According to Brighton’s CEO Paul Barber, female footballers may require “a different kind of pitch” in order to lower the chance of injuries.
According to Barber, the club is looking into building a purpose-built stadium for their Women’s Super League team in order to ensure the safety of various surfaces.
The chosen location for the ground, which will be close to the men’s team’s Amex Stadium, is currently being finalized by Brighton.
Barber claims he has “convinced” that playing football on men’s surfaces can cause female players to hurt, and that he has urged more investigation.
Brighton are working on their own research, which will likely involve working with local universities, to ensure that the surface of their new women’s pitch is appropriate.
Is it because we are training them for male athletes that pitch surfaces are contributing? At a Women in Football event, Barber told BBC Sport.
“A brief is starting to come together. It makes perfect sense to get this pitch right if we’re developing it and making that kind of investment.
There has recently been a lot of coverage about the high standards on which women’s football players are asked to play on, and for us, the entire purpose of building a women’s stadium is to show the same respect for the female athletes as we show the men’s.
Stadium with areas for changing babies and breastfeeding
Barber claims that the new stadium will have more family-friendly amenities and amenities than the current one.
There will be “buggy parks” for prams to be stored as well as breastfeeding rooms, baby changing facilities, and baby changing areas.
Because they weren’t designed for women football players or an audience that follows women’s football, “we don’t have]t those facilities in most football stadiums in our country,” Barber said.
Brighton are “inching toward the final piece of the puzzle,” according to the report.
We are currently finalizing a location with the landowner. Because of where it is, who owns it, and how it got its place to work, Barber continued.
“We’re really excited and really committed to delivering it,” the company said. We’ve always vowed to be as close to Amex as possible.
Relegation, investment, and FFP
The Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) are currently making several changes to the game’s structure to promote growth.
At their quarterly shareholders meetings, clubs will be asked to discuss and vote on any proposals. One possible change would be the temporary removal of Relegated from the Women’s Super League.
Barber says Brighton’s board should not have addressed this issue, but he is open to suggestions for improvement.
Barber remarked, “I think it is appropriate that the WPLL are looking at every possible way to promote the growth of the women’s game.”
We must take into account that if that means we need to provide owners with more security in order to invest more quickly. We need to have every argument on the table, not just that, I’m not saying that’s right or wrong.
WSL clubs “get that they will endure financial losses for a period of time as they invest in women’s football,” according to Barber, but they must also look to make it sustainable.
Because we can’t just run women’s football clubs at a loss forever, he continued, “The most important thing is that we are investing in the right things to turn around that position in the not-so-distant future.”
For those who want to enter a place, be paid well, and be looked after, “that doesn’t make any sense for anyone,” and that is unhealthy.
“We need to build a business that is financially sound for the future.”
When asked whether Financial Fair Play requirements should be included in the WSL, Barber responded that he believes there must be a balance between limiting investment and preventing losses. It’s very challenging.
The key is to pick up as many men’s game lessons as possible to prevent football teams from adopting more precautionary positions.
related subjects
- Football
- Women’s Football
