Fans praise Arsenal player for getting drinks in

Football fans who travelled to see a cancelled away game have been toasting Lotte Wubben-Moy after she bought them all a drink.

Arsenal had been due to play Brighton on Sunday but the match was called off due to a frozen pitch.

But Gunners defender Lotte warmed supporters’ hearts when she started a tab at the New Moon pub in Crawley.

Fans Lulu Eude and Izzie Larché were there and say Lotte has “the heart of an angel”.

The Women’s Super League (WSL) fixture was one of three cancelled at short notice in the cold weather.

“I think she knew how disappointing it was for us to travel and there’s been no game,” 25-year-old Izzie tells BBC Newsbeat.

“She didn’t have to do that but it just goes to show what a great person she is.”

Lulu and Izzie were already on their way when they heard the match had been postponed two hours before kick-off.

Arsenal’s supporters’ club arranged the pub visit, and Lotte announced on Twitter that fans could “get a cranberry juice and crisps on me”.

Although Izzie and Lulu say it was “mostly beers” that were ordered.

Lulu, 20, says the vibe in the pub was brilliant as a result and that “Gooner at heart” Lotte is “always putting in extra thought for the fans”.

While they didn’t get to watch the WSL game, the group was able to watch the men’s team net a tight 3-2 victory over Manchester United on the pub TV.

“We were obviously disappointed with what happened but I think we got lucky in the scheduling,” says Izzie.

“The fact that the men’s game was on and it was such a great game.

“Lotte paying for our drinks definitely boosted the spirits.”

Other fans weren’t so lucky – Chelsea’s game against Liverpool was stopped six minutes in after the pitch was likened to “an ice rink”.

Katy Duffy, a Liverpool fan from Birmingham, had travelled down to London – even paying for a hotel to get to the game in good time.

“It was like Bambi on ice out there,” she says. “I’m not sure how it ever got to the point where they thought it could be played.

“It was really frustrating,” she says, adding it was the second time this season a Liverpoool game has been called off due to a frozen pitch.

It’s sparked renewed calls for clubs to have undersoil heating to allow women’s teams to continue to play in cold weather.

Currently only four clubs – Manchester City, Manchester United, Leicester City and Reading – do.

“The women deserve the same situation the men would be in,” says Katy. “And I don’t believe that a men’s game would be called off five minutes in.”

Lotte says “changes need to be made” and Izzie and Lulu agree.

“We’re really trying to grow the league and grow the sport and it’s a shame that something like this can happen,” says Izzie.

“Having issues with undersoil heating shouldn’t be a massive question at this point for the most senior league in the women’s game in this country.”

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