It is surprising how a club of the stature of Manchester United didn’t have a proper women’s team till 2018. In March, 2018 United announced their intentions to reintroduce their women’s team. The Manchester United Women’s team was back on the radar after a thirteen year long absence with Casey Stone being appointed as the club’s first official coach. The club went on to qualify for the Women’s Super League (WSL), the highest tier of women’s football, following a successful season in 2018-19.
Roll over to last season and Casey Stone led United to finish fourth in the WSL, missing Champions League qualification by a single point. Having secured immediate promotion to the WSL in her debut season, Casey guided the team to back-to-back fourth place finishes in the following two seasons. It is safe to say that Casey did an incredible job with the team. However, at the end of last season, Casey Stone decided to step down.
In a statement, Casey said “It has been an honor to lead the women’s team at this great club and this has been an incredibly tough decision. Having come on board to start the team from scratch, then winning the Women’s Championship in our first season, we have now successfully established the team as a force in the Women’s Super League.”
However, there’s more to Casey Stone’s resignation, than what meets the eye. Soon after her resignation, the Telegraph and Mail reported that Casey Stone was unhappy with the support structure and facilities at the club. The report states “Players were unable to shower in between training and meals before makeshift portacabins were installed while the nearest toilets are a 10-minute walk from their training pitch. Their gym is also in a tented facility.” She also felt that her team’s budget also wasn’t enough to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea at the top of the WSL.
These reports are shocking and embarrassing for a club like Manchester United, who pride themselves in having such a huge amount of investment and global following. Following the European Super League (ESL) debacle , Joel Glazer had written an open letter to the fans in which he said “ We recognise that we will need to significantly increase in Old Trafford and our training complex to ensure that the club’s facilities remain among the best in Europe.”
It can be undoubtedly claimed that Manchester United’s training facilities are not even among the top 5 in England, let alone Europe. Serious issues need to addressed here. Given the reputation of the Glazers as money-grabbing vultures, the current state of the women’s team only goes on to justify this reputation that the Glazers only invest in what they see as revenue-generating streams. Sadly, even in this age of gender equality and gender inclusion in sports, women’s football is still not seen by the Glazers as a source to generate revenue due to less popularity, less viewership, etc.
Following the resignation of Casey Stone, the club has still failed to appoint a replacement for nearly two months. The failure to appoint a manager has left the squad without any proper leadership. Manchester United Women’s team has now written to the PFA, seeking assistance to improve the club’s approach to the women’s team. In a summer when United are spending millions to improve their men’s team, the lack of investment in the women’s team and the lack of urgency to appoint a manager only reinforces our belief regarding the Glazers’ mentality and attitude towards the women’s team.
Image source : Twitter
It’s not just the Manchester United authority who have shown a sense of negligence towards women athletes but , in a recent promotional material featuring the new 20-21 Manchester United kit, Adidas referred to the current United Women’s team player, Millie Turner as Amy Turner. Millie Turner tweeted a message accompanying the screenshots: “Considering I’ve been at Manchester United for three years and an Adidas athlete for two… You’d like to think Adidas would get my name right.” Subsequently, Adidas apologised to Millie Turner and removed their post. Also, Adidas promised to deliver free kits to some of Millie’s biggest fans.
In 2001, the Manchester United Women’s team began to stagnate after a series of mid-table finishes. The Glazers takeover in 2005 saw the complete disbandment of the Women’s team because the Glazers considered them not to be a part of ‘core business’ and unprofitable. Fifteen years down the line, the women’s team is again facing a similar crisis and do run the risk of disbandment once again. A lot of work has been done in recent years to make football a gender-inclusive sport. Women’s football is on the rise again. However, the owners of Manchester United football club still continue to neglect women’s football. Manchester United Women’s team is still at infancy and without proper investment, this team might , once again , meet the same fate as the 2005 team.
– Sayan Chakraborti
The Sport Catalogue 