Man Utd slammed as Sir Jim ‘strikes girls’s group out of coaching constructing for males’
Manchester United‘s women’s team face being moved into portable buildings so the men’s squad can use their training centre.
According to a report in the Guardian, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has decided on the measure while the men’s indoor facilities are being redeveloped. Season-long renovations began this week on a £50m project to overhaul the men’s first team centre at the club’s Carrington training ground.
United said the men’s facilities were “being refurbished to deliver a world-class football facility with a positive culture to support future success”. But fans have reacted with anger to the news the Red Devils’ women’s squad – who lifted the Women’s FA Cup in May – will be shunted into portable accommodation.
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The move is said to have left some female players and staff disappointed, after the £10m state-of-the-art women’s and academy building opened last summer. One fan fumed: “Afterthought again, state of the art facilities built for the women’s team and turfed out at the first opportunity.”
Another angry supporter posted on X: “This is insane.” A third fan added: “This is disgusting, they waited two years to get those facilities and now being moved to accommodate the men!” And a fourth agreed, commenting: “Absolutely disgusting! Jim why don’t you just admit you do not give a trap about the women’s team!”
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(Image: The FA via Getty Images)
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Another livid United fan said: “The new construction of the women’s training centre was widely celebrated as a priority investment in the right area but this decision coupled with their co-owner’s insights the other day just goes to say their women’s section is an afterthought in the end.”
The move comes after co-owner and head of football policy Sir Jim admitted focusing on the men’s side meant he had not yet gone into “detail” on plans for the women’s team. The Guardian reports that United’s men’s team will have priority access to the women’s building throughout 2024-25.
According to their sources, portable buildings will house changing rooms, team meeting rooms, office spaces and communal areas for the club’s women, but they will use the same pitches and canteen as before. It is said United concluded that keeping the women’s team at Carrington, where they can use top class pitches plus fitness and nutrition facilities was preferable to relocating them to a different site.
However, the Guardian says one source suggested there was a growing sense that the women’s team are not perceived as a priority within the club.
