comes better live and television attendances, sponsors, etc.”

The news is a boost to clubs and to the Football Association, which has been working hard to translate support for the national team into active interest in the domestic league.

Measures taken include Manchester and London derbies being hosted on the opening weekend at the Etihad Stadium and Stamford Bridge respectively, games at the Tottenham Stadium and London Stadium in the next three months, a women’s football weekend on 16-17 November when there is no Premier League action (much like non-league day); and targeted investment to market key games.

With 46% of people who have been to a match reported to have been surprised with how professional it was and 74% thinking it underrated, evidence is clear of professionalism and investment improving the quality of the play and driving audiences.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Etihad Stadium will host Manchester City’s opening WSL game against Manchester United on Saturday. Photograph: Jon Super/Reuters

Barclays’ record investment, believed to be closer to £18m than the £10m widely reported, is set to continue the evolution of the game at the top. However, a part of the deal also includes a commitment to the grassroots with a pledge to make football available to all girls in school by 2024 through its support for the FA Girls’ Football School Partnerships. This is aimed at tackling the number of female adults denied access as children, currently 75%, and will see 100 hubs delivering football in 6,000 schools across England.

Adult women, though, are increasingly pushing back against their historical exclusion, with the football pitch booking site Playfinder revealing a 204% increase in bookings for women’s football from the eight weeks leading up to the World Cup to the eight weeks following its kick-off on 7 June.

The Playfinder co-founder and chief executive, Jamie Foale, said the booking site “showed a during-the-game increase” and that a big proportion were for repeat bookings. It has also reported a 192% increase in mixed-team bookings.

“Much has been written about how the Women’s World Cup was able to generate huge viewing figures and that does filter down to the grassroots game,” Foale said. “During the Women’s World Cup it was obviously summer and people don’t tend to play regular games, they’ll play more spontaneously. It’s around this time of the year that we see the regular games being booked in and we’ve had a 35% increase on last year in terms of women booking regular games.”

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The company has allocated 50% of its marketing budget to promoting the women’s game, having committed to ensuring that at least half of the users on its platform will be female or mixed teams by the next Women’s World Cup in 2023. Foale described its commitment as “something that we see, selfishly, as a big growth market”, continuing the trend of brands that view the women’s game as one of the biggest areas for growth in a saturated football marketplace.

Articles on women’s football still draw “no one cares” comments. Yet clearly people do.

Talking points

• The FA has announced a six-figure deal that will see the WSL broadcast overseas for the first time. The three-year agreement with Sky Mexico and the Scandinavian broadcaster NENT will result in league games being shown in Mexico, Central America, the Dominican Republic, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Monies raised from the sale of the rights will be reinvested in the new FA Player streaming platform.

• England’s Chioma Ubogagu has joined CD Tacón, the club taken over by Real Madrid, from the NWSL team Orlando Pride. The 26-year-old winger received her first England call-up in 2018 but failed to make Phil Neville’s World Cup squad.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Chioma Ubogagu, in action here for England, has joined CD Tacón, the club taken over by Real Madrid. Photograph: NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

• The Uefa women’s player of the year, Lucy Bronze, is on the three-player shortlist for Fifa’s best women’s player award. The England full-back is joined by USA’s Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan. Phil Neville is on the shortlist for women’s manager of the year alongside the departing USA manager Jill Ellis and the Netherlands’ Sarina Wiegman.

• West Ham’s German midfielder Julia Simic has joined Common Goal, the organisation launched by Juan Mata whereby players donate 1% of their incomes to sporting charities.