The Amex could host men’s-women’s double headers in 2019-20
If you’ve ever dreamt of being able to watch Maty Ryan and Laura Rafferty play for Brighton and Hove Albion in the same stadium on the same day, then 2019-20 could be the best football season of your life.
Premier League and Women’s Super League double headers are set to take place in the coming campaign as the FA look to capitalise on the explosion of interest in women’s football brought about by this summer’s World Cup.
The FA’s Director of Women’s Football, Kelly Simmons, told the BBC that double headers “will be tried” and there will be a “series” of stand-alone games at grounds that host men’s teams in order to try and build a new audience for women’s football in light of the 11.7 million people who watched England’s semi-final loss to the USA.
Brighton are ahead of the curve a little bit in regards the women’s team using the Amex. Hope Powell’s Albion side hosted Arsenal there back in May when the Gunners were crowned WSL champions thanks to a 4-0 in front of a record crowd for the league of 5,265.
By the sounds of Simmons’ comments, the FA are looking to make events like that a more regular occurrence. That can only be a good thing as the most off putting thing about watching the Albion’s women’s team at the minute is it involves spending a Sunday in Crawley, something we wouldn’t wish on our worst enemy.
Of more interest though is the concept of the double header. Presumably, on the same day that say Graham Potter’s side are due to take on Manchester City for example, the Albion’s women side would take on the same opponents either before or after the Brighton men have done their thing.
A ticket would be valid for both games. Nobody would be forced to attend the women’s fixture, which should prevent those who have an irrational hatred of the sport having a complete and utter meltdown.
Those who do want to take a curious glance (or in some cases, a bloody good perve) at the women’s game would be able to do so at no extra cost. Those who don’t can remain in the sanctuary of the bars.
This seems like a good idea from a fans point of view. We’d certainly be interested in seeing Steph Houghton, Kiera Walsh and Georgia Stanway on the same day as Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling tear the men apart.
From the club’s point of view, Profit Paul Barber is probably rubbing his hands together with glee already at the idea.
Two games being played on the same day could result in a significant increase in pie and pint sales as supporters who wish to watch both matches spend between two to three hours longer at the Amex than they normally would.
Arsenal are already giving the double header idea a go at this year’s Emirates Cup where the Gunners’ women’s team will take on their Bayern Munich counterparts before the men face Olympique Lyonnais.
More on the idea of Premier League/WSL double headers is expected to be revealed when the WSL fixtures are announced this Wednesday.
That’s when we’ll see which potential games could be played as double headers by comparing the women’s fixtures with the men’s Premier League fixtures, which were released at the start of June.
We’ll be keeping on an eye on developments with keen interest.
