Alcohol to be allowed at women’s football matches from next season in new trial

Fans will get to drink at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium 

For the first time in 40 years, fans will be allowed to drink alcohol from the stands of top-tier football stadiums in England. 

Seven Women’s Super League teams — including Arsenal, Chelsea, and Man City— have agreed to join a new trial that will allow their fans to drink in the stands next season. 

It comes on the back of a successful trial in the WSL2, the women’s second division in England, that took place last season. 

It involved 51,000 supporters and did not lead to any reported incidents of safety concerns. 

Those running the trial said that there was no noted change in fan behaviour whatsoever. 

The chief operating officer for the Women’s Super League said the scheme was "part of our strategy to offer a best-in-class experience."

Despite the exponential growth of women’s football — estimated to become the world’s fifth largest sport by 2030 — the game's fan culture does not have the same violent reputation that has inflicted the men’s equivalent.

Drinking in stands has been banned since 1985 after studies showed it led to increased rates of hooligan violence. 

However, if the safe consumption of alcohol continues to be a success in women’s football, there is hope that it might eventually be implemented in the men’s game. 

The Football Supporters' Association chair Tom Greatrex said: "We support that process and there's no reason such research couldn't be extended across the men's game too. 

"Of course not every supporter wants a pint in the stands - but we don't believe those who do should be criminalised either."