(Credit: Imago)

Evan Shaw

Wed 3 June 2026 14:20, UK

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Arsenal have set a precedent for Premier League clubs to place more emphasis on their women’s team after their joint trophy parade last Sunday. 

That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that women’s teams are “primary assets” for clubs and should be developed more. 

The Gunners paraded their Premier League trophy through the streets of North London on Sunday, and were also joined by Renee Slegers’ women’s team, after they claimed the inaugural Champions Cup earlier in the season.

It came less than 24 hours after the men’s defeat to PSG in the Champions League final, but both sets of players were in high spirits, and it is estimated that around one million supporters turned out. 

Arsenal’s ownership have placed great focus on the women’s team in recent years, and Wyness expects that the parade could be a trigger for other clubs to follow suit. 

Premier League clubs to grow fanbases through women’s teams

Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Arsenal made the right call by combining both teams into one parade.

He expects clubs to follow suit where possible in future, and expects to see women’s team targeted as a way to grow wider fanbases in the coming years. 

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, he suggested that it could bring significant financial benefits to clubs if they can follow Arsenal’s example. 

“They’re using the women’s team in so many areas now in terms of financial assets. Everton have done it and given them Goodison,” Wyness said.

“They’ve got to start expanding their fan base. They’ve got to start making that women’s team a really primary asset with a big focus and making it more inclusive. It’s one way to try to grow that big fan base. 

POV: What Arsenal's players saw during their Premier League parade 😳🔥

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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 31, 2026

“But importantly, financially it’s something they’ve got to try and do as well. So certainly the parade was the right thing to do, and I do expect a lot of other clubs to start to do this more and more.”

Arsenal slammed over Champions League final staff decision

Wyness previously told Football Insider that Arsenal were wrong to not cover their staff’s travel to Budapest for the Champions League final.

The Gunners allowed their staff menbers for fork out over £850 for their own journeys to the biggest game of the club’s season, rather than fronting up the cost.

Wyness was left angry by that decision, as he noted that it would have likely amounted to a few thousand pounds had they covered it, a total which he deemed to be an “insignificant” sum for a club of their stature. 

He felt that the poor decision from the Arsenal hierarchy was hammered home even further by the fact that PSG subsidised all travel for their stay well in advance of the event.