The incredible reason why Man Utd's women's team is falling apart - yet again

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

Manchester United find themselves without a head coach one month before the start of the Women's Super League season.

Marc Skinner resigned from his post on Monday, leaving the club in turmoil. In truth, however, his exit seemed to be inevitable for some time - and not just because he wasn't a particularly popular figure with the supporters.

Despite delivering some success, Skinner never managed to win over the Red Devils fans, and they ultimately weren't sad to see him go. Despite this, his departure is a complete PR disaster for the club.

For all his flaws, Skinner was nothing if not committed to his job, and he repeatedly called on the club hierarchy - particularly managing co-owners INEOS - to invest in the team to avoid being left behind by the competition.

His pleas fell on deaf ears, however. It is in no way surprising that things ultimately came to a head, though the timing is far from ideal. Man Utd kick off the WSL season on 4 September away at the London City Lionesses, who have become the polar opposite of the Red Devils.

A wake-up call for Ratcliffe?

Man Utd fans will hope that Skinner's departure this close to the start of the season will serve as a wake-up call to INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe - but they shouldn't hold their breath.

The divisive billionaire has never made a secret of the fact that he does not particularly care for the club's women's team. In 2024, he bluntly admitted that fixing the men's side was his sole priority after taking control of the club's sporting operations.

Although Man Utd have made some high-profile signings in recent years, Ratcliffe's lack of commitment has been blatantly obvious, particularly this summer. The sale of Melvine Malard to direct rivals Chelsea was perhaps the straw that broke the camel's back for Skinner.

If the Red Devils are not careful, they risk being overtaken by clubs like the Lionesses, Tottenham and even Everton, who are all showing more ambition in the market.

Would it matter? Probably not because, much like at rivals Liverpool, just doing the bare minimum has been Man Utd's mantra for a long time when it comes to operating their women's team.

The most disconcerting thing for supporters isn't that this is incompetence from the club's sporting leadership that could easily be rectified by reshuffling the management - this is by design.

According to Sky Sports, Man Utd are not investing in their women's side because they simply don't want to. They believe that the money required to build a team capable of challenging for the WSL title is too much.

"Man Utd are concerned about the ever-increasing cost of trying to be a WSL title contender - but that is not the same for the teams around them," the outlet writes. Because of this, they are now trying to mainly develop players via their own academy.

That is nothing short of flabbergasting. We're not talking about a club struggling to stay afloat - this is Man Utd, one of the biggest and most successful commercial enterprises in all of sports. And they're trying to tell us that they can't invest in their women's team because it's too expensive?

Of course, this isn't actually the real reason. It's not that running a women's team is expensive - the women's transfer record is roughly the equivalent of five weeks' worth of Marcus Rashford's wages - the problem is that there is no return on investment.

Football isn't a money-making business. That rings true for both men's and women's football, but the financial reality of the latter is particularly dire. As a club, you have to pay players and staff a living wage while matchday, broadcasting and sponsorship income is minimal.

That's why the elite European women's football landscape has become a who's who of sides backed by strong men's clubs - most independent sides just can't keep up.

It makes Michele Kang's ambitious investment in the Lionesses and women's football infrastructure so admirable. London City are the only WSL team not backed by a professional men's club.

The Frauen-Bundesliga in Germany no longer has any independent or primarily women's football-focused clubs following the relegations of Turbine Potsdam (two-time European champions) and SGS Essen in recent years. Not a single independent club reached the league phase of the Champions League last season.

There are sound business reasons for a cut-throat capitalist like Ratcliffe not to invest in women's football, but that doesn't make it any less morally impeachable.

The investment required to run a competitive women's program would be a drop in the ocean compared to the money spent on a men's side that has been painfully mediocre for much of the past 13 years.

Skinner was no saint, but his resignation has laid bare that Man Utd have a systemic problem.

Written by

Tom Weber | Writer

Tom Weber is an experienced, multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer as part of his freelance work for FootballTransfers.

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