Manchester United to offer male sanitary facilities in Premier League first

Manchester United will become the first Premier League club to offer male sanitary facilities.

Sanitary bins and products such as pads will be made available for fans at Old Trafford. It comes as a new study from Prostate Cancer UK and phs Group published on Tuesday found 50 per cent of football fans with male bladder weakness attend fewer games due to a lack of facilities and anxiety about leaks.

One in seven said they had stopped going to games altogether. United have signed up to become the first Gold BOG STANDARD club, the minimum standards Prostate Cancer UK and phs Group are asking organisations to implement to support men with incontinence.

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One in eight men will get prostate cancer, and urinary incontinence (UI) is a side-effect of life-saving treatment for the illness for lots of men. As many as two-thirds (65 per cent) who receive treatment for prostate cancer will become incontinent – some for a few weeks, months or years, while others may live with the condition forever.

Nick Ridgman, head of support services at Prostate Cancer UK, said: "Manchester United’s commitment to supporting men with incontinence is a fantastic step forward and we hope their action will inspire change across the whole football community, from the top of the Premier League to local non-league games.

"By giving men access to the basic facilities they need, we hope more men will feel confident to get back in the game and back to watching live football matches unhampered by their incontinence."

Former BBC sports presenter Steve Rider, who has had prostate cancer himself, added: "Incontinence can become a real social barrier. Imagine going to watch your local football team, you're halfway through the second half and suddenly you feel the need to get rid of something a bit more substantial than your season ticket.

"The ability to do that hygienically, with security and dignity, is so important."