Marc Skinner was divisive. He had staunch critics within Manchester United’s fanbase over his tactics and his squad management. There were reports of squad members being underwhelmed by his training methods, often hands-off and leaving players to work it out for themselves. Some academy players believed that their own pathway to the first team was… difficult, to put it mildly.
Skinner also overachieved given the budget, which is the remit of every manager of Manchester United Women. That is an undeniable truth. He led the club to two top three league finishes and reached four major finals, winning the FA Cup in 2024. Across that period, United never had a top three budget.
Marc Skinner has gone, a month before the new season starts. Mutual agreement is the official explanation, but in April Skinner spoke extensively about the need for greater investment to keep pace with others in the Women’s Super League.
This is a super-club through name alone: their wage bill is dwarfed by Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City in the WSL.
Last season, hopes of silverware petered out with squad depth badly lacking. Manchester United repeatedly failed to fill their bench due to an injury crisis that some insiders believed was related to physical overload – again due to a small playing squad.
Finally, then, Skinner was a useful stooge, a human shield for the frustrations of supporters. With him gone, the questions will – and should – be directed higher up the food chain. Those questions: is this an ambitious football club? Does this club actually want to win a league title and, if so, how does it suppose the current investment makes that possible?
So far this summer, Manchester United have sold Melvine Malard to Chelsea. Millie Turner and Lisa Naalsund have joined Birmingham City. The only significant first-team arrivals are a back-up goalkeeper from WSL2 side Leicester City and an uncapped Spanish defender from Atletico Madrid. United have regularly left it late to do their transfer business, but fans are understandably disturbed.
On the opening weekend of the WSL season, Manchester United will play London City Lionesses. One is a grand expansion project, a little gauche perhaps but with significant ambition and investment. The other, supporters say, is simply treading water and going through the motions. Skinner leaving (even if he wasn’t universally popular) is further reason for fear.
Skinner’s replacement will be sold a project – what does that really encompass? This is the house that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has built for Manchester United Women: the impression that he cares insufficiently about this area of his club.
In 2024, Ratcliffe said that focusing on the operations and finances of the men’s set-up had prevented him from fully engaging with the plan for the women’s team. He attended neither of the Women’s FA Cup finals United have been in during his tenure.
Also in 2024, Manchester United women’s team were moved into portable buildings at the club’s Carrington training centre because the men’s squad needed to use the women’s building while the men’s indoor facilities were being revamped. The women’s team are in the new centre now, but a message of subservience and carelessness was established.
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Has that ever improved? Manchester United are further behind than they were. The arrival of London City as a legitimate force means that a place in the top four is no longer assured. There is no European football, no manager and a thin squad is thinner than last season. There are so many possible quick wins and long-term plans here. Right now, it’s hard to see any of them.
Women’s football seems to be an afterthought at Manchester United. They have become a stepping stone for the biggest talent, a middle-of-the-road spot within a supposedly elite environment.
The squad is being left outside to fade in the sunshine. Manchester United left it far too long to re-form the women’s team. They are leaving it far too long to do them justice.
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