Brighton announces plan for purpose-built women's soccer stadium
English club Brighton and Hove Albion announced it plans to build the first purpose-build stadium for women's soccer in Europe, joining two U.S. venues.
Make it a hat trick. Brighton & Hove Albion announced plans Tuesday, April 28, to build a stadium purpose-built for women's soccer, the third such venue in the world and the first in Europe. The venue would sit next to the American Express Stadium, where the men's team currently plays, and would be connected via a bridge.
Plans are for the women's venue to seat a minimum of 10,000 fans and, if they are approved, for the stadium to open no later than the 2030-31 Women's Super League season. "The prospect of a bespoke stadium, built exclusively for women's players, staff and supporters, is incredibly exciting. It is a project that is the first of its kind in the UK and Europe, and one of only three in the world, and will capture the imagination of stakeholders across the women's game, not just here but globally," Zoe Johnson, the club's women's managing director, said in a statement.
Women's teams in England continue to grow in both quality and popularity, which has led teams to get creative about their stadium situations. Chelsea announced earlier this month that its women's team will move to Stamford Bridge, where the men's team plays, after playing the majority of its matches at Kingsmeadow in southwest London. Everton's men's squad moved to a new stadium for the 2025-26 season, with the women's team becoming the main tenant in former venue Goodison Park.
Brighton's proposed setup will look similar to Manchester City, whose women's club plays at Academy Stadium, a more intimate venue near the Etihad Stadium. What stadiums have been built specifically for women's soccer? If all goes according to plan, Brighton's new facility will become the third stadium in the world purpose-built for a women's club.