LONDON — The grey, gloomy skies over the Emirates Stadium in N5 were overpowered by an abundance of red-and-white confetti blasted into the air as Arsenal’s women’s team hoisted the coveted UEFA Champions League trophy aloft in front of their adoring fans.

Thousands of supports had begun gathering in Armoury Square as early as 5 a.m. on Monday to celebrate the end of an 18-year wait for a European trophy, following the Gunners’ shock 1-0 victory over Barcelona on Saturday in Lisbon.

The victory parade did not start until after 10 a.m. — with several fans joking it was like the Glastonbury festival, showing up as early as possible to secure a place by the barrier at the front — and, after an introduction from Alex Scott (who scored the winning goal in the 2006-07 final, the last time Arsenal lifted the trophy), a replay of the match highlights and a DJ set, the players were welcomed onto the stage one by one.

There were huge cheers for childhood Gooners Leah Williamson (who was a club mascot back in 2007) and Lotte Wubben-Moy, shouts of “Meado” [Beth Mead] and “Russo” [Alessia Russo] when the two England forwards joined the party, and screams of devotion for defender Katie McCabe and captain Kim Little. Though that was no match for the adulation shown towards Swedish striker Stina Blackstenius, who netted the winning goal.

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— Emily Keogh (@emilyskeogh) May 26, 2025

Following the trophy lift, some rather out of tune renditions of “Sweet Caroline”, “Karma Chameleon” (with adapted lyrics to praise Blackstenius), “Freed From Desire” and “Simply The Best,” summed up the feelings of what Arsenal had achieved. And it was only just beginning to sink in for the players.

Centre-back Steph Catley was grasping the winners’ medal around her neck as if it was going to disappear.

“I don’t think [it’s sunk in],” she told ESPN. “I think it’s hard. Sometimes I just look down at this [the medal], I’ve been wearing it non-stop for however long it’s been, however many hours, but we say it to each other a bit, ‘We won the Champions League’ and then it sinks in for a second. It’s honestly hard to put into words, but like I said, it’s the best moment of my career.”

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— Emily Keogh (@emilyskeogh) May 26, 2025

Arsenal, whose men’s team finished second in the Premier League but did not win a trophy, expected a decent showing for the women’s parade, but no-one could have predicted the turnout as fans filled the square and surrounding streets to busting point. “It’s pretty overwhelming to be honest,” Catley added. “That was insane; I’ve never felt like that in my life. This whole experience has been what you dream of as a kid when you decide to be a footballer. To do it with this club, it’s everything I could have ever dreamed of.”

For Williamson — who joined Arsenal at the age of eight, coming through the academy before making her debut for the first team in 2014 and being named vice-captain — it was all she had ever dreamed of. She has been waiting for this moment all her life.

“My dreams came true,” she said. “I think it sunk in when I turned around and saw on the stadium, the honoring of the previous team that did it [in 2007] and then computing in my head that that’s what we did. Raising a Champions League trophy on Armoury Square, that is not something I ever thought would be possible. I’m just so happy.”

Plenty of the fans in attendance had travelled to Lisbon for the final against Barcelona and made it back in time for the early start in north London. Around 4,000 had made the 1,300-mile trip to Portugal.

Before Saturday’s kick-off at Sporting CP’s 50,000-seater Estádio José Alvalade, the aptly named “Pink Street” (it is literally a pink street) was flooded with Arsenal shirts. Fans poured out of the local bars and eateries that filled the small alleyway in Lisbon city centre, covered by a canopy of rainbow umbrellas, reeling off the much-loved chants from their songbook to prepare for the game.

Lifelong fan Lily first told ESPN that she “hopes they’ll bring the trophy back to north London,” but then the reality of the task of defeating the reigning champions kicked in and she added: “But they battered Chelsea, so as long as we don’t loss by 5-0, I’ll be okay.”

Her family, all in Arsenal shirts of some kind, had travelled the night before, managing to secure flights and a hotel before the prices rose dramatically. There, she met up with the tons of friends she had made through the club and joining meetups. Making the trip was not only about supporting Arsenal, it was about sharing the moment with the people she had spent all season with. “It wouldn’t be the same [watching from home]; I couldn’t miss it,” she said. “As soon as they were in the final, I knew I had to be here.”

Arsenal’s travelling contingent had shown up in the masses throughout this season, both domestically and abroad, though once inside the Estádio José Alvalade they were outnumbered by the dedicated Barcelona supporters who made the short trip over the border to Portugal.

Barca fans filled all sides of the stadium, bar the corner where Arsenal’s main core congregated, hoping their side would secure a third-straight title. But, after a cagey first half, they were stunned into silence when Beth Mead rolled a perfect pass into the path of Blackstenius, who slotted home in 74th minute.

Rookie manager Renee Slegers, who succeeded Jonas Eidevall after the 5-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in October, had set up her plan expertly — asking Caitlin Foord to drop into the middle, creating four midfielders in the central areas to prevent Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas from being able to run through. And by the time Barcelona caught on, it was too late.

“The players had the game of their lives and I genuinely don’t know anybody that put up a foot wrong in terms of the gameplan and what it was meant to be,” Williamson said.

“I think the gameplan always is that we want to be the hardest working team in the world and I don’t think there’s many club teams that can tell me otherwise. It’s more about us being mentally on it against Barcelona. It was a collaboration of everybody, everything, all of us. The strap line was ‘all of us, all in.’ That’s what you saw.”

The celebrations after the final whistle were emphatic. Tears streamed down faces, families poured onto the pitch, and fans could not quite believe what had happened. Even multiple Ballon d’Or winner Bonmati was left in disbelief.

“I dropped my knees because of the tears and I was tired to be honest,” Williamson said. “And then straight away, I went to look for Kim [Little] and then she was right in front of my face, but we were just we were sobbing.”

Both on and off the pitch, the scenes reminded of the celebrations when England won Euro 2022. After a few hours soaking up the atmosphere and savoring the moment, Williamson led the team through the mixed zone with speakers blaring out music as they filed onto the bus. “Enjoy your night; I know I will,” she yelled over the noise at the gathered media.

Back at the team hotel, musician Jess Glynne — who had promised to perform if the team won — put on a show. At one point she was joined by midfielder Victoria Pelova for a duet. Though it was McCabe, whose voice was waning after the 36 hours of celebrations, who led the charge.

“We’ve all played hard. As you can hear from my voice, it’s been an amazing past few days,” Mead said. “These are core memories that will stick with me and the team forever.”

But despite another trophy in the cabinet and celebrations likely to run deep into the summer, Arsenal are already looking ahead to next season. The win has only spurred the team on to want more.

They may be champions of Europe for a second time — doing what Chelsea had failed to do throughout Emma Hayes’ glittering 12-year tenure, and what Sonia Bompastor could not do this season despite an unbeaten WSL run — but the Gunners haven’t won the league in six years, nor been in an FA Cup final in four years. So this is the perfect foundation to build on.

“I think that’s the thing, you win once and you’re like, ‘now we have to defend it.’ We have to stay Champions League winners,” Catley said. “There’s so much we want to win in the league. We want an FA Cup, we want the League Cup again, we want the League.

“This is something amazing to build on for next season. We’ve got a taste of the ultimate success, so we definitely want more. We’ve won the ultimate goal this season, but next year we want to go up another level.