There’s been plenty of attention on what Sir Jim Ratcliffe said recently about Manchester United’s women’s team, but perhaps not enough focus on one small element of it.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV, United’s new co-owner Ratcliffe was asked if he would consider spinning off his women’s team to a new owner.
“We haven’t got into that level of detail with the women’s football team yet,” he said. “We’ve been pretty much focused on how do we resolve the first-team issues in that environment, and that’s been pretty much full time for the first six months.”
That Ratcliffe seems to have done zero planning when it comes to the women’s team has been rightly criticized, but perhaps the most troubling element of his answer comes from his usage of “first team” as a shorthand for the men’s team.
Manchester United has two first teams: the men’s first team and the women’s first team. To Ratcliffe, there seems to be only one. That isn’t too surprising to anyone who’s paid attention to how United has treated its women’s team over just the past six weeks.
Last month, Manchester United cancelled its traditional end-of-season awards dinner, which was scheduled for May 20, to avoid any potential distractions for the men’s team in the FA Cup final on May 25.
The problem? That awards dinner was for the men’s and women’s team. To make matters worse, nobody at the club even bothered to tell the women about the cancellation. Instead, they found out the way everybody else did: by reading a report in The Athletic.
This week, another indignity: The women’s team is being evicted from their training facility next season to make way for the men, whose own facility is undergoing a £50 million renovation.
Not to worry, though: There will be temporary cabins set up for the women to use for the entirety of the 2024-25 season.
Things have gotten so dire that The Athletic reported the Professional Footballers’ Association is ready to intervene on the players’ behalf.
Unsurprisingly, some of United’s key players aren’t sticking around to see how that process shakes out.
Just this week came the news that Mary Earps is set to leave for PSG, Nikita Parris is expected to depart, Lucía García has signed with Liga MX side Monterrey, while captain Katie Zelem also confirmed her departure.
When the topic of her future came up last month, England goalkeeper Earps told Sky Sports that her decision came down to what kind of plan her current side could provide her.
“I’ve asked the club for some confirmation on what they’re trying to achieve and when I have those answers I’ll be able to make a decision,” she said. “It’s up to the club.”
One month later, she’s on her way out the door. If United continues down the road it’s traveling, there will be even more following her.
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