2018–19 Manchester United W.F.C. season

The 2018–19 season was Manchester United Women's inaugural season following the club's successful application to join the newly-formed FA Women's Championship[1] after a league restructuring.[2] The club also competed in the FA Cup and League Cup. The team played their home games at Leigh Sports Village, while the training ground at The Cliff undergoes redevelopment.

Manchester United Women
2018–19 season
Co-chairmenJoel and Avram Glazer
ManagerCasey Stoney
StadiumLeigh Sports Village
FA Women's Championship1st
Women's FA CupQuarter-finals
FA Women's League CupSemi-finals
Top goalscorerLeague: Jessica Sigsworth (17 goals)
All: Jessica Sigsworth (18 goals)
Highest home attendance4,835
(vs. Reading, 25 August)
Lowest home attendanceLeague: 1,401
(vs. Aston Villa, 17 April)
All: 686
(vs. Durham, 5 December, League Cup)
Average home league attendance2,180

Pre-season

In March 2018, Manchester United announced their intentions to enter a women's team into the second tier of the 2018–19 season.[3] Their application was confirmed in May and they were announced as one of four new teams to enter the division alongside Charlton Athletic, Leicester City and Lewes F.C.[1]

On 8 June 2018, former England international Casey Stoney was announced as head coach.[4] The full 21-player squad was revealed in July[5] and included the return of Katie Zelem, Emily Ramsey, Naomi Hartley, Fran Bentley, Millie Turner, Kirsty Hanson and Ella Toone who were all previously part of the club's Girls' Regional Talent Club and Centre of Excellence.

United's first game was a behind-closed-doors friendly against Liverpool on 15 July. The game had to be abandoned after goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain was taken to hospital with a suspected serious neck injury which was later confirmed not as serious as first thought.[6]

FA Women's Championship
Main article: 2018–19 FA Women's Championship

Matches

On 1 August 2018, the FA Women's Championship announced the fixtures for the 2018–19 season.[7] The team confirmed promotion to the FA WSL on 17 April 2019 after victory over Aston Villa with three games to spare. Three days later, they clinched the Championship title with a win at home to Crystal Palace.

Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance League
position
9 September 2018 Aston Villa A 12–0 James (2) 10', 23', Sigsworth (5) 25', 33', 35', 49', 61' Zelem 28' (pen.), Hanson (2) 54', 59', Green 66', Toone 68' 1,165 1st
20 September 2018 Sheffield United H 3–0 Zelem 12' (pen.), Hanson 40', Arnot 64' 2,003 1st
23 September 2018 London Bees A 5–0 Green (2) 17', 55', James 27', M.Turner 44', Toone 78' 642 1st
30 September 2018 Durham H 0–0 2,244 1st
14 October 2018 Charlton Athletic H 3–0 Zelem 16', Sigsworth 64', Arnot 75' 2,349 1st
28 October 2018 Leicester City A P–P Postponed following the Leicester City F.C. helicopter crash the previous day
4 November 2018 Tottenham Hotspur H 4–1 James 10', Sigsworth (2) 19', 41', Devlin 81' 2,367 2nd
18 November 2018 Crystal Palace A 5–0 Arnot (2) 17', 55', Green (2) 59', 83', Greenwood 75' (pen.) 975 2nd
25 November 2018 Millwall Lionesses H 8–0 James 16', Green (3) 32', 38', 49', Zelem 36', Toone 58', Sigsworth 71', Greenwood 79' (pen.) N/A 1st
2 December 2018 Lewes A 2–0 Green 48', Toone 81' 1,958 1st
9 December 2018 Durham A 1–3 Toone 43' 912 1st
6 January 2019 London Bees H 9–0 Devlin (2) 2', 56', Toone (2) 29', 66', Arnot 40', Green 42', James (2) 68', 72', Zelem 78' 1,889 1st
13 January 2019 Charlton Athletic A A–A Match abandoned at 1–0 on medical grounds following injury to Kerr
10 February 2019 Aston Villa H P–P Rescheduled due to Aston Villa's FA Cup commitments
13 February 2019 Leicester City A 7–0 Toone (4) 15', 17', 66' (pen.), 88', Hanson 52', Greenwood 54', Johnston 85' (o.g.) 824 2nd
20 February 2019 Sheffield United A 4–0 Zelem 1', James 27', Toone 41' (pen.), Green 51' 1,008 2nd
10 March 2019 Leicester City H 6–1 Green 17', James 22', Hanson 44', Toone 48', Sigsworth (2) 67', 84' 1,554 2nd
24 March 2019 Charlton Athletic A 2–1 Zelem 57' (pen.), Sigsworth 63' 732 1st
31 March 2019 Tottenham Hotspur A 5–1 Zelem (2) 3', 10' (pen.) Green 46', Sigsworth 81', Galton 87' 1,607 1st
17 April 2019 Aston Villa H 5–0 M. Turner 6', Greenwood 21' (pen.), Sigsworth 35', Toone 49', Devlin 73' 1,401 1st
20 April 2019 Crystal Palace H 7–0 James (4) 9', 83', 85', 90', Arnot 33', Galton 35', Sigsworth 46' 2,112 1st
28 April 2019 Millwall Lionesses A 5–0 Zelem 7' (pen.), A. Turner 12', Devlin 23', Harris 29' (pen.), Sigsworth 77' 1,920 1st
11 May 2019 Lewes H 5–0 James 12', Sigsworth 34', Galton 68', Palmer 75', A. Turner 79' 3,702 1st

