Manchester United boss Marc Skinner has again repeated that he feels the support from the club hierarchy for the women’s team, after further comments by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the announcement of a new stadium to replace Old Trafford.
Ratcliffe has previously come under fire for his stance on the women’s team and attempted to clarify his position earlier this week in an interview with BBC Sport.
Skinner reaffirmed his confidence in the club’s support – and spoke about the possibility of the women’s team playing at United’s future new stadium.
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What did Ratcliffe and Skinner say?
*“What I said at the beginning was my main focus is on the men’s team because that, at the end of the day, is what moves the needle at Manchester United,*” Ratcliffe told the BBC.
“The women’s team is much smaller than the men’s team. Of our £650m of income, £640m of that comes from the men’s team and £10m comes from the women’s team.
“With my business background you tend to focus on the bigger issues before you focus on the smaller issues. But the women’s team wear the Manchester United brand, the Manchester United logo, so in that sense they are every bit as important as the men’s team. And frankly, they are doing better than the men’s team.”
Asked again in a press conference about the future of the women’s team at United, Skinner said: “I’ve said this before and I don’t know if people think I’m lying but I’m clearly not – I feel the support every single day. As an owner, Sir Jim is not going to be on the day-to-day running of our football business. That’s for Omar (Berrada) , Jason (Wilcox), Collette (Roche), for the senior leadership team management, and that’s who I deal with every day.”
“Yesterday I was sat with Jason Wilcox and the data team, who are designing data specifically for the women’s team as well, looking at recruitment. So for us, the noise around it, I don’t feel that.
“I am absolutely convinced that the women’s team has really fantastic place pushing forward with the club.”
United announced plans this week to build a new 100,000 capacity stadium to replace Old Trafford, but the club’s initial announcement did not mention whether the women’s team would play there. They currently play most home games at Leigh Sports Village, a 12,000-seater ground further outside Manchester.
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There was slightly more detail later, in chief executive Omar Berrada’s interview with MUTV.
“So one of the concepts around the design is can we adapt it to open it for games that have a lower attendance? That being said, I would love for a women’s team to be using this stadium as their only stadium. You know, our goal is to grow the fanbase, to grow the level of interest into the women’s team, so that the average attendance for home games goes up to such a level that the team can play there. This is a dream and there’s no reason why we can’t aim for that.”
Skinner confirmed that Leigh would remain United’s home for the time being, with the new stadium proposed to take around five years to complete.
“Beyond that, nobody knows yet really. What has been clear the senior leadership said that and Omar himself, that the future would be for the women’s and men’s team to grace the new build in whatever capacity. We don’t know what that looks like yet, it’s five years away.
“We will be given assurances as we go down the route of that, but whether I’m manager or not I’m looking forward to watching a women’s team play at that fantastic new stadium.”
Read more from Marc Skinner on his contract talks, and his preview of Friday’s match against Liverpool at Anfield, here on FromTheSpot.