Where Do Man United Women Go From Here? The Harsh Financial Reality of Women’s Football

It is a recurring phrase. “Defy the odds.” Printed on social media, repeated in dressing rooms, and incorporated into the season’s marketing. However, within the club, people discreetly acknowledge its peculiarity. The very organization that pays the players’ salaries sets some of the odds they are expected to defy. If you think about the slogan long enough, it seems almost confessional.

A few weeks ago, on a soggy evening in Munich, the red-clad women came agonizingly close to a Champions League semifinal. The team played with a level of intensity that suggested belief for almost an hour after Melvine Malard’s early goal tied the score. Then, as is always the case with this squad, fatigue set in. On the bench are four outfield replacements. A few days prior, the eighteen-year-old had made her WSL debut. Bayern Munich started winning corner after corner after sensing weakness. Until it failed, United’s defense held. The dream folded after two goals from set pieces in ten minutes.

It’s difficult to ignore the pattern. The team runs out of bodies after punching above its weight. The most recent financial reports show that the wage bill is about half of Arsenal’s. That’s a big difference. It’s a structural one. Nevertheless, the team continues to find a way, whether it is against PSV, Hammarby, or Brann in that crazy rematch where Elisabeth Terland scored a hat-trick against her old team.

There are tales about this team that border on satire. According to reports, Erik ten Hag is erecting a wall between the training fields for men and women. To make room for the men, the women were relocated from their facility into makeshift cabins. The cost-conscious Sir Jim was undoubtedly not pleased with the emergency shopping trip that resulted from the boots going missing on the way to Norway. You begin to question whether the ridiculousness is incidental or instructive.

For many, Ratcliffe’s absence from the FA Cup final at Wembley in May of last year was the turning point. The day before, he had witnessed the men’s defeat at Stamford Bridge. He did not accompany the women on their journey across London. Alexis Ohanian, who recently invested £20 million to acquire a significant stake in Chelsea’s women’s team, was seated in the Chelsea section. Two ownership visions, separated by mere meters.

When questioned about it later, Skinner did what managers do. He sidestepped, then dug a little. He said, “Let’s see how many times they fly over in the season for Chelsea,” before turning to the crucial line. It was investment, not visibility, that would bridge the gap. It’s a valid point, but it depends on the people in charge of the checkbook agreeing.

What kind of club United wants to be in this area is the deeper question. In 2005, the Glazers disbanded the original women’s team, describing it as a community partnership rather than a serious athletic endeavor. The discomfort of being one of the few major European clubs without a women’s team always seemed to play a role in the 2018 revival. Due to disagreements over investments, Casey Stoney departed in 2021. After four years, those disagreements haven’t truly been settled—they’ve just been reframed.

It seems like the players are constantly rescuing the institution from itself as you watch this play out. That arrangement’s viability is a different story.