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Manchester United (C, P) 20 18 1 1 98 7 +91 55 Promotion to the WSL[lower-alpha 1]
2 Tottenham Hotspur (P) 20 15 1 4 44 27 +17 46
3 Charlton Athletic 20 13 2 5 49 21 +28 41
4 Durham 20 11 6 3 37 16 +21 39
5 Sheffield United 20 11 1 8 35 31 +4 34
Source: FA WSL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted.
Notes:
  1. Dependent on obtaining a licence.

Women's FA Cup
Main article: 2018–19 Women's FA Cup

Manchester United entered the Women's FA Cup in the fourth round with the rest of the top two tiers and were drawn against WSL side Brighton & Hove Albion.[8] Lauren James' brace earned United a 2–0 win[9] to put them in the draw for the fifth round. They were drawn against fellow Championship side London Bees who United had already scored 14 goals against across their two league meetings. United progressed to the quarter-finals with a 3–0 win and were drawn against Reading to set up the second cup meeting between the two teams after Reading triumphed in the WSL Cup Group Stage earlier in the season. The WSL side triumphed for a second time, taking United to extra-time after a goalless 90 minutes before eventually winning 3–2 with Rakel Hönnudóttir's late winner coming in the 120+2 minute.[10]

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
3 February 2019 Round 4 Brighton & Hove Albion A 2–0 James (2) 51', 90+2 764
17 February 2019 Round 5 London Bees H 3–0 Toone 27', Green 33', Devlin 87' 838
17 March 2019 Quarter-final Reading A 2–3 (a.e.t.) Greenwood 98' (pen.), Harding 107' (o.g.) 951

FA Women's League Cup
Main article: 2018–19 FA Women's League Cup

Group stage

Manchester United were entered into Group Two North for the 2018–19 FA WSL Cup alongside WSL sides Liverpool, Everton and Reading and fellow Championship side Durham.[11] They played two games at home and two away, winning three including both away ties to Merseyside teams.

Date Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance Group
position
19 August 2018 Liverpool A 1–0 Arnot 83' 829 2nd
25 August 2018 Reading H 0–2 4,835 2nd
5 December 2018 Durham H 1–0 Green 1' 686 2nd
13 December 2018 Everton A 3–0 James 12', Galton 17', Zelem 37' 240 1st
Pos Team Pld W WPEN LPEN L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MNU REA EVE DUR LIV
1 Manchester United 4 3 0 0 1 5 2 +3 9 Advance to Knock-out stage — 0–2 — 1–0 —
2 Reading 4 2 0 1 1 9 5 +4 7 — — — 4–1 1–1
3 Everton 4 2 0 0 2 6 7 −1 6 0–3 3–2 — — —
4 Durham 4 1 0 1 2 5 8 −3 4 — — 1–0 — 3–3
5 Liverpool 4 0 2 0 2 5 8 −3 4 0–1 — 1–3 — —
Source: thefa.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

Knockout phase

The draw for the quarter-final was made on 18 December, with Manchester United the only team from outside of the FA WSL to qualify from the group stage. They were drawn against West Ham who had finished second in Group Two South behind defending champions Arsenal.[12] After beating West Ham 2–0, United progressed to the semi-finals and were drawn against Arsenal. The tie was televised nationally on BT Sport as Arsenal won 2–1 to progress to their seventh final in eight years.

