Brighton Women, Euro 2022 and the Amex

The genie is out of the bottle when it comes to women’s football. The success of the Lionesses at Euro 2022 – such as their two games at the Amex – will change the sport forever and now it is up to WSL clubs including Brighton Women to do their part by building on the legacy of the tournament.

Because it has been bloody brilliant. Speak to anyone lucky enough to watch England Women at the Amex and they will tell you the experience was one of the best there has been at the stadium since it opened 11 years ago.

A carnival atmosphere. A crowd proving that a noise can be made inside the Amex, contrary to popular belief caused by some Brighton games having all the raucousness of the British Library.

Having a home team who wanted to attack and score goals at every opportunity helped, proving that it is as much down to the players on the pitch to spark the crowd as it is the other way around.

Goals, so many goals. England managed in 10 in the space of nine days. It took the Albion nine months and 17 Premier League matches to achieve the same total in 2021-22.

The quarter final against Spain was more tense and dramatic than an evening spent playing online blackjack at https://top-canadiancasinos.com/1-deposit-casinos-canada/. That is what football is all about. Nobody who was there that night will forget the constant release of emotions from the 80th minute onwards.

First when Ella Toone fired in a late equaliser. Then when Georgia Stanway gave Graham Potter kittens by listening to home fans shouting SHOOT from outside the box (and scoring from 30 yards). And then at the final whistle, when the Lionesses’ place in the semi finals was confirmed.

There were children and families from across Sussex at those matches who had never watched a professional game of football in their lives.

Many will be unlikely to return to the Amex for a Brighton Premier League game because of the cost. Taking a family of four is an expensive undertaking, let alone in the middle of a cost of living crisis.

Which is one of the reasons why the women’s game is so important. It is accessible to everyone. People who want to watch do not have to fork out £40 for a matchday ticket or save up £650 for a season ticket.

Those who have been priced out of the men’s game have an alternative. Yes, the quality might not be as good. But the Lionesses have proved that it can be just as much fun, if not more.

Tickets for Euro 2022 were as cheap as £10 adults. Even for the Wembley final, they began at £15. That they are now changing hands for nearly £1000 on secondary sale sites when anyone could have purchased for 1/10th of that price when they went on sale a year ago tells you how successful Euro 2022 has been.

Professional clubs have begun promoting the women’s game more in recent years. Most clubs have started hosting a few WSL matches a season at their men’s stadiums, including Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester City and Manchester United.

Leicester City have gone further, moving their women’s team into the King Power on a full time basis. Reading have used the Select Car Leasing Stadium for several years, whilst clubs further down the pyramid like Birmingham City, Sheffield United, MK Dons and Southampton all play at their men’s grounds.

Brighton Women have played several times at the Amex in the past. The Albion beat Leicester and West Ham United in games played there last season.

Go back to April 2019 and Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and their Arsenal teammates were crowned English champions at the Amex in front of what was at the time a record WSL crowd of 5,265.

The growth in popularity of the women’s game in even the past three years means that has long been surpassed, the current best being the 38,262 who watched the North London Derby between Spurs and Arsenal and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in November 2019. That is certain to be smashed again this season.

Before Euro 2022 kicked off, Brighton committed to hosting two women’s games at the Amex in 2022-23. They have since confirmed that their opening two home fixtures of the campaign against Villa on Sunday 11th September and Reading a fortnight later will be held at the Amex.

Striking whilst the iron is hot is a clever move. If the audience who discovered women’s football at the home of the Albion can be lured back to give the WSL a try in the immediate aftermath of Euro 2022, then Brighton can tap into a whole new market and begin converting them into Seagulls supporters.

Albion in the Community have already reported a huge increase in the number of girls signing up to their football sessions after being inspired by the Lionesses. Putting WSL stars on show at the Amex will help build on the interest in the sport.

With the first two Brighton Women games of the season being held at the Amex, the natural question will be how many more could be hosted at the stadium?

Tony Bloom has poured significant funding into the WSL side, including giving them their own permanent training base at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre with £8 million worth of facilities on a par with the men’s first team.

Yet there remains a major problem when it comes to Brighton Women and their normal home ground – the Broadfield Stadium. No WSL club plays at a stadium further away than the 22 miles separating Falmer and Creepy Crawley.

There is a general reluctance on the part of many people to travel to the Broadfield to watch Brighton Women. Not even people who live in Crawley want to spend a Sunday in Crawley. If you do not drive, the stadium is pretty difficult to reach via public transport.

The result is that Brighton Women attract an average attendance of barely over 1,000 for home WSL matches not held at the Amex.

Pre-Covid, the average across the WSL was 3,000. The FA have set a target of doubling that to 6,000 by 2024 as part of aims to make the league financially self sustainable by 2026.

If Brighton are to realise the FA’s ambitions, then logic suggests they cannot keep playing in Crawley. There remains the possibility that more games could be played at the Amex this season, seeing as the two the club were committed to will take place before the first month of the campaign is out.

It would make little sense to potentially attract big crowds for the Villa and Reading games, build some momentum behind Brighton Women off the back of Euro 2022… and then play the next nine home WSL games at Crawley, reverting to smaller attendances and losing the interest of supporters and families who do not fancy traipsing all the way to the Surrey border on a Sunday afternoon.

The dream scenario would obviously be to hold every Brighton Women game at the Amex. Paul Barber has been pressed on this many times before, citing the reasons behind using Crawley as wear and tear on the pitch and it not being financially viable to use the Amex.

