It’s 10am on a Sunday, the roads are quiet and most of London is still waking up. But in one of the city’s less remarkable south-eastern suburbs, hundreds of people are already gathering for a glimpse of something special.
The Ballon d’Or trophy has come to Bromley, birthplace of David Bowie and not much else, thanks to the summer arrival of the world’s best player, Alexia Putellas. The Catalonian superstar secured her third Ballon d’Or on Monday and now, as a gift to the fans of her new club, the glistening golden ball is on display ahead of London City Lionesses’ clash against Manchester City.
The Copperjax Community Stadium doesn’t quite equal the glamour of the London’s Palladium red carpet, but the crowds are just as plentiful. London City fan Shelley was the first in the queue at 8.30am, before the stadium had even opened its doors. The trophy was to arrive an hour later, but Shelley wanted to be first in line.
“We treated ourselves to a bacon bap, and then I said ‘get up and stand, we’re going to be the first in the door’. Then, everyone started joining behind us,” said Shelley, who has travelled over from Lisburn in Northern Ireland to take in two London City games in a week. She saw the 4-2 win over Crystal Palace in the League Cup on Wednesday, before staying in London to get a picture with the Ballon d’Or before Sunday’s game against City.
Shelley and her partner bought London City season tickets this year and have managed to get to three games so far, with Alexia being the main reason for their fandom.
“I kept my eye on London City for a good while, but we really started in earnest when Alexia came. I just think it’s everything – it’s the person, the player, the aura. That’s probably the best way to say it. I think she’s an absolute icon for young children growing up, whether it’s boys or girls. I’m about 20 years too late to this game, but I love it.”
Alexia fever has well and truly taken over Bromley. Every home match sees swarms of fans in Putellas shirts descend on the suburbs from all over, including plenty travelling from Spain. Sunday even saw the visit of a school party from the US. Some fans have even moved countries to make sure they can watch the superstar on a regular basis.
“As soon as I heard Alexia might be coming here, I moved to London,” says Halime, who moved from Scotland prior to the season. The Lockerbie native is hoping to study a PhD in employment rights in women’s football, and Putellas has been a big inspiration for her career choice.
“She’s just the best in the world. I’ve been to Barcelona to see her play, I was at her last game for Barcelona. She’s such an inspiration, not just for fans, but for young players as well. What she does is just amazing. I came for Alexia but I stayed for the other players, like Danielle van de Donk and Kadidiatou Diani.”
Putellas couldn’t quite influence the game against City to the level she so often does, albeit she still finished the match having created five chances. London City spent large chunks of the game on top but couldn’t make their dominance count. A win would have taken London City level on points with the WSL champions, but goals from Lauren Hemp and the recently christened third-best player in the world, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, were enough to secure City a 2-1 away win.
Amid all the discourse around early kick off times in the WSL negatively affecting attendances, London City showed that world-class players and a Ballor d’Or presentation is enough to entice a 5,000-strong crowd in Bromley. Even more impressively, the majority of those 5,000 people turned up two hours ahead of kick-off just to get a picture with the iconic trophy.
That is the pulling power of Alexia Putellas. Her arrival has seen London City’s attendance grow from an average of about 2,000 to clearing 5,000 each match. Before she made the move, London City’s Instagram following sat at around 50,000 at the start of the 2025-26 season. It is now 187,000.
Where Putellas goes, people follow. Sunday showed that London City have a gap to close on the pitch, but they’ve got the golden goose when it comes to marketing – and it’s just as shiny as that Ballon d’Or trophy.