Club name: Manchester United Women
Founding year: 2018
Home stadium: Leigh Sports Village
Training ground: Leigh Sports Village
Current league: Women’s Super League
Current manager: Marc Skinner
Rival clubs: Liverpool, Manchester City
Manchester United Women have enjoyed a rapid rise in a short space of time since the Red Devils finally established a Women’s Super League team in 2018. The men’s side of the club had initially resisted calls to establish a female team until the start of the 2018/19 campaign.
Club name
Owing to the female team emanating from the men’s side of the outfit, Manchester United kept their iconic name with the addition of Women. It is the standard-use feminine parallel to man and is widely used in the female game to differentiate a team from the men’s game.
An official supporters’ club also used to name Manchester United Supporters Club Ladies for multiple decades. But Manchester United split from the fan club in 2005, per The Guardian.
Manchester United’s move to break from the supporter-led club came in contrast to men’s domestic rivals Arsenal and Chelsea. The London duo were investing heavily in the women’s game at the time. But the Red Devils did not follow suit with a club-owned team until 2018.
Founded as: Manchester United Women (2018)
Nickname: The Red Devils
Manchester United Women founding year
Manchester United finally established a women’s team for the 2018/19 season and entered the FA Women’s Championship. Ex-Red Devils executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward stated the side would also carry an identical image and have the same principles as the men’s side.
Woodward said at the time, via quotes by The Guardian: “We believe that launching a team in WSL2 would give many more of our graduates from the regional talent club the chance to establish themselves as first-team players.
“The Manchester United women’s team must be built in the same image and with the same principles as the men’s first-team and offer academy players a clear route to top-level football within the club.”
Home stadium
Manchester United Women play a majority of their home matches at Leigh Sports Village in Greater Manchester. It has been the home venue for the team since their formation back in 2018. While Old Trafford has also hosted the occasional women’s team fixture since 2021.
The team first used the home venue of the men’s team on March 27, 2021 for a Women’s Super League encounter against West Ham United. While Manchester United Women have played further occasional matches away from Leigh Sports Village if the site is unavailable.
First stadium: Leigh Sports Village (2018 – present)
Other stadiums: Old Trafford (2021 – present)
Leigh Sports Village’s capacity: 12,000
Training ground
As well as playing their home games at Leigh Sports Village, the women’s team use it as their training ground. The £50m site is a multi-sports facility that also hosts professional rugby league team Leigh Leopards plus the Red Devils’ Under-21 and Under-19 youth teams.
Manchester United initially intended to redevelop The Cliff for use as their training ground, per ITV. The men’s side had used The Cliff as their training base between 1938 and 2000. But the men’s team moved to the Trafford Training Centre in Carrington as their base.
Location: Leigh, Greater Manchester
Manchester United Women current league
Manchester United currently play in the Women’s Super League, which is the top-flight of the female game in England. The team secured promotion into the division for only their second season in existence. They won the Championship title during their first season.
Current league: Women’s Super League (2019 – present)
Previous league: FA Women’s Championship (2018 – 2019)
Manchester United Women current manager
The club appointed Marc Skinner as their latest manager in July 2021. He replaced Casey Stoney at the helm following her resignation after three years in charge. The Red Devils hired Skinner on an initial two-year contract to the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
The club also hold an option to extend Skinner’s contract by a further 12 months until 2024. He took over the Red Devils’ women’s team after two years in charge of Orlando Pride. The 40-year-old was also previously the manager of Birmingham City Ladies from 2016 to 2019.
Current manager: Marc Skinner (2021 – 2023 expected)
Manchester United Women contact details
Website: www.manutd.com/en/news/women
Contact numbers: Full list here
Email: [email protected]
Address: Leigh Sports Village, Sale Way, Leigh, WN7 4JY
Manchester United Women tickets
Fans wishing to attend Manchester United Women matches at Leigh Sports Village can buy tickets through the club’s official website. Tickets are also available for select away fixtures.
Supporters can also buy season tickets and matchday hospitality packages for Manchester United Women games on the club’s website. But Leigh Sports Village states that all tickets must be pre-purchased to be scanned on a compatible mobile device or printed at home.