Built For Her, Home to Everyone: Brighton’s purpose-built women’s football stadium

This year, Brighton & Hove Albion has confirmed plans for the construction of the first purpose-built women’s football stadium in the UK and Europe. It will be one of only three such stadiums in the world and aims to place Brighton, and the UK and Europe, at the forefront of the global women’s game. 

Following the Lionesses' 2022 Euros victory, there was an undeniable surge in the streaming, celebration and representation of women’s football. The significance of this achievement extended far beyond the 2-1 final result against fierce competitors Germany.

The erasure of the celebration of women’s sports from the public has been historically extreme since the English Football Association (FA) banned women’s teams from playing on any pitches that were owned by or affiliated with its members. They claimed that the sport was ‘unsuitable for females’. Women continued to play in public parks and unaffiliated spaces until the ban was lifted an obscene 50 years later.