Safety at a football stadium has never had a universal meaning for match-goers. The expectations differ between demographics, especially genders. While men routinely gather for an afternoon of matchday gaiety without concerns over safety, women such as myself find ourselves praying for it on the terraces.
Football sadly has a way of highlighting the worst elements of society. One minute you feel heartened there is a sense of solidarity over racial discrimination, sexual and gender discrimination. But in the next moment, the game makes you feel uncomfortable in your own skin.
There is a clear disparity in the lifestyle and culture of match-going fans in men's and women's football. The men’s game is home to more of the hardcore, laddish fan culture, whereas the women’s game has become a haven of a calmer more family-orientated atmosphere. Those laddish men may not be interested in being a part of the women's game but it does not mean women should not be made welcome in the men's game.
