The Football Association’s Baroness Sue Campbell is ‘optimistic’ some crowds may be allowed at next season’s Women’s Super League, as well as other sports.

Campbell was speaking to the media after the conclusion of a four-year FA campaign to grow the women’s game in England, which has been hit this year by the coronavirus pandemic.

“You’ll see these protocols keep on shifting over the next few weeks, I think,” said the FA’s head of women’s football.

“I do think we will see spectators coming back, in what number and how, it’s still to be agreed.

“We’re working with the government and other team sports to try and get some consistency in what we’re all doing.

“Im fairly optimistic we might be able to open and not play behind closed doors, but the government changes the rules so regularly, it’s kind of hard to keep pace.

“I’m not saying it’s definite, but it’s certainly on our list. For all the team sports, it’s critical really that we get people eventually back into the grounds.”

The new Women’s Super League is set to begin on the weekend of September 2-6, after the 2019-20 season was curtailed due to the global health crisis with Arsenal finishing third, Tottenham seventh and West Ham eighth.

When asked how worried she was about the pandemic’s impact on the women’s game, Campbell added: “I’m not worried. Everybody is facing a setback, let’s be clear about that.

“But I feel we consulted very carefully with clubs. I know there’s a sense some of the momentum has been lost but if we come back in the right way, we’ll regain that momentum quickly I think.”