Manchester United Women are set to kick off their new season in September with several changes.
Changes
They have lost a number of senior players, including Melvine Malard, Lisa Naalsund, Millie Turner and Leah Galton, to name a few.
They have also brought in a couple of players, such as Spaniard Andrea Medina and German Janina Leitzig.
The club will also not be competing in the Champions League next season, in spite of a brave run to the quarter-finals last year that was ended by Bayern Munich.
This is because they did not finish in the top three last season in the Women’s Super League.
Last season was also historic, as the Women’s side reached the final of the League Cup for the first time but sadly lost 0-2 to their old nemesis Chelsea, denying the Red Devils their second ever trophy.
Tournament update
As United’s season will be focused only on domestic competitions next season, they will of course compete in the league and the FA Cup.
The third trophy that Marc Skinner’s side will be aiming to win is the League Cup, but it will have a different name from previous seasons.
The club’s official website reports, “Manchester United will compete in the first edition of the Subway Players Cup this season, which has taken over from the Women’s League Cup with a new name and format.”
The site continues, “as announced by WSL Football on Tuesday morning, the changes to the competition have been done to prioritise player welfare and come following a comprehensive format review, which included consultation with clubs, players and fans.”
Alterations
A new Swiss-style league phase will be introduced instead of the old group stage, with fixtures drawn by region.
Consequently, teams will play a minimum of six games instead of the previous three. This is designed so that all teams and non-international players get the opportunity to play more games and not become “undercooked”.
Another major change is that, “clubs who have qualified for the UEFA Champions League will not participate, and this is a reason for the tournament’s reposition, as it will no longer feature every side from the Barclays Women’s Super League and Barclays Women’s Super League 2.”
Therefore, United will be the highest-ranking team in the competition after their fourth-place finish last season. As a result, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City will not be involved, meaning that there will definitely be a new winner of the competition.
Format
United will start as one of 22 teams all in the same league, and the first eight teams will qualify, with three home fixtures and three away.
The site also confirms that, “games are due to be scheduled primarily during Champions League match rounds and will be announced at 12:00 BST on Thursday 6 August.”
Further changes include that the “league-phase ties will take place between September and December, with three points available for a win. If a game is level after 90 minutes, a penalty shootout will take place immediately, with two points going to the winner and one to the loser.”
Featured image Ben Roberts Photo via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.
