I can't believe this discussion is happening again. How hard is it to understand that if you're a straight, white, male at a football match - no matter who you are or who you know - you have absolutely no idea what it's like being a woman/LGBT/PoC at a football match and have no say over whether they should or shouldn't feel safe. As an LGBT+, white male I have no idea how a woman would feel other than what they tell me - and my fiance who has been to one OUFC game told me she was not totally comfortable and did not feel entirely safe unless I was with her. That was in 2018 and she has not been and probably won't go to a game again.
It baffles me that trying to be accommodating, helpful and welcoming to those who need it to feel safe at the football is such a contentious issue. If a woman wants to be loud and boisterous with the blokes in the East Stand - brilliant, all power to them and I hope they sing their hearts out. But just because they want to, doesn't mean all women want to or feel able to - and a safe space for those who want to be away from the boisterousness has no affect on those that want to be. Nobody is saying we have to take away the atmosphere or force people to sit down and shut up - but adding a section in the South Stand or wherever that is designated a "safe zone" where say a single mother with a young, football mad child could go, or someone with autism who may struggle being in with the bulk of the crowd, or a group of young women who otherwise don't feel safe could go - what bloody harm does that do to the white dudes who want to drink and be manly?!
Unfortunately, homophobia and sexism are ingrained within our sport. It's not a majority, and I'm sure most here have never expressed homophobic or sexist sentiments in their life. But when at 15, playing for a local youth team, before I was "out", I was subjected to some vile homophobic abuse from one of the opposition parents - it becomes difficult to feel welcome in the sport. I was a tough tackling left back who tended to go in heavy to make up for the fact I stopped growing at 13, and the dad couldn't take the fact his star right winger son kept getting tackled by this short, skinny kid with long, "girly" hair. So he called me a poof, a bender and a fag for 90 minutes and I went home after that game and wanted to die. I didn't "come out" til I was 19 and that was a big setback and also stopped me attending football matches for a while - I was a regular at Brackley Town attending all home games and had been since I was 11. I didn't go to another game until the 2010 Playoff Final - which thankfully was a major factor in bringing me back to the sport.
I've tended not to really tell that story - but hopefully it puts into perspective that our sport is NOT perfect - and we need to do what we can to help those who love the game, but don't feel welcomed by it, rather than being scared that the status quo will change if we do so.