Manchester City’s dominance of English women’s football will concentrate minds at Old Trafford about United not even having a team to challenge them.
And it has emerged that United’s former manager Sir Alex Ferguson played a significant role in deciding not to set up a women’s side when the subject was discussed towards the end of his reign. Club officials consulted Fergie and the outcome was that United would keep concentrating all resources on the men’s team.
Bizarrely, despite the boom in women’s football and the importance the FA attach to its growth, there are no United plans to change course.