• FA says that will be tried next season after World Cup success • City v United could be in men’s stadium on 2019-20 opening day

Women’s Super League matches will be played as double-headers alongside Premier League fixtures next season, according to one of the most senior figures in the English game.

The Women’s World Cup has brought a groundswell of interest in women’s football, with 11.7m viewers tuning in to watch Phil Neville’s England side lose to the United States in their semi-final.

Phil Neville insists England must be ruthless to break semi-final barrier Read more

The aim is to build on that, with the biggest WSL clashes of the 2019-20 season set to take place in stadiums usually reserved for male teams. According to Kelly Simmons, the Football Association director of the women’s professional game, fixtures could also take place on the same day as Premier League matches.

“That will be tried as well,” she told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme when asked whether double-headers could be on the agenda. “But even in the standalone games in the men’s stadiums we have already seen when we have done that before a big uplift and a big crossover of fans, so we will see more of that this season.

“We have already announced the fixtures for the first game and you will see coming out of that there will be a series of games in men’s stadiums as part of trying to build an audience.

“We know that there is a massive potential audience of fans coming across from the men’s game and the men’s clubs across to their women’s team, we are seeing very much a one-club ethos.

“There is a massive chance for the game to pull those across this season with the Women’s Super League and get more people coming to games.”

The full WSL fixture list is announced on Wednesday but the opening round of matches was confirmed last week. Manchester City host promoted Manchester United, with the Etihad Stadium potentially the venue for that .

“The opening fixture is Man City v Manchester United and that will be on television and that will be announced [on Monday] where that is,” Simmons said. “It is up to Manchester City to announce where they decide to put that game but there will be a series of fixtures in men’s stadiums and that is going to be fantastic for the women’s game.”

She added: “You will see over the next week a series of announcements around fixtures, around games in men’s stadiums.

“We have really focused on putting top women’s games when there is no men’s football. We have got a series of live games on television across the season and we are hoping fans will come across.”