Arsenal have confirmed that they will play two pre-season friendlies in Washington in August as part of their preparations for the 2024-25 season. The Gunners will face NWSL side Washington Spirit on Sunday, 18 August at Audi Field in DC followed by a friendly against Chelsea at the same venue a week later.
Arsenal will face UWCL qualifiers on 4 and 7 September and their WSL season will start on the weekend of 21 / 22 September. These matches will form the crux of the team’s pre-season preparations. The squad will fly out on 15 August and return on 26 August. The men’s team will also tour the US earlier in the summer. A training camp at George Mason University in Virginia will be held over the course of the visit.
Arsenal Sporting Director, Edu Gaspar, said: “We always want to create the best conditions for our teams to prepare and perform at their best in pre-season. This gives our players an opportunity to play and train in a new environment, in front of our supporters around the world.
“We look forward to a strong pre-season for our men’s and women’s teams, laying the foundations for a successful season ahead.”
Managing Director, Richard Garlick said: “To take our women’s team to the US for the first time on tour is another sign of great progress.
“We know from our recent trip to Australia that the interest and love for Arsenal Women stretches far and wide. We want to build on that and bring our US supporters closer to the club.
“We look forward to our visit and building strong foundations for a momentous season ahead, which will see more women’s games come to Emirates Stadium.”
Tickets will go on pre-sale Wednesday 19 June, and general sale Thursday 20 June.
The Spirit press release had the match times as 2p for the game on 18 August and 4p for the game on 25 August
can’t wait to catch these. looking forward to seeing some fellow gooners in the dmv!
Very glad they won’t go into the CL qualifiers without any matches leading into it. Can’t afford another Paris FC disaster.
At least after no pre-season we drew with Paris FC and got knocked out on penalties. Wolfsburg simply lost to them!
God that kit is fucking crap
The shorts are bizarre – makes them look like they’re all strapped into a safety harness.
Yeah I like it less and less the more I see it. The shorts look weird. The curved cut of the red on the back doesn’t work for me either.
The women’s team had been to the US and played against Seattle Reign during the mid-season break in 2016.
When Kim was playing for Reign.
The blue stripe on the shorts looks really weird. It looks like suspenders for the thighs.
It’s really odd to read the “it’s our first time EVER going to the USA” messaging on the club’s socials when I saw them play the Seattle Reign in Seattle with my very own eyes. 😒
The club would argue that this is the first ‘tour’ of the US rather than a one off game played stateside. But I agree the ‘tour’ is very short and the headline perhaps infers that Arsenal Women have not played in America before!