Speaking in September last year, Barber said: “We know Crawley is not ideal in lots of ways. If we can get more matches at the Amex, we will. It is an expensive stadium to open and when we open it and have 2,000-2,500 fans it’s not a cheap exercise.”

“It is difficult to fit every game into this stadium all the time. The demands on the pitch are already quite significant.”

“In the world we are in at the moment it’s the men’s team that generates a significant income that helps us to run the club and sustain women’s football and our academy. We have to prioritise the men’s first team in terms of use of the pitch.”

Only the groundsman could tell you whether the Amex pitch could cope with 11 additional games of women’s football per season, if the Albion were to allow Brighton Women to use it on a permanent basis.

Reading, Sheffield United and Birmingham City amongst others must have pitches that can cope – and all those clubs play at least four additional home men’s matches being in the Championship.

Brentford meanwhile share their Community Stadium with London Irish. 19 Premier League games and 17 professional rugby games played on that surface last year is far more wear and tear than the Amex would go through if every WSL match was played there.

Has the apprentice Matthew Benham finally found an area in which he usurps his former master Bloom – pitch quality and grass management?

There are alternatives to Brighton using the Amex. The club could bring the mini-ground at the Elite Football Performance Centre used for development squad and behind closed doors friendlies up to WSL standards. Manchester City and Bristol City both use stadiums at their training bases.

Welcoming crowds of up to 6,000 people though would be challenging. The club would also have to relax their stringent no photography rules which are in place. Fans who successfully apply for tickets to watch games at the training ground are not allowed to take any pictures.

Those caught doing so are asked to delete them by stewards. The need for secrecy at the Elite Football Performance Centre, the transport issues and the investment needed are all reasons why Lancing is unlikely to host Brighton Women in the WSL anytime soon.

Another argument put forward is that Brighton could develop facilities at a non-league club more local to the city than Crawley and use their ground for WSL and development squad fixtures.

Arsenal have done this by making Boreham Wood their base, who have subsequently risen to the National League for the first time.

This could be a win-win scenario; Brighton help improve a grassroots football stadium for the benefit of the community and a club further down the pyramid at the same time as getting a more accessible venue to play Women and development squad games.

Non league grounds which could be developed in the local area are sadly limited. Lewes have their own team using the Dripping Pan, who play just one division below Brighton Women.

Culver Road in Lancing has a 3G pitch installed at considerable expense by the Sussex FA. It brings a huge amount of income into the county association all year round. Artificial surfaces are not allowed in the WSL.

It would be difficult to secure planning permission to develop somewhere like Burgess Hill, Shoreham, Mile Oak or the dilapidated mess which is Old Barn Way, Southwick up to standard given their close proximity to housing estates.

Grounds like Hassocks and Peacehaven & Telscombe border the South Downs. Newhaven have a 3G going in at Fort Road. Any further afield and you may as well stay at Crawley.

There would be a certain sense of irony if Brighton Women were to make a home at Withdean Stadium after the club spent 12 years trying to escape the Theatre of Trees.

No Albion fans needs reminding of the difficulties faced in trying to get permission to play even music over the tannoy, let alone build stands.

And as nice as it would be to start enjoying a £4.95 all you can eat carvery in The Sportsman before watching a Brighton game again, Withdean was wholly inappropriate for League One football a decade ago. The WSL deserves a better stage.

How about Whitehawk? Not in its current state, obviously with old Withdean seats behind either goal and a pitch which slopes by 90 degrees.

When the Hawks were flying high in National League South, they had ambitious plans to develop the Enclosed Ground into a new stadium. Seriously ambitious, given at the time they barely had a functioning website.

If the Albion were to offer help to make the pipe dream of eight years ago a reality, Albion Women could return to Brighton. Whitehawk get a ground to help push them back up the pyramid and one of the most deprived areas of the city gets investment in a community asset.

There would be transport issues as East Brighton Park is miles from Brighton Station and has limited car parking.

The bigger obstacle to overcome is probably the fallout from when Whitehawk tried to change their name to Brighton City FC at the same time as rebuilding the Enclosed Ground.

Given that the powers that be at the Amex once tried to trademark the 2,600-year-old word Albion, you can only imagine the reaction to another football club wanting to lay claim to the Brighton name. The Albion do not forget such matters easily.

Which brings us back to just one realistic option as a more suitable home for Brighton Women – the Amex. As already noted, pitches at other stadiums are already handling far bigger workloads than the Amex would be under, even if Hope Powell and her squad played all their WSL games at the Amex.

The overriding reason not to use the Amex must therefore be financial. Which means that Brighton supporters and fans of women’s football in general have it within their power to change the club’s position by talking in the language they understand – money.

The more people who buy tickets and spend money at the Amex watching the Women, the less of a financial loss the club makes, the greater chances of more matches being played in Brighton rather than Crawley. If that is not a reason to spend £3.20 on a bag of Starbust, what is?

If 15,000 turn out for the Villa and Reading games, the Women will have attracted bigger crowds than attended the first team’s December fixtures with Wolves and Brentford.

Coming one month off the back of Euro 2022, there has never been a better opportunity for Brighton Women to have a huge attendance at the Amex cheering them on.

If you have enjoyed any aspect of the tournament, then buy a ticket to watch the WSL in September and show the Albion that it is viable to host women’s football at the Amex.

Brighton Women need to come home. If they do, the fanbase will expand. More families and children will be able and want to watch the Albion – especially young girls – and the club will grow in popularity, attracting a new audience from across Sussex.

The board have their reasons for being reluctant to make it happen. It falls on the fans to show them it will be worth it.