England is undoubtedly the best place in Europe if you are a girl dreaming of playing football at a professional level. The Women’s Premier League is the richest league on the continent and therefore has the highest technical level, but also has clubs that can count on the best and most impressive facilities. Starting, of course, with the stadiums. Some teams – Arsenal and Chelsea, among others – play in the men’s teams’ facilities, but there are also those, like Everton, that have reserved their old home, Goodison Park, for women’s football. Brighton has decided to go even further: to build a new one from scratch, expressly for its women’s team.
The club announced it directly, with a statement. The project, called “Built for Her,” will rise at Bennett’s Field, next to the current Falmer Stadium – the men’s team’s facility. It represents one of the pillars of the club’s strategic vision. The facility will have a minimum capacity of 10,000 spectators, will be connected to the men’s stadium by a pedestrian bridge, and, thanks to the terrain’s configuration, will also integrate underground parking. The goal is to inaugurate it by the 2030/31 season, once urban planning approval is obtained. Currently, the Brighton women’s team plays most of its home games at Broadfield Stadium in Crawley, about 30 kilometers away, but has occasionally been “hosted” at the facility where the men play.
The experience around the match will also be designed with innovation in mind: larger spaces, social areas, easier access for families, music, entertainment, and commercial venues. The managing director of Brighton women’s team, Zoe Johnson, described the project as “a historic moment,” emphasizing how the new stadium will strengthen the club’s ambitions in Women’s Super League and in European competitions, as well as support the growth of the youth academy. In the United States, the model is already a reality: the CPKC Stadium has hosted the Kansas City Currentfor two seasons, while the new club Denver Summit is building a dedicated facility expected for 2028.
The facility is part of a broader strategy for the development of women’s football that has been underway for some time, which has significantly invested in the facilities of the Lancing sports center. As mentioned, while similar models already exist in the USA, in Europe this is a completely new concept. Brighton thus aims to become an infrastructural and cultural reference point for the entire women’s movement. For the owner, businessman Tony Bloom, the plan responds to a growing interest in women’s football and is a way to attract international talent, develop young female players, and strengthen the sense of belonging around the team. The BBC also reports some figures: the total investment will be between 80 and 90 million euros. A considerable amount that accompanies the ten million spent to modernize the training center.