21 Sep 2009New Nottingham Forest stadium to focus on women's football

Football Clubs News | Football Technology and Stadia

Nottingham Forest's planned new stadium could become the main venue for women's football in England, chief executive Mark Arthur has said.

Arthur has revealed that the club envisages creating a "Wembley for women" by building the 45,000-seater stadium in the Gamston area, just one mile from the City Ground.

The Championship club's current home staged the FA Women's Cup final in 2008, when a record crowd of 24,582 watched Arsenal beat Leeds United 4-1.

Speaking to the Guardian, Arthur explained: "We would want the new stadium to have a lasting legacy and a strong part of that would be the hosting of major fixtures in the women's game.

"Wembley is probably too big for women's football so we would aim to set ourselves up as the Wembley for women."

The plan for a new football stadium in Gamston also forms part of Nottingham's bid to be a host city at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

However, a dispute between Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council over the development is threatening to derail the bid, as the county authority owns some of the land and does not support the plans.

Written by Paul Roberts

© Copyright