Women's Super League (WSL) Football has unveiled design guidelines to support the building or upgrading of venues for women's teams.
The guidelines have been produced to help clubs, local authorities and architects achieve this, with the aim of venues becoming "better equipped" for both female athletes and fans.
A WSL Football statement said: "The rapid growth of the women's game has demonstrated that football venues, which have historically been built and designed for the male player and fan, need to be better equipped to cater towards the specific needs of female athletes and supporters to create a welcoming and inclusive environment, and consequently become spaces that serve everyone regardless of their gender."
Following a consultation, part of the framework includes focusing on female-friendly changing rooms and toilets as well as providing parent and guardian areas, including family toilets and breastfeeding areas. The recommendation is for 45% male toilets and 45% female, with 10% gender neutral.
Appropriate changing areas for teams are also considered along with separate changing facilities for female and male managers and staff, with accessibility provisions for disabled supporters also highlighted.
Additionally, the guidelines include the provision of "safe and well-lit" travel routes to stadiums and consideration for environmental impacts.
Hannah Buckley, head of safety, sustainability and infrastructure for WSL Football, said: "We're thrilled to unveil this document - it was acknowledged that female-specific stadiums were a blind spot in the industry, and the willingness of our stakeholders to come together with their expertise and insights has been inspiring.
"We have a 10-year stadia strategy at WSL Football and this guidance is one element of that - we want to unlock main stadiums, enhance current assets, and then support our clubs in building new stadiums.
"The rapid growth of the women's game in recent years has merely highlighted the need for the latter, and to have those spaces designed with the needs of female athletes and fans at the heart of it.
"For ourselves as a league, it is critical that new infrastructure is a part of our clubs' future plans. To allow the game to continue to grow, stadium primacy - and venues built through the lens of our players - is key, and our hope is that this guidance will be a catalyst for change moving forwards."
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