Brighton & Hove Albion has confirmed plans for the UK and Europe’s first purpose-built women’s football stadium — a landmark commitment that puts the city at the forefront of the global women’s game and adds another piece to Tony Bloom’s long-term vision for the club.
A 10,000-seat home next to the Amex
The stadium will be built on Bennett’s Field, the site immediately next to the American Express Stadium that the club strategically acquired during 2025. A bridge will connect the two grounds, giving Brighton’s women’s team a permanent home of their own while keeping fans linked to the wider Albion site. Designed by architecture studio KSS, the stadium will have a minimum capacity of 10,000 — sized in line with Women’s Super League regulations and what chief executive Paul Barber called the club’s “right-sizing” philosophy: build for sustainable fan growth, not vanity.
The cost is between £75 million and £80 million, fully funded by Tony Bloom without external investment. Construction is targeted to deliver the stadium in time for the 2030/31 season, subject to planning approvals from Brighton & Hove City Council and Lewes District Council.
Built for her, not adapted for her
The point of the project is in the name. Most women’s football grounds across England and Europe are men’s stadiums shared part-time, or adapted facilities that were never designed with female athletes or female-leaning fan bases in mind. Bespoke changing rooms, recovery spaces, pitch surfaces, family-friendly concourses, social areas — all of this gets compromised when the venue was designed for someone else.
Brighton’s stadium will be one of only three in the world built specifically for women’s football, alongside Kansas City’s CPKC Stadium in Missouri and the planned Denver Summit ground in Colorado. It will be the first in the UK or Europe.
Women’s Super League chief executive Nikki Doucet said the project sends “a strong message about the commitment, belief and value that does exist in the women’s game.” Brighton forward Fran Kirby — one of the most decorated English players of her generation — said the club’s investment in research-led design for women’s injuries and recovery makes the project genuinely different from anything else in the league.
A statement of where Brighton sits in the women’s game
Albion Women have climbed steadily under Bloom’s ownership, finishing fifth last season — their best ever — and currently sitting sixth in the WSL under Dario Vidosic. Combined with the men’s team’s push for European football this season and Fabian Hürzeler’s new long-term contract, the women’s stadium announcement caps a remarkable few weeks for the club’s strategic ambition.
For Brighton & Hove, this is more than a football story. It’s local construction jobs, apprenticeships, training opportunities, and a venue that will draw global attention to the city for the next two decades. Tony Bloom has rebuilt one football club from the brink. With Built For Her, he is now building the future of another.
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