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F–A		 Scorers Attendance
9 January 2019 Quarter-final West Ham H 2–0 Longhurst 17' (o.g.), Sigsworth 53' 1,029
7 February 2019 Semi-final Arsenal A 1–2 Green 83' 1,836

Squad statistics
Numbers in brackets denote appearances as substitute.
Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward
No. Pos. Name Championship FA Cup League Cup Total Discipline
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1GK Siobhan Chamberlain 180306027000
2DF Martha Harris 12 (3)1304019 (3)110
3DF Alex Greenwood (c) 17 (1)4316026 (1)510
4DF Amy Turner 162206024230
6MF Aimee Palmer 6 (7)1100 (1)07 (8)100
7FW Ella Toone 16 (4)14310 (6)019 (10)1530
8MF Mollie Green 14 (4)13316223 (4)1610
9FW Jessica Sigsworth 15 (4)17306124 (4)1830
10MF Katie Zelem 18102061261120
11FW Leah Galton 10 (4)31 (1)03 (2)114 (7)410
12DF Naomi Hartley 1 (2)000001 (2)000
13GK Emily Ramsey 200 (1)0002 (1)000
14MF Charlie Devlin 6 (10)5210 (3)08 (13)610
15DF Lucy Roberts 0000000000
16MF Lauren James 12 (6)140 (3)26118 (9)1740
17FW Lizzie Arnot 12 (5)61 (1)03 (2)116 (8)700
18FW Kirsty Hanson 12 (5)52 (1)03 (3)017 (9)500
19FW Ebony Salmon 0000000000
20DF Kirsty Smith 13 (3)01 (1)05019 (4)000
21DF Millie Turner 202306029210
22GK Fran Bentley 0 (1)000000 (1)000
——Own goals —1—1—1—3——

Transfers

In
Date Pos. Name From Ref.
13 July 2018 GK Siobhan Chamberlain Liverpool [13]
Emily Ramsey Liverpool
Fran Bentley Manchester City
DF Martha Harris Liverpool
Alex Greenwood Liverpool
Amy Turner Liverpool
Millie Turner Bristol City
Naomi Hartley Liverpool
Lucy Roberts Liverpool
Kirsty Smith Hibernian
MF Aimee Palmer Bristol City
Mollie Green Everton
Katie Zelem Juventus
Charlie Devlin Millwall Lionesses
Lauren James Arsenal
FW Lizzie Arnot Hibernian
Ella Toone Manchester City
Jessica Sigsworth Doncaster Rovers Belles
Ebony Salmon Aston Villa
Leah Galton Bayern Munich
Kirsty Hanson Doncaster Rovers Belles

Loans out
Date from Date to Pos. Name To Ref.
4 January 2019 End of season FW Ebony Salmon Sheffield United [14]
8 February 2019 GK Fran Bentley [15]
8 March 2019 DF Naomi Hartley [16]

References
  1. "Manchester United granted place in Women's Championship". The Independent. 28 May 2018.
  2. http://www.thefa.com/news/2018/may/28/womens-pyramid-restructure-katie-brazier-280518
  3. Luckhurst, Samuel (23 March 2018). "Manchester United announce women's football team". men.
  4. "womens team head coach announced by manchester united". www.manutd.com.
  5. "Man United Women's 2018/19 squad". www.manutd.com.
  6. Duncker, Charlotte (18 July 2018). "Manchester United provide injury update after women's pre-season game abandoned". men.
  7. "The FA Women's Championship schedule for 2018–19". Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  8. "Chelsea face Everton". womenscompetitions.thefa.com. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  9. "Brighton and Hove Albion 0 Manchester United Women 2 FA Cup match report 3 February 2019". www.manutd.com. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  10. "Women's FA Cup: Reading Women 3-2 Manchester United Women AET". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  11. "Continental Tyres League Cup fixtures". Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  12. "Quarter-final draw". TheFA.com. The Football Association. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  13. "Reds announce 2018/19 women's squad". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 13 July 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  14. "Ebony Salmon joins on loan". sufc.co.uk. Sheffield United FC. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  15. "Sheffield United welcome Fran Bentley". sufc.co.uk. Sheffield United FC. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  16. "Naomi Hartley signs". sufc.co.uk. Sheffield United FC. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  • Official website (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish)
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