Plans for unisex toilets at Old Trafford

[WrongSideOfHistory]

Not overjoyed about the plans, but some of the replies have given me faith in common sense at least
https://twitter.com/mennewsdesk/status/1047743180773445633

This really upsets me. I spent many, many years attending OT as a young woman and I would’ve hated to have shared toilet facilities with men. I still go from time to time and I would still hate it to be honest. There’s a lot of drinking and bad language and the men’s toilets is no place for a young girl.

At OT the Dads tend to send the girls in and the women in the queues look after them. I imagine it's the same at other stadiums.

The problem for me with trying to fit additional toilets into each section (if, indeed, that's what they propose, rather than making each toilet area unisex - which I'm betting is the proposal) is that when everyone emerges at half-time and full time it's already very crowded in each section as it is.

My Dad started taking me to football from a young age, and always sent me into the women's toilets and I felt safe. A lot of women bring their sons in with them too and no one bats an eye lid.
Having an additional provision of gender neutral toilets on top of the single sex ones would be ideal but having been to a lot of football grounds, I don't know where they'd put them. The concourses are always packed at half time, I just don't see where the additional space would be without taking from existing facilities.

Hmmm if you read the article it stated that a fan brought it up at the AGM. United have said they will 'look in to it'.
So no they are not doing it ... sensationalist headlines ... I very much doubt it will happen.

For those who have come across a guy peeing in the ladies or gender neutral loos with the door open...for gods sake say something! If we don’t complain and establish boundaries it will only get worse. A sharp ‘shut the door or else I will report you as a flasher’ is surely appropriate? And yes I know, men in small spaces etc but we have to be brave and pick our moment. In a busy theatre I would feel fine to challenge.

From a purely business point of view I think they’d be insane to go fully unisex. Compared to some other grounds I’ve been to I would say they have a relatively high proportion of female supporters and I can’t see them wanting to risk the publicity of a woman being assaulted. I don’t know the practicalities as well as posters like Vicky but if any club have got the space then surely they have?

Like I’ve said, I’ll reserve judgement. I’ve always supported third spaces as long as it doesn’t impact on women’s spaces so, if they can do this properly then good for them.

Tran United 🤣

For those who have come across a guy peeing in the ladies or gender neutral loos with the door open...for gods sake say something! If we don’t complain and establish boundaries it will only get worse. A sharp ‘shut the door or else I will report you as a flasher’ is surely appropriate? And yes I know, men in small spaces etc but we have to be brave and pick our moment. In a busy theatre I would feel fine to challenge. Absolutely agree and I think it is for women such as me who are - ahem- older to do this so our teenage daughters don't have to.

She said she’s going to write to the board & complain. Do you remember Samira Ahmed having the same problem at the Barbican (not the open door but mixed loos)?

I can’t imagine any woman wanting to share toilets with men at a football match. I used to go to The Hawthornes with my dad and he said the toilets were disgusting, piss all over the floor and shit all over the toilets, the floor, and up the walls.. Manure would be out of their minds if they went unisex, women would never go again.

Just to add that the women's toilets at Old Trafford - at least in our section - are kept scrupulously clean throughout the match. They're as good when I go at the end as they are when I go before the match.

I cannot, of course, speak for the men's...

Vitality Stadium here, though I also go to a reasonable of away matches. (Love the Vine pub near the Hawthorns!)

It is really remarkable how often men get up to go to the loo. Each half is only 45 minutes, yet there is constant movement in the stands. My assumption is that most people have drunk several pints before the game, and the kidneys have started flushing it all out.

Would I want to share a toilet with pissed up male supporters. No, really not. I would be careful not to drink anything beforehand. And it would put me off attending away matches, where cars and supporters coaches go straight to the ground, with no chance for a loo break.

The women’s toilets are very clean at OT.
I worry about young women having to share that space with men. Same goes for men. My elderly Dad would be horrified to have to pee in front of women.

"Hmm, how can we make women going to games feel even less welcome than they already do?"

Just to add that the women's toilets at Old Trafford - at least in our section - are kept scrupulously clean throughout the match. They're as good when I go at the end as they are when I go before the match.

They are, it's something that I always notice, probably because it's such a rarity to see women's public toilets being kept so clean.

I'm a regular at OT and I wouldn't want to have to use a unisex toilet. Not quite sure how it'd work anyway unless they got rid of at least some of the single sex blocks (or should that be single gender?) as the concourses don't have a huge amount of spare space and can get pretty crowded pre-match and at half time.

The womens’ at The Hawthornes are kept clean as well. There’s always a massive queue to get in though, so if facilities went unisex the urinals would have to go. Even if they converted all the mens’ to cubicals they’d still need more, because two or three men can use a urinal in the time it takes for a woman to use a cubical, esp if taking a small child or menstruating. I doubt blokes with bulging bladders from all that Fosters are going to be willing or able to queue for most of half time for a piss. I predict a lot of piss filled bottles rolling around the stands, or being tipped over the heads of the away supporters. When we used to play Wolves away we got the bottom section of a two tier stand. All sorts of unspeakable fluids would rain down from above all match long. I wouldn’t go after that. It was bad enough getting to and from the ground, but then to be covered in piss during the match as well... It’s a good job we thrashed them, or I’d have been really pissed off. Maybe they like their shirts so much they wanted ours to be piss coloured as well. Anyway...

I'm a regular at OT and I wouldn't want to have to use a unisex toilet. Not quite sure how it'd work anyway unless they got rid of at least some of the single sex blocks (or should that be single gender?) as the concourses don't have a huge amount of spare space and can get pretty crowded pre-match and at half time.

My points exactly.

Vicky I suppose that if this were to go ahead then the club would think along the lines that more men go to a match than women so it’d be our toilets which would be sacrificed. I can’t think of any way that they could fit in a separate unisex block, all wall space is built into already with the bars, bookies, programme sellers and existing toilets.

Badstyley you made me smile about the shirts. I’m a Midlander and my town is full of Wolves supporters I had to get the train home from OT the other week after we drew with them, it was rammed with them and you’d have thought they’d won the World Cup.

I had to get the train home from OT the other week after we drew with them, it was rammed with them and you’d have thought they’d won the World Cup.

My favourite away supporters' song at OT is "We support our local team" - sung by people from a club which attracts at best 25K supporters when they're at home, to a club which gets more than 70K to every, single home Premier League game. The notion that the vast majority of those are not from Manchester is hilarious.

I suppose that if this were to go ahead then the club would think along the lines that more men go to a match than women so it’d be our toilets which would be sacrificed

A surprising proportion of Bournemouth supporters are women, children, the elderly or disabled. Perhaps that comes from not having the normal industrial northern working class club history. It regularly seems to take other clubs by surprise, so queues for female security can be long. Queues for the women's loos at Swansea last season were epic, probably 30 minutes. They got relegated. Lets hope Cardiff are better.

I am just trying to imagine the chants, should Man Utd loos go gender neutral. At least that would raise a smile.