Bar dedicated to women's sports 'a UK first'

A bar dedicated to women's sports has opened, claiming to be the first of its kind in the UK.

Crossbar Brighton opened on Friday, with table bookings on its opening night being booked out in four minutes, its owners said.

Founders Lucy and Pippa Tallant said: "With many women's events hidden behind paywalls and limited places to watch them publicly, that community can only grow so far."

They added: "Crossbar is about removing those barriers, creating a place where you know your team will be on, where you can celebrate or commiserate together in a space designed around women and non-binary fans, while still welcoming everyone."

Crossbar prioritises women's sport, but men's sport will also be shown, the married couple added.

They said: "We wanted a space that was everything we look for in a bar – women's sport, good wine and a great place to hang out.

"Those things exist separately in Brighton, but we couldn't find one place that brought them all together.

"If we couldn't find it, we thought other people might not be able to either. So, we decided to create it."

The site will also offer its function rooms for free to grassroots teams for meetings and post-match socials.

The founders said that they wanted to open the bar in Brighton as it was "one of the most sociable, laid-back and accepting cities in the country".

Crossbar is also the only venue outside of former England football player Jill Scott and partner Shelley Unitt's Manchester coffee shop to serve Boxx2Boxx Coffee, they added.

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