Juventus women welcomed a sellout crowd of 39,000 to the Allianz stadium to watch them take on their title rivals Fiorentina on Sunday, with the Turin team, in their second season, making their debut in the club’s stadium. With the match taking place only a week after Atlético Madrid broke the 99-year-old world-record attendance for a domestic women’s game with over 60,000 at the Wanda Metropolitano, and after the announcement of Barclays’ £10m sponsorship of their Women’s Super League in England, there seems to be little that can slow the momentum of the women’s game as we gallop towards what is likely to be a transformative World Cup in France.

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The mood is good. And while England may lead the way with regards to professionalism and commercialisation, their Mediterranean rivals are turning heads with attendance figures too. This will not silence the doubters, but it does provide the strongest reply to the “no one wants to watch women’s football” brigade.

Despite the numbers, there are still detractors. That Juventus very publicly gave away free tickets for the game provided them with the fuel. Many women’s teams give away tickets when they have an attendance drive – local schools and clubs are often the beneficiaries. Over 45,000 attended the FA Cup final at Wembley, and kids went free.

When Tottenham revealed the test events scheduled for the new stadium I let out a sigh. In April 2017 the women’s team clinched promotion to the Championship in one of the last games at the old ground. And what better opportunity to show their fans the improvements of a team that is fighting for a title and promotion than at an event fans desperately want to attend? The Under-18s can do it though. And while the women’s fixture, which clashed with the first test event, was shifted so fans could make both, it is hard not to see it as a massive missed opportunity.

The final WSL games of the season have been rescheduled to Saturday 11 May. Every ground is available with the close of the Premier League the following day. Arsenal host Manchester City in what could be a title decider, there is a Merseyside derby with Liverpool playing Everton, Reading welcome champions Chelsea, the two league newcomers meet at Rush Green with West Ham playing Brighton, and Yeovil, most likely for the drop, face Birmingham.

On top of that, four of the five teams playing at home have their men’s teams playing away on the Sunday – Arsenal and West Ham – or their season has already ended, such as Reading and Yeovil.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Spurs’ male under-18s played in front of a crowd of 28,987 against their Southampton counterparts at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Only Anfield would require a one-day turnaround if they chose to host the women’s derby there. Clubs may have perfectly reasonable sounding excuses for not doing so; logistical problems, stewarding, policing, damage to the turf. Yet these don’t hold water. If England rugby can put on men’s and women’s games back to back, there is no reason why clubs cannot accommodate a 24-hour gap. We are not talking every week here. Top quality pitches can cope with two games played in quick succession as a one-off here and there. And, if we can find a way for Qatar to host a World Cup, then clubs can find a way to overcome logistical concerns and make a showpiece work.

Would any of the men playing professionally today be as technically gifted, as physically fit or as mentally prepared if they had had to wash kits like Alex Scott, fight fires full-time like Nicola Hobbs, go back to a homeless shelter after training like Fara Williams, cope with little to no medical or physio assistance for much of their careers, have had to essentially pay to play, or complete round-trips of six hours after work to attend training? No chance.

The new generation of women footballers have been relieved of those burdens. They are set free to fully explore what their bodies can achieve on a rectangle of grass. We are welcoming in the most talented generation now.

It is hugely exciting. And clubs need to sell it as such. They are investing. Their motivation to do so may have been more philanthropic, or a nod towards equality in a more gender-gap-conscious society, but how they have stumbled upon the potential of the women’s game doesn’t matter.

What does matter is that they recognise the quality and show off their investment. Clubs need to show their fans what they are producing, what they are investing in, and really sell it to them. Not with a few flash posters, on social media, or with inspiring videos. We don’t need marketing, we need activism. Put the product in people’s faces, in the places where they already absorb the game, and make them fall in love. Otherwise, what’s the point?

So this is a challenge. To every club with a women’s team, make this a priority. Send someone to Madrid or Turin or Portland – where the Thorns attract around 17,000 to each game – if needed. Learn lessons from their success, study the societal differences, find a way to get excited, throw off the shackles and fear of failure and get people pumped.

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Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sofie Junge Perdersen celebrates after scoring for Juve at the Allianz Stadium. Photograph: Giorgio Perottino/Juventus FC via Getty Images

Scott and Bright return

Jill Scott and Millie Bright will both return to the England squad for next month’s pre-World Cup double-header against Canada and Spain. Scott and Bright missed out on the victorious SheBelieves Cup campaign in the US as coach Phil Neville was keen to manage their injuries ahead of the all-important summer in France. Jade Moore and goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck are also added to the 25-player squad to face the Canadians in Manchester on 5 April and Spain in Swindon four